Comments on: GTD for Academics

By: Aeon J. Skoble

Aeon J. Skoble — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:44:00 +0000

Here I am! Actually, I use both. Outlook is GREAT because of the way it seamlessly integrates email, calendar, contacts, task lists, and notes – and it syncs everything immediately and transparently to my Blackberry. BUT I also need paper. I bought a Circa punch from Levenger, and I print my calendars (I prefer the month-at-a-time view) and stick them in the front of a Circa, followed by projects list and then NA lists for each project. (I don’t need paper for contacts though.) I will do the months of the current semester, plus the next month, and during weekly review, I reprint them as needed (e.g. if I’ve hand-written new appointments). I also use one of those Levenger shirt-pocket briefcase things, esentially a 3×5 notecard holder, so I can capture on paper, which in many contexts is easier than using the BB. Hope that helps- feel free to email if you want more detail or if I’ve not answered your question.

By: John

John — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:07:14 +0000

Hi David R,

In case Dr. Skoble doesn’t post a reply here, you might also consider starting a thread in the GTD forum to ask about project management in the academic world.

http://www.davidco.com/forum/

– John

By: David R

David R — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:02:20 +0000

I liked reading your post very much. I was wondering what system you use to implement GTD. Do you use a paper-based system or software such as Outlook or ThinkingRock? I have tried several project management software programs but they don’t seem to be tailored well for the academic setting.

I am very much interested in managing my workflow as a 3rd year faculty member who is trying to juggle what feels like too many research projects at once.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

By: Mohamed la vein

Mohamed la vein — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:33:43 +0000

Nice, I’ve bookmarked the page in Digg.com under “GTD for academics | GTD Times”. Cheers!

By: Alfredo Matos

Alfredo Matos — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:02:19 +0000

Not only is GTD useful in academia, but can be made a sharp tool in the whole research branch of academia. GTD’ing in research has tough me that the most valuable thing is write down every little idea. Jot it down before it escapes, and keep it out mind.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:00:37 +0000

I’m also an academic GTD’er. There are notable benefits – I look at horror with colleagues who have 1000′s of emails in their inbox. Currently I have 3.

Issues relating to information capture are interesting – I use a wiki for this, but never feel I am making the most of it. Whilst I know where the information *is* it’s not always as searchable as I would like.

I use ThinkingRock as my GTD solution, but wish I could sync it to my Blackberry.. I also have such an abundance of projects, that I still spend too much time in ‘Project’ view and not in a next task/context view. This needs to be addressed.

My 2 minute rule tends to be a 5 minute rule, just from the nature of work. I’d like to still feel I am not at the mercy of having to be ‘responsive’ via email. Email is asynchronous, and I wish people would get that into their heads and treat it like that. If you want my immediate attention call – otherwise expect to have your email answered in an appropriate timeframe and dependent on my context

By: Aeon J. Skoble

Aeon J. Skoble — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:08:32 +0000

Wow, thanks so much to the commenters for the kind words; I’m delighted people are finding my post to be of value.
Sometimes, it’s the little things that can get people to see how GTD might be useful to them. Take the 2-minute rule for example – which I neglected to mention in the post, despite it having made a huge difference for me – even if you adopted no other GTD practice, I think the 2-minute rule alone would have a postive impact on your work. I find that when people see some positive results, they have a good incentive to want to see more.

By: Lizmea

Lizmea — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:34:13 +0000

Such a comprehensive, thorough, helpful and also inspiring review! Thank you for the great piece.

By: André J.C. Bor

André J.C. Bor — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:01:43 +0000

Great to read your story. I think it gives hope to mankind. When I look back at my days as a student (some twenty years ago), life had been much better and easier, when GTD was part of the lessons.

But happily every day is a good day to start with it.

By: Leslie Irvine

Leslie Irvine — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:07:37 +0000

Thanks for this post! I am also an academic, and I have been using GTD since shortly after the book came out. It has been tremendously helpful to me in juggling the teaching, research, and service expectations you mention. In addition, I have taught the system to cohorts of grad students, some who were grateful, others who were resistant. Some colleagues have asked me how I “adapt” a system designed for business into the academic world, but I have never had a problem doing so.

By: Bert

Bert — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:46:39 +0000

Great article, if I had known GTD when I was still a student I could have benefited alot of it. GTD in combination with smart learning techniques could have made school time a lot easier.

I may start another study in September of this year and I know for sure that I’ll use GTD for it. When that happens, I’m sure I will come back here and read your article again. Again, thanks and I would love to read some more articles from you.

By: RQ

RQ — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:11:39 +0000

I’m also an academic who’s been using a GTD approach to my academic work for about 3 years. It has been transformative, there is no question. Like you, keeping my inboxes empty–particularly my e-mail has been an astonishing boost to productivity/lowering of stress. Not using my head to try and remember things has been similar. One of the things that was really important for me is that I implemented pieces incrementally. Most recently, I’ve been paying much more attention to project planning and that’s paying off in significant ways.

One area that I have trouble with is working out “contexts.” I have contexts defined and they mostly work except for those that involve the computer and are mostly dependent on how fresh my mind is. I find that I have trouble getting myself to move between, say, “teaching” contexts and “writing” contexts. I’ve tried using a timer with mixed results.

So, one thing I’d be interested in knowing more about is how you use contexts to manage your academic work–specifically teaching prep, things you do for ind. students, like recommendation letters, your own scholarly writing and other kinds of scholarly work, like reading journal articles.

By: Dave Littlehales

Dave Littlehales — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:44:31 +0000

Nicely done article. Thank you for sharing.

Dave Littlehales
La Mirada, CA