Comments on: brip blap getting zen things done

By: Paperless? Heck yes! « Variable Interest

Paperless? Heck yes! « Variable Interest — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:53:57 +0000

[...] and lab rats to be the catalyst to this change. Remember, change at home is one thing, and change at the office is another; one which may in fact be more important in going easy on our land and resources. [...]

By: Early April Carnivals And More | Free From Broke

Early April Carnivals And More | Free From Broke — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:29:18 +0000

[...] brip blap Getting Zen Things Done at brip blap. Steve comes up with a pared down version of GTD . I could use some better organizing myself… [...]

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By: Q

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:46:15 +0000

Why not JOTT? I carry my phone with me when I’m away from the computer and I just JOTT to send myself or coworkers a short email or text message. The voice recognition is good enough – only drawback is trying to call from a noisy restaurant but even that wouldn’t be a problem if you have a smart phone you could send yourself an email… then everything is already in Google and easier to transfer to Google calendar…

By: guinness416

guinness416 — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:46:22 +0000

GTD seems to be like Rich Dad Poor Dad … everyone’s read it and it gets them thinking, nobody uses the actual advice. The hyper-organization blogs inspired by the system seem really odd and obsessive to me, but they’d probably say the same about the moneyblogs I read daily. I’m happy to report that I’m back to the cheapy notebooks after a brief moleskine addiction.

By: Glblguy

Glblguy — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:45:48 +0000

@BripBlap – I agree, but only if my choice was between my laptop or a notebook. I use the notebook and the cell phone anyway, so conserves resources to stop using the notebook and just use the laptop and phone.

By: Jaime @ LMW

Jaime @ LMW — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:11:55 +0000

Umm…What about the whole 43 folders concept in GTD. That’s the biggest thing that helps me clear my head and achieve “mind like water.” All those miscellaneous papers (are you pasting stuff into your moleskin?) have an immediate home.

Event on the 19th, file it in the 19th. Notes for a meeting on the 20th, file them in the 20th. Stuff I need to discuss with hubby versus stuff I need to take care of on my own – files for it. Stuff I absolutely need to do versus stuff I might get around to – separate files!

My desk is pure, uncluttered, creativity-boosting bliss since I started GTD.

By: deepali

deepali — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:04:01 +0000

Oh, and to address the paper vs technology issue – I cover every square inch of the notebook. E-waste is a potentially bigger problem than paper waste. And there’s the issue of labor rights of miners (which is worse for electronic components than it is for diamonds and gold).

Solution? Buy recycled paper, and recycle it when you are done.

By: deepali

deepali — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:00:33 +0000

I got a notebook made from recycled paper on my recent travels. I carry it with me everywhere, and it houses my master to-do list. It also serves as a reminder of some of the more important things in life (proceeds from that purchase went to helping street children). Every day, I star a few items in the list – those become my daily to-do list. Then as I take care of them, I cross them out.
I tried transferring to Google calendar, but as it stands, I already have about 6 different calendars to keep track of activities and major reminders (ie, paying tuition today!), and it just gets too cluttered (and then useless). I find that just keeping it all in one place in my notebook works just as well.

The *real* problem though, is when I look at the list and decide I don’t feel like actually doing anything.

By: Bubelah

Bubelah — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:58:56 +0000

My Palm Pilot broke a few years ago, couldn’t recover it. I didn’t get a new one and found that I am actually ok without it. I realized that it was more time consuming for me to figure out what is what and where, and how time consuming it was to type in simple to-do tasks. So much faster and easier it is to just write it down.
Surprisingly enough, I was most organized in College when I used my daily planner, where at a glance I could see everything I needed to do or any appt. to keep, I felt more in control than when I used my Palm Trio.
I am glad to hear that I am not the only one out in this technological age who doesn’t care about PDAs. I guess, I am not cool, but I don’t care.

By: Steve (Brip Blap)

Steve (Brip Blap) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:05:30 +0000

@Glblguy: Hmm, that’s a thought I hadn’t considered before, but I have to disagree. I guess my counterargument would be that the use of rapidly changing technology, which uses even-more-rapidly deplenishing natural resources (various precious metals used in chips, petroleum made into plastics, etc.) which are non-biodegradable could be much more harmful. They require energy, too – each time you recharge one you are contributing to greenhouse gases (depending on where your power source originates). And the batteries, especially for cell phones, are toxic to the environment and require recycling. There are companies that do this, so as long as you are diligent about recycling consumer electronics you’d be OK (although we all know recycling does not truly recycle 100% of the material). And unless you are disciplined about using your gadget until it breaks you’re on a constant cycle of consumption and discarding. No-one is good about using consumer electronics until the bitter end – people want the “new free phone” when their phone contract needs to be re-upped every two years. I just got a “new free phone,” for example. My old phone was dying but not dead yet.

I believe Moleskines are non-recycled paper based, so granted, they are not so great. My “best” solution would be to use notebooks made of post-consumer recycled paper, and recycle them once I’m done with them.

I disagree about trees being cut down, though. The problem is not how many trees are cut down, it’s that new ones aren’t being planted to replace them. If a responsible logging company “farms” trees – plants 3 new ones for every one they cut down – it can become a sustainable activity, which cannot be said of ore extraction or plastic manufacture. The trouble is that too many companies don’t practice sustainable logging.

I bet Torbjorn would have something to say about this…

(as a side note, if you do like leaving voice notes with your phone and you have a plan with plenty of minutes, you can also set up Jott which is a very cool voice-to-text app – I love it for times when I forget my notebook!)

By: Glblguy

Glblguy — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:34:19 +0000

Steve, excellent article. I found GTD a bit complicated too, but I think the concepts are dead on, you just have to adapt the process to what works for you. It’s a framework that requires customization for each individual.

I love Moleskines, but am concerned about the impact of our use of paper these days on the environment. I’ve been trying to go more electronic.

Instead, I use the voice recorder on my cell phone to make notes, add to-dos, etc. Then when I am in front of my computer I replay those and jot them down in a simple text file to-do list. I then pick up where you do and move them to a calendar, or text file, etc. For longer notations, i use a voice recorder I bought on amazon. This works great for article ideas or if I hear something on the news I’d like to write about, i can just record it.

While the use of paper is often simpler, I would encourage everyone to consider the impact of everyone reading this article using a paper notebook. That’s a lot of trees.

By: Steve (Brip Blap)

Steve (Brip Blap) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:40:29 +0000

Hey, thanks everyone! I should point out that you can substitute “spiral notebook” for Moleskine and “any online calendar system” for Google Calendar. I think at it’s heart there are only two components to a to-do system: date-related stuff that should go in a calendar and non-date-related stuff that goes in a list. Whatever the tools are, fine. Just don’t complicate it with categories and projects and contexts and blah blah because – at least for me – that’s not how my mind works, and I suspect nobody else’s mind does either! I think “crap, need eggs and I need to check my brokerage account when I get home!”

As a side note, Moleskines are a very pleasant addiction

By: Writer's Coin

Writer's Coin — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:27:59 +0000

Nice to hear others not folding into the PDA temptation. I use a similar system to yours only with Yahoo. Has only failed me once. It's just such a nice "writerly" feeling with the Moleskine.

By: 7million7years

7million7years — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:47:42 +0000

Note to Self: remember to thank BrBl for yet another great (and innovative) post!

AJC.

By: David

David — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:05:44 +0000

I couldn’t agree more – GTD makes getting things done more time consuming! There are so many easier ways to maintain your life – I have a small notebook and an iPhone..that’s my entire system!