I’ve finally found the ultimate Getting Things Done app
For as long as I can remember (probably late 2007), Getting Things Done apps have been the bane of my existence. I’ve tried them all; desktop apps like Evernote, Things, or Mail To Dos, web based services like Gmail Tasks, Action Method Online, mindmeto, and the old “try my best to remember” method. None of them worked for me.
The problem is that with almost all of the online systems, I practically needed a reminder to remember to add things to my list. Even using things like Evernote or Gmail Tasks from my iPhone, I never got in the habit of taking it out and typing in something I need to do. And to top that off, because I’ve gone back and forth on so many systems, I have piles of old to dos clogging up my accounts on all of these sites, so I never know which one to go to, and which things still need doing.
But, as if from the ashes of forgotten notes to self, a new option arises which will herald in a new era of me doing things.
Behold:
A notebook! I’ve been using a big bulky one on and off for awhile, and it’s been working pretty well, so I decided to go buy a small one which I can carry around with me. Now, I can jot stuff down wherever I go. Yes, I could do that on my iPhone, but I find the tactile nature of actually writing something helps in some bizarre way to make me want to do the things I put on the list. Also, and I bet there is scientific evidence for this, physically crossing something off a list is far more satisfying than tapping a checkbox with your mouse.
So this notebook comes from a cool company called Whitelines who I had never heard of but they seem to be creating really neat products (if you are into pads of paper). Apparently the lines don’t show up when scanned. I will have to do a test for that. I considered getting a moleskin, but let’s face it, those are a bit pretentious (sorry if you use one, but come on, you know it’s true).
How about you, what do you use to keep track of all the stuff you need to do?
seriously dave. notebooks are where it’s at. i happen to have moleskins but whatevs. i have one for sketches, one for writing in and one that is a planner of sorts that i keep track of my work hours and such in.
That’s a lot of notebooks. I think I’ll stick with one main one, and one larger on in my laptop bag for sketching. I suppose 3 isn’t really much more than 2, but it sounds like a lot.
Hey there, Dave. I’ve experimented with the notebook, apps, and combinations of the two. How do you organize your “next actions”, “waiting for”, etc. within the notebook? I ask because my attempts at notebook filing typically result in important information scattered throughout the notebook and I lose track of tasks as the number of pages grows. Thanks for any insight you can provide!
Hey Jeff, that’s a great question, and I don’t really have an answer yet. I think I’ll still use Evernote a bit to keep longer term ideas jotted down, whereas the notebook is more for day to day things that need doing. I’ve been using Evernote for that purpose for awhile, and while it hasn’t resulted in me actually acting on any of the long term crazy ideas I have, it’s nice to have them stored somewhere away from the things I try to do each day.
I’ll update you again in a few weeks after I see how this is going.
Dave your grandma honey would be sooo thrilled…