[NTLK] GTD, MessagePad

[Jon Glass]

On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 3:59 PM, Mike Rodgers <pmiker at copper.net> wrote:
> As I have recently visited several Newton sites I have come across the
> acronym GTD.  Ok, I looked it up.  I'll admit that I have been out of IT
> for about 5 years but I had never heard of this before.  Is this a new
> cult following for Project Managers or what?  Is it big among Newton users?
>

It might be better to describe GTD as a bottom-up organization tool,
whereas the Covey System (The 7 Habits...) is a top-down system. The
GTD principle is basically that you fit things to do into the holes
you have, and the big things will get done as you do the parts. This
is where those Contexts and projects etc. come into play. Ekhart has
written Newton software for it, and LifeBalance sort of could be used
for it, but it seems that it doesn't work so well with the Newton as
it did with the Palm, but more importantly, it is system-agnostic, and
works fantastically on plain paper (check out www.diyplanner.com, for
instance--lots of GTD fans there).

43-Folders is actually a part of the GTD system, but has also existed
for ages. I used a tickler file when I was a manager of a fairly large
tape duplication and shipping facility. I could never have gotten my
work done without my tickler file--but it generally contained reports,
etc. to help me remember each year when to expect and to gauge what to
expect. For personal things, you can spend a few hours at the
beginning of the year, writing birthday and anniversary cards for
everybody you send to, stick the cards in the tickler, and forget
about them until their month and week come up. This also works for
other items for special occasions, including gift ideas. Another use
is for bills (both monthly and annual, or semi-annual). But since this
is part of the GTD philosophy, it really dovetails. ;-) In that, the
Newton is excellent as an adjunct to a tickler. I used to use mine to
remind me to check it, and also set alarms to remind me _what_ was in
it, as well as when to check. You could also create a virtual tickler
file using a Notepad addon like Adam Tow's HyperNewt.

I suppose that's more info than you really wanted. ;-)


-- 
 -Jon Glass
Krakow, Poland
<jonglass at usa.net>

"I don't believe in philosophies. I believe in fundamentals." --Jack Nicklaus