Please share your GTD setup and experience: what works for you and what doesn’t?
What software do you use and how?
I never owned a smartphone or a tablet, because I believed that they are mostly good for wasting time and effort on distractions (I have a Nokia 1202), but recently I gave in and bought an HTC One mini, because I believe it will help my productivity. Still getting used to the fact what goes for ‘mini’ these days, but that’s the best phone I could find that looks well-made and not overly huge, short of the iPhone.
For my main computer I am running Ubuntu on a ThinkPad X series and I plan to upgrade to Microsoft Surface Pro 2; I think that it might finally be a tablet that I would use (because, if nothing else, it’s a very portable PC). Yes, I want to buy a Microsoft hardware to wipe Windows and use with Linux, I believe it’s that good.
So, I’m looking for your positive experience with GTD and related productivity software on Android, or maybe even native Linux platforms. I should be able to run Web-based, Java or even Windows apps via Wine, if really needed: in the best case scenario I just double-click exe-file and it works; I even used to play Hearthstone, when I had the time.
Do you find the use in a smartphone as a separate productivity device, even if you are near a computer?
EXTREMELY helpful in getting me to remember and go to events is putting my calendar on my lockscreen (or whatever the equivalent is on your smartphone). This means that I’m reminded of what I have coming up in the next few days literally every time I pick up my phone.
I believe it’s called ‘lockscreen’ on any modern smartphone. HTC One mini is an Android phone. What smartphone do you have?
Actually, one of the reasons I chose Android over iOS is because it has widgets and one can put a Google Calendar widget on the home screen, which I was told is very helpful. I’ve savedlinks to articles describing “Top 10 Android apps that do amazing things the iPhone can’t”. I actually like the second one better: the first on the list is Event Flow Calendar Widget which looks like what you and the other guy was telling me about. Is this the widget you had in mind?
I often find myself underestimating the time it takes to accomplish certain tasks. E.g. I think “ok, I’ll send a couple of emails in 0.5 hours and move on to the bulk of the work” and it turns out it takes more like 5 hours, and not because I’m procrastinating; it actually takes me that much time to do it.
What about time-management? As far as I understand, GTD, while often described as time-management system, actually doesn’t help you manage time. As far as I understand Allen (I have one chapter left, and after that I plan to read the notes I downloaded in lieu of re-reading, because I still don’t understand what my GTD should consist of) his position can be described as
When you will have an external system containing all your projects and next tasks, you will be able to make decisions so efficient, that you won’t need to manage time”
Do I understand it right?
Do you feel you need a separate time management system in addition to GTD?
I use Nozbe which provides an in-browser app, iOS, Android, Mac and Windows apps. No Linux app but you’re covered with the in-browser app. I find it to be extremely robust in terms of syncing and in general having a smooth, fast, error-free “task capture,” which is like 90% of what I need out of a GTD product. From that point you can organize tasks by either project or context. It also has really nice syncing with Evernote and with Google Calender which I use extensively, and also integration with Twitter and all kinds of other things which I don’t use.
In terms of what doesn’t work, I’ve written elsewhere about how Emacs org-mode is superficially the Best Thing Evar but is actually an infinite timesink that will actually just eat all your tasks. You think you want total customizability but what you actually want is structure and the freedom from having to think.
I can see how I gave the impression that those writings were some substantial, coherent blog post when in fact they are several comments strewn across several previous rationality diaries.
I can summarize. One can easily Google up an impressive array of org-mode setups and blog posts describing GTD workflows which seem extremely compelling. The problem with all of these turns out to be that using somebody else’s GTD setup in org-mode is like wearing somebody else’s shoes. Whereas in a program like Nozbe every choice has been made in the most general possible way, setups that you’ll find online will tend to be ultra-specific to the person from whom you obtain them, often in ways you don’t even realize.
