The best solution I've found for GTD on the Mac is a fabulous program called Daylite (www.marketcircle.com). I've been using it for a couple of years now and think it's ideal for this task. I was using Entourage, but ditched it for everything but e-mail once I saw Daylite.

Daylite is a powerful listmaker and has a great separation of tasks and projects. I can assign next actions for each project and can check them off as done and have it immediately ask me to fill in what the next "follow-up task" should be. That alone makes it invaluable to me. I can link any task or project to any number of notes or contacts and can assign context categories to them as well. A great tool, and fun to use, too.

Like Robert I use Life Balance for managing GTD. I do more in the way of organization, though. I use the method suggested by Ratz at the Life Balance forum. There is some initial set up but it is then fairly easy. There is a section for simple actions based on the location, and a section for projects, where the tasks can be set up in order. For example, if I need to add an action that I will do on the computer at work I just add it to Work Actions->Computer on the main outline without needing to set the location. With projects set up the order and locations when creating them. Then I don't need to think after I get the project in, Life Balance just tells me what to do next.

So while I don't use the Life Balance categories to balance my life, they work great for managing the locations so I only see the tasks that are relevant to where I am. I also use the due date feature for tasks to help me prioritize what I need to do at that moment.

My link didn't work in the previous message. The system for setting up GTD on Life Balance is at http://www.llamagraphics.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2122&mesg_id=2122&listing_type=search.

You can also use the TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/aqx73.

The link I created with the URL for Life Balance didn't work. I'll just give the short form here: http://tinyurl.com/aqx73.

The latest, and possibly greatest, tool for GTD on the Mac is the Kinkless GTD system. It just came online recently, and for those of us who have tried many different means of implementing GTD on the Mac (I've tried Life Balance and Daylite), this looks to be one of the best. It was built specifically for implementing GTD. You can check it out at:

http://kinkless.com/articles/2005/09/30/introducing-the-kinkless-gtd-system

It's essentially an OmniOutliner Pro file with Applescripts. Although you do need to have a OOPro, this system is free. As the developer states, it allows you to plan in project mode, but act in context mode. Very slick appearance and easy to get started with and use.

A 12 inch Apple Powermac running Tinderbox serves as my "Trusted System" . For me, the key to living in a PC centric world has been Iomega's KVM switch. At work, I plug my laptop in to one of the kvm ports, and throughout the day, switch smoothly between my work PC and my personal Powerbook, all using the same keyboard, mouse and monitor. At home, on the weekend, my Powerbook helps me track my many weekend projects.
I find it is a benefit having a system that is separate from the work PC, as it goes where I go.
Currently, this is the only way I can use my Tinderbox based GTD template at work, at least until the Windows version becomes available (soon).

A great mostly-Mac-oriented site about productivity and GTD is 43Folders (http://www.43folders.com/) by Merlin, who also invented the Hipster PDA. It's full of cool tips, tricks and ideas.

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned Notebook by Circus Ponies (www.circusponies.com). I use it and like it okay.

I am a big fan of CircusPonies Notebook - and was delighted when a GTD template was included with version 2.0. And I have come to depend on the auto indexing functions to help find bits of projects that weren't related to start but merge or at least co-mingle over time.

Wow, KGTD looks uber-sexy!! I will download and try it for sure. Daylite seems amazing, especially if you are in sales or an entrepreneur. I tried the test drive, but it seems like so steep of a learning curve. Someone should do for Daylite what KGTD did for OmniOutliner. If I could download a free plug-in to run on top of Daylite, that would make my world all GTD friendly and provide me a deep intuitive connection between my projects, big projects, CRM, and opportunities...they would never thirst for coffee ever again. For now, Entourage with some with a little tweaking is pretty agile for a small biz guy like me. Coffeeboy.

We founders of Circus Ponies Software are heavy users of the GTD system -- which is why we've built so many GTD-specific features and support systems directly into NoteBook.

We offer GTD templates and a popular 'NoteBook and GTD' discussion forum for sharing tips and ideas:

-
">http://www.circusponies.com/forums

This discussion group is where most of our hottest feature ideas come from, and we (the company principals) participate actively in the discussion to ensure that the product evolves to meet the needs of GTD users.

Since we are artisan software makers, we believe that great software is a conversation between creators and users. Staying small lets us add features faster and more elegantly than the big guys can.

We invite all Mac-based users of Getting Things Done to try a 30-day demo of NoteBook and join the conversation.

Let us know what you think -- and what you need!

Elizabeth Statmore

Co-founder and VP of Marketing & Sales

Circus Ponies Software

www.circusponies.com