I suggest that people build into their personal systems whatever checklists might prevent things from glitching on the back end, assuming they are reviewed appropriately. A great example, for people who travel, is the “travel checklist”–everything that you might ever want to take with you anywhere.  Doesn’t mean you have to pack it! Just that you want to consider the option so you don’t miss something. People often jokingly ask for mine to start with, to save them some time, so… here it is.

(I suggest you copy and paste into your word processor, and customize it for yourself. If you have a boat, go fishing regularly, or have other special kinds of trips, you might want a separate checklist for those. I used to additionally have a “take to boat” checklist, when I was sailing regularly.)

David Allen’s Travel Checklist

[Read more →]

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For those of you who get itchy sitting all day, have you considered walking while you work?  One of our clients shared how they stay on the move at their desk.  David posted a picture of it on Twitter yesterday.  Since then, some of you have been writing asking, “How can I get that??”  It’s called TrekDesk.  It essentially turns a treadmill into a desk.  We’re not affiliated with these guys, or endorsing this as a “GTD” solution, but some of you may find it helps your productivity to keep your body moving.  The folks at TrekDesk seem to think so.

If you’re the “mover” type, would you use something like this?

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The GTD Coordinator®–our GTD paper planner created with Mead and sold in many Staples stores–has been wildly popular. Which has been great for those who have been able to get their hands on one, and a challenge for those who are still trying to locate one.  Here’s the latest:

New GTD Coordinators complete with blank forms and 2010 calendar:

Letter-size GTD Coordinators – Item#791001-05:  In stock in the DavidCo store. You will also be able to find these in Staples stores in the “dated products” organizers section.   [Read more →]

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A pretty common question we get from BlackBerry users is how to integrate Outlook Tasks with their BlackBerry.  For the most part, there is a good one-to-one sync between Outlook Tasks and a BlackBerry device–if your service and server allows it (check with your carrier and/or IT dept. to find out if this is or can be enabled for you.)

If you setup Outlook like our GTD & Outlook Setup Guide describes, you should be able to have that carry over to Tasks on the BlackBerry.  The trick for seeing your Task categories is to “Filter” them.

Several of our staff use BlackBerry devices, including presenter + coach Wayne Pepper.  Listen to Wayne’s podcast on how he uses a BlackBerry for GTD (16 min). He also wrote about an app he uses on his BlackBerry for quick capture.

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David Allen shares a  tip in the category of what he calls “dumb-dorky-things-to-do-that-work.”  Rubber band your charged ones

I’ve been slightly bugged for years in places like hotel rooms, looking the next morning at my unpacked stuff, wondering which batteries I had run down and which ones were still charged. I finally found a solution that works for me.

If you travel with extra batteries for phones or computers, put a rubber band around the ones that are charged. When they are depleted, they don’t have one.   If they don’t have a rubber band, they’re dry. If they do, they’re charged.

(Extra tip: You need to make sure that you have and use a little pocket somewhere in your travel gear to hold the rubber bands when you take them off when you install the charged batteries.)

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I’ve recently had the opportunity to play with an integrated software/capture service called MyCaption.  I want to use this post as a way to introduce BlackBerry® owners to the benefits of the software in your GTD® practice.

Before we get started, I should identify the basic function of the software.  MyCaption allows the user to create and annotate Tasks, Appointments, Memos, Email, SMS messages, at the touch of a button.  The process is such that after the software captures the user’s vocal recording, that data is sent to the company’s servers, where it is delivered to the BlackBerry device as one of the above formats.

So how can it work for GTD? [Read more →]

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Thanks for this community contribution from Pete Tambroni. Here’s how he has setup his GTD organization on the iPhone…

In the original Getting Things Done, much of the focus was on paper systems with an electronic complement. These days much of our world is the opposite.

I try to have as much as possible in electronic form with a paper complement. Having things on a computer or PDA allows it to be searchable and easily changed from one category to another. But just because we can search for something doesn’t mean we should. Why not just know where it is? [Read more →]

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What’s out there for Lotus Notes users who want to sync To Do’s to their iPhone? Nothing.  As far as I know.  Believe me, I’ve searched for nearly a year. As a Notes user who was enchanted with an iPhone, I thought surely a To Do synching solution could not be far behind.  Nope. Nothing. You can sync Calendar and Email, but not To Do’s. It’s not a complete mobile GTD solution for me without To Do’s.

Because the iPhone was built without a Tasks application it means building not only a secure syncing solution, but a corresponding App on the iPhone. I thought Lotus would be doing that, but not from any releases I’ve seen so far.

A guy wrote to me this morning to ask what solutions are out there for this, as he’s about to roll out iPhones to their entire workforce. They use Lotus Notes and he’s been unable to find anything that will sync Notes To Do’s to the iPhone.  He asked if we are building it (no plans to.)

Has anyone heard of anything coming or available that will sync Lotus Notes To Do’s to the iPhone?  We’d love to hear about it.

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