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Overorganization, some thoughts

This evening, I was once again reading some excellent conversations in the 43Folders group. If you are looking form some inspirational articles on GTD and personal productivity, make sure to check them out. One thread was of particular interest for me. The thread is called Overorganising, To Many Tools and can be found in the Google Groups Archive
It deals with the problem I also deal with every now and then. You try to do everything in a nice GTD-kind of way and after a few days,weeks, software switches, you find yourself twiddling and tweaking your system more than you are getting things done. When I read the thread, especially Larry Underhill’s remarks struck a chord with me. He describes how he uses GTD but not tries to implement it in a black belt kind of way. But just enough for him to get his stuff done.

24 07 05 - 00:04 - Permanent link - one comment

A small victory

I am very proud that as of today, this weblog has over 1000 readers for the RSS feed. Since the niche which I am targetting uses RSS as a tool for reading online content, I am very glad to be part of such a growing community. Here is the Feedburner stat to prove it

(Now don’t get me started on the subjective nature of these digits. Let me enjoy the moment!)

19 07 05 - 15:35 - Permanent link - two comments

How to print the DIY planner in Europe

OK, yeah, I confess. I recently started to use the DIY planner Hipster PDA version from A Million Monkeys Typing. Just trying it out in conjuncture with my Moleskine to see where it leads me. So far, it’s been pretty handy. Making some notes during a short meeting with some direct NA’s on it, using it a shopping list in my wallet, jotting down some ideas on the bus. Again, it’s a tool to use besides something else for me. It is not the tool or the holy grail.
What I found troubling about the downloadable templates, is they all use the American system for printsizes. OK, listen up: In Europe we don’t have indexcard sizes like 3×5 inch. We use the A-system (or whatever it’s called) and we have indexcards in A7 size. Or A6, whatever you prefer. A7 equals to 74 × 105 mm which comes to 2,9 × 4,1 inch. So the templates are too big. I was too lazy to fire up Fireworks and sort out how to resize the templates, so I just changed the printersettings to print the PDF’s in a proper size. So to all Europeans who want to print the Hipster templates, here’s the trick:
In Acrobat, go to your printersettings and open the printer properties. I have a HP deskjet 5150. Your own printersetting will differ from mine. First, make sure your papersize is set at “Indexcard (3×5 inch)”. You might want to make a customsize of it. Then look for Resizing options in your settings and change them to 85%. This will resize your template to 85% and it will fit on A7-index cards.
Now I look forward to anyone changing the original png-files to A7 format as well. Or perhaps Doug Johnson will do this himself ;-)

19 07 05 - 00:16 - Permanent link - one comment

Quick tip for minor tasks in Outlook

I use the GTD toolbar, but sometimes the project I’m is so tiny or has a really short timeframe. Most of the time it’s a mini-project for an existing customer for which I’m already engaged in another project. When that task is in Waiting for-mode, what I find myself doing most of the time is the following: Let's say I send an email with a question. I put it in my Waiting for list and during the Weekly Review (which, to be honest, happens every two weeks or so…I’m progressing!) I find it again. Or it pops up with a reminder to act on it. For instance, call or email if there is a reply underway. Whenever I call or email and I don’t get a proper respons, I don’t check the original item as “completed” but I keep it. I add date and time to the large textarea in the task, together with some small info like “called but was unavailable” or “sent mail regarding follow-up”. So I’ll always have this little mini-archive of this mini-project with me in my tasks. I don’t have to make a special projectfolder or anything.
Whenever a clients calls and asks on the status of this project, I can just say “Well, I emailed you on so-and-so date, called you 5 days later, sent another email, so you better tell me buddy!” Well not that last bit, but you get the point right?

Maybe it’s not GTD, but to me it’s trusted, keeps my head clean and infomration in place. And that’s the key right?

18 07 05 - 23:46 - Permanent link - one comment

Wired News: A Guide to Getting Things Done

Probably linked all over the GTD-blogosphere, but it’s a must read for a 101 on GTD. Wired’s A Guide to Getting Things Done
With the already infamous question: So project management is a cult? You mean, like Waco?

12 07 05 - 15:34 - Permanent link - No comments yet

Inbox flooded

Heh…had a couple of days off and came into the office this morning. 381 unread mail, 21 reminders and a pile of analog mail. It’s gonna be Processing-day I guess…

12 07 05 - 09:12 - Permanent link - No comments yet

The Post-it Portable Workspace

Today I have a day off. Just some quality-time for myself, doing some work in and around the house. Really nice actually. Not only did I get to do some great things in the house (hanging art on the wall, fixing a wine-cabinet) but I also had some time to catch up on old mail that was in my “Someday/Maybe” list. I am subscribed to the excellent 43folders discussionlist and today I found some true gems over there to check out, try out or think about. One project really struck me. Not because it is something that will work for me (it won’t) or that it is suitable for my kind of work (it isn’t) but just the sheer ingenuity and originality of it. It is called The Post-it Portable Workspace and it is courtesy of Tammy Cravit at Warmfuzzy.com (love that domainname!) To qoute her story on the how and what of the system: “The basic idea of the PPW is simple: I took a series of plastic sheet protectors, which provide a nice surface for Post-it notes to adhere to. Inside them, I placed sheets of card stock (file folders, cut down to 8-1/2 × 11) for rigidity, and I put the whole mess in a 3-ring binder.“
It looks excellent and I’m sure Tammy really gets things done with it.
For me? I am trying the DIY Hipster PDA cards right now, see if it fits me. More on that in a later post!