Then you are forced to start fiddling, and this is already doom, because you are supposed to be getting stuff done, not fiddling. But at some point you become seduced by this vision of having a hyperoptimized, automated system in elisp and plain text that practically runs your life for you and frees you from having to make any decisions, frees you to think about important things. Except, the opposite happens. You’re spending more and more time on the damn org-mode setup, trying to figure out why something didn’t get moved where it was supposed to, trying to figure out why a calendar item didn’t remind you when you needed it to, searching for a note fruitlessly, botching a package install. The GTD literature harps on the importance of having a “trusted system” and finally you admit that you actually trust org-mode less than just writing things down on loose paper at this point.
At least, this was my experience. I never became proficient with elisp but I am a programmer. Maybe if I had started out knowing lisp things would have been different but I frankly doubt it.
Then you are forced to start fiddling, and this is already doom, because you are supposed to be getting stuff done, not fiddling. But at some point you become seduced by this vision of having a hyperoptimized, automated system in elisp and plain text that practically runs your life for you and frees you from having to make any decisions, frees you to think about important things. Except, the opposite happens.
This reminds me strongly of why I stopped using Gnus/Mutt for email and simply settled for Gmail. Customizability & power can be a dangerous temptation into endless yak-shaving. Even if you explicitly remember that customization need to pay off and calculate it will work out (https://xkcd.com/1205/), you probably overestimate how long you will use a particular system and underestimate how much work it will be to get it fully debugged & reliable.
This mirrors my experience with org-mode. I found the basic tree-structure provides most of the value, and the additional scaffolding is more complex and impractical than I expected.
Active Inbox with Gmail and Google Calendar, synced with phone’s calendar and mail app. Definitely more useful if a large number of your tasks originate as emails, but its easy to log a task with a button they add to send yourself an email.
You can mark emails as “Action” or “Waiting On” (very helpful to keep track of things your’e waiting on others to get back to you for) and also set dates by which you’re supposed to take the action or by when you need to receive a response. Keeps you from cluttering your calendar with non-time-specific actions as well.
It adds a feature to log noes and subtasks on each email which falls in line with GTD’s next-action list. Allows you to easily create “Project” folders to associate emails with when they’re part of a project.
It’s designed to be a Gmail implementation of GTD and it’s very effective for me.
Please share your GTD setup and experience: what works for you and what doesn’t?
What software do you use and how?
I never owned a smartphone or a tablet, because I believed that they are mostly good for wasting time and effort on distractions (I have a Nokia 1202), but recently I gave in and bought an HTC One mini, because I believe it will help my productivity. Still getting used to the fact what goes for ‘mini’ these days, but that’s the best phone I could find that looks well-made and not overly huge, short of the iPhone.
For my main computer I am running Ubuntu on a ThinkPad X series and I plan to upgrade to Microsoft Surface Pro 2; I think that it might finally be a tablet that I would use (because, if nothing else, it’s a very portable PC). Yes, I want to buy a Microsoft hardware to wipe Windows and use with Linux, I believe it’s that good.
So, I’m looking for your positive experience with GTD and related productivity software on Android, or maybe even native Linux platforms. I should be able to run Web-based, Java or even Windows apps via Wine, if really needed: in the best case scenario I just double-click exe-file and it works; I even used to play Hearthstone, when I had the time.
Do you find the use in a smartphone as a separate productivity device, even if you are near a computer?
EXTREMELY helpful in getting me to remember and go to events is putting my calendar on my lockscreen (or whatever the equivalent is on your smartphone). This means that I’m reminded of what I have coming up in the next few days literally every time I pick up my phone.
I believe it’s called ‘lockscreen’ on any modern smartphone. HTC One mini is an Android phone. What smartphone do you have?
Actually, one of the reasons I chose Android over iOS is because it has widgets and one can put a Google Calendar widget on the home screen, which I was told is very helpful. I’ve saved links to articles describing “Top 10 Android apps that do amazing things the iPhone can’t”. I actually like the second one better: the first on the list is Event Flow Calendar Widget which looks like what you and the other guy was telling me about. Is this the widget you had in mind?
I use an iPhone but I have it jailbroken.
