Comments on: Photo of a GTDer’s Evolution: Kevin Brune Shares His

By: Betsy

Betsy — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:36:38 +0000

I’ve happily used a Palm for over 10 years now and have loved its compactness, portability, flexibility, and capacity. My Zire 31 continues to serve me pretty well. I’m nowhere near ready to go back to a paper- based system (my last one was Franklin-Covey), but I wish there were an easy unified way to push my Palm (or some app like it) into the clouds without an IPhone (I’ll NEVER be an ATT customer again). I am also leery of being completely dependent on connectivity — I want to be able to access my hardware store shopping list while standing in the hardware store, without worrying about whether my web-enabled phone is in a dead spot. Does anybody know of some integrated hybrid online/offline Palm-like or Outlook-like system that could be accessible from any computer and synchable to a web-enabled (but not “smart”) phone? I’ve been reading the Toolbox here and am intrigued by Evernotes, Toodledo, Dropbox, and all the rest, but it doesn’t make sense to me to cobble together a bunch of unrelated apps that will have me hanging on the learning curve forever. There must be some other Palm refugees out there who have figured this out . . . ?

By: Organize IT Recap: A GTD Evolution To Pen And Paper, Why Productivity Is A Waste Of Time And The Muji Chronotebook - Practical advice on personal development, productivity and GTD

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:43:22 +0000

[...] to good old pen and paper to get organized. As if to emphasize the point Kevin Brune shared his GTD evolution from cellphones and Blackberries to a totally paper based setup. Of particular note is how he says [...]

By: BlackBerry Bob

BlackBerry Bob — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:09:55 +0000

I couldn’t agree with you more, Lars. I too get way more enjoyment recording and keeping track of my GTD-style to-dos with my high-tech device, in my case that being a BlackBerry.

Pen and paper works great for some people, but for tech geeks like me a BlackBerry or a PDA is the way to go.

Great picture though, I like how the work line looks almost like a BlackBerry evolution path…

Speaking of geeks, after looking at the picture above I caught myself being able to name all pictured BlackBerry models

By: Lars Henriksen

Lars Henriksen — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:53:21 +0000

Hi all.

Great picture and post!

However, I will have to disagree with the idea that PDA’s in any shape or form aren’t for GTD beginners. Granted, I am no GTD black belt yet, but one important thing to also remember is that you have to enjoy writing down your tasks. I remember hearing David Allen saying something along the lines of “Go out and buy the nicest pen you can find”. That’s a great idea… if pen and paper is your preferred method of noting things down. Naturally, some people (such as yours truly) actually find it a lot more “exciting” to quickly write down a task in the (horrible) task list on my Windows Mobile device, rather than carrying around pen and paper. It’s the curse of being a geek

Thanks and best regards,
Lars

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:57:53 +0000

I’d call your current system a hybrid, considering that you’re still using Outlook.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:58:59 +0000

Anyone chooses to embark on the GTD journey should start with a pen and a notebook instead of a stylus and a PDA. Spending time with a paper system, you‚Äôll realize quickly what your specific needs are. The more gadgets, websites and applications you depend on to really get going with GTD, the worse off you‚Äôll be. Portability is key, and you can’t get better than a pen and paper.

For example, check out this guy:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davegray/145761460/

And the way he uses his notebook to set up his daily tasks. He uses a master list, in the back of his notebook and includes personal and work related tasks on the same page, as well as a timeline when things break down.

By: Troy Malone

Troy Malone — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:05:19 +0000

Wow! what a cool collection. I love it. It’s amazing how technology advances and how the gadgets change. An underlying system is the key!

Nice post. Thanks…

@troymalone

By: Todd V

Todd V — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:44:33 +0000

This is beautiful! The irony is in how many GTD newbies will scoff at this picture, convinced that some techno-tool will make things easier for them and 3 years later will be posting the same picture of their own. Those who have already been through the gadget-craze know the difficulty that comes with low battery, a bad data sync, limited viewing area, ten taps before you can write something down, etc. A voice-recorder may be the closest thing to collecting on paper, but other than that, paper is the fastest and most secure way to collect thoughts and ideas. Thanks for sharing this picture.