11 07 05 - 17:57 - Permanent link - two comments

No comments possible

Some of you may have already noticed (thanks for the emails!) but it is not possible to comment on my stories right now. There are some memory-problems on the server or with the weblogsoftware (Pivot) that gives errors when you try to comment. So please do not write down big stories and click “Publish” because you are in for a dissapointment. I am looking into the issue with the Pivot-community and the author of the software so I hope it will be resolved in a short period of time.

Update: Comments are working again!

04 07 05 - 08:53 - Permanent link - three comments

Next Action Cards

I received a nice email from Charles Rubin. He created Next Action Cards. These are preprinted cards to either capture items on before moving to your regular system, or a full system itself for GTD management. He had these made up for himself and some friends, and then made them available for everyone. Next Action Cards are sold in lots of 250, at a cost of $10.95. On his website, Charles gives some samples on how you can use the cards.
I must say, it does remind me very much of the Hipster PDA project over at 43Folders and Million Monkeys Typing So I am quite curious how it compares to each other. Especially since the Hipster PDA is free (as in donateware) and looks a bit nicer, which also counts in my opinion.

03 07 05 - 22:13 - Permanent link - two comments

What happened?

Ooooh..yeahhhh…it has been quite some time since I’ve been here. Sorry for that. How come? Didn’t have anything to say? Well no…I got a lot on my mind, but not all is good for this blog. But the last couple of weeks have been more hectic that I could imagine. Moving to new city and basically changing the way you lived for that last 7 years has been quite a shock for me. More than I imagined. My whole rhythm of the day has changed, and it had it’s effects on lots of things. I mean, when do I read my web feeds now I don’t have to commute 4 hours a day by train but 40 minutes by bike? When I get home, I just chill for an hour, doing nothing. That’s nice you know…
What struck me the most was the way I totally and utterly fell of the GTD-bandwagon. Man, what a bump! Suddenly, my Inbox was flooded with 200+ messages, phone calls all around, projects not closed properly, meetings in and out, changing agenda’s, forgotten tasks, reminders piling on each other. I just didn’t have the energy to do anything about it. I thought to myself:“Aaarrgghhh, forget that whole GTD-religion thing, I just do it my own way…”

Yeah.

That would work now would it? I guess not! Once you know there is a better way to organize your life and your work, you just can’t go back to the old way. Because this little voice in the back of your head keeps whispering “Frank, please, c’mon, dedicate a slot of the day for your Inbox, you’ll feel better!”
Yesterday I had that day. And did I feel great about myself! I ploughed through my Inbox. I had some time on my hands and I just started. Not to process and organize everything but to do what had to be done right now, even if it took me an half an hour to do or 10 seconds. I just did it. And after that, organized references, deleted old discussions and newsletters and made some tasks in my agenda. And dropped some Next Actions in my task list.
What caused this? I only have one explanation and that is the Weekly review. I wrote about it in an earlier post (Which I can’t find because my archive is broken…sorry!) and it still is a major issue with me. I just can’t seem to find the time to really reallyreally have a weekly review for everything I do. For some reason there is always something that’s more important. May it be a co-worker who is behind on his project and needs my assistance, a crisis meeting, a phone call from a customer, anything. So scheduling a weekly review seems like a no-go for me.
Sometimes, I briefly check my task list and I see some tasks that need to be done. Most of the time, these are tasks that take more than a couple of minutes. And most of the time, these are tasks that are less important than the phone call from that client who needs some follow-up on project XYZ. So it just doesn’t get done. Whole day long, I am engaged in tasks that need to be done that day. Not the day after, not next week, no, today. And everything else just gets pushed forward in time. Why do these tasks need to be done today? Because they hold up other projects that pop up, because the client needs an answer right away, because otherwise, it takes too long to answer to a client and they get pissed.

I don’t know, sometimes it all gets really frustrating when things don’t work out the way you want them to. You get into a negative spiral and the only way to get out of it is to look up and really really try hard. And just do it. No matter what the consequences are.

I am still trying, and I know there must be some way for me to really get organized and think only happy thoughts. And I will succeed in it. Someday/Maybe…

01 07 05 - 00:19 - Permanent link - three comments