I often find myself underestimating the time it takes to accomplish certain tasks. E.g. I think “ok, I’ll send a couple of emails in 0.5 hours and move on to the bulk of the work” and it turns out it takes more like 5 hours, and not because I’m procrastinating; it actually takes me that much time to do it.
What about time-management? As far as I understand, GTD, while often described as time-management system, actually doesn’t help you manage time. As far as I understand Allen (I have one chapter left, and after that I plan to read the notes I downloaded in lieu of re-reading, because I still don’t understand what my GTD should consist of) his position can be described as
Do I understand it right?
Do you feel you need a separate time management system in addition to GTD?
I use Nozbe which provides an in-browser app, iOS, Android, Mac and Windows apps. No Linux app but you’re covered with the in-browser app. I find it to be extremely robust in terms of syncing and in general having a smooth, fast, error-free “task capture,” which is like 90% of what I need out of a GTD product. From that point you can organize tasks by either project or context. It also has really nice syncing with Evernote and with Google Calender which I use extensively, and also integration with Twitter and all kinds of other things which I don’t use.
In terms of what doesn’t work, I’ve written elsewhere about how Emacs org-mode is superficially the Best Thing Evar but is actually an infinite timesink that will actually just eat all your tasks. You think you want total customizability but what you actually want is structure and the freedom from having to think.
Do you have a link to the writings mentioned in the second paragraph?
I can see how I gave the impression that those writings were some substantial, coherent blog post when in fact they are several comments strewn across several previous rationality diaries.
I can summarize. One can easily Google up an impressive array of org-mode setups and blog posts describing GTD workflows which seem extremely compelling. The problem with all of these turns out to be that using somebody else’s GTD setup in org-mode is like wearing somebody else’s shoes. Whereas in a program like Nozbe every choice has been made in the most general possible way, setups that you’ll find online will tend to be ultra-specific to the person from whom you obtain them, often in ways you don’t even realize.
Then you are forced to start fiddling, and this is already doom, because you are supposed to be getting stuff done, not fiddling. But at some point you become seduced by this vision of having a hyperoptimized, automated system in elisp and plain text that practically runs your life for you and frees you from having to make any decisions, frees you to think about important things. Except, the opposite happens. You’re spending more and more time on the damn org-mode setup, trying to figure out why something didn’t get moved where it was supposed to, trying to figure out why a calendar item didn’t remind you when you needed it to, searching for a note fruitlessly, botching a package install. The GTD literature harps on the importance of having a “trusted system” and finally you admit that you actually trust org-mode less than just writing things down on loose paper at this point.
At least, this was my experience. I never became proficient with elisp but I am a programmer. Maybe if I had started out knowing lisp things would have been different but I frankly doubt it.
This reminds me strongly of why I stopped using Gnus/Mutt for email and simply settled for Gmail. Customizability & power can be a dangerous temptation into endless yak-shaving. Even if you explicitly remember that customization need to pay off and calculate it will work out (https://xkcd.com/1205/), you probably overestimate how long you will use a particular system and underestimate how much work it will be to get it fully debugged & reliable.
Thanks for the summary.
This mirrors my experience with org-mode. I found the basic tree-structure provides most of the value, and the additional scaffolding is more complex and impractical than I expected.
Todoist for all my GTDish lists. Works on every platform, fast, and beautiful.
Active Inbox with Gmail and Google Calendar, synced with phone’s calendar and mail app. Definitely more useful if a large number of your tasks originate as emails, but its easy to log a task with a button they add to send yourself an email.
You can mark emails as “Action” or “Waiting On” (very helpful to keep track of things your’e waiting on others to get back to you for) and also set dates by which you’re supposed to take the action or by when you need to receive a response. Keeps you from cluttering your calendar with non-time-specific actions as well.
It adds a feature to log noes and subtasks on each email which falls in line with GTD’s next-action list. Allows you to easily create “Project” folders to associate emails with when they’re part of a project.
It’s designed to be a Gmail implementation of GTD and it’s very effective for me.