Kelly, all you say here is true. And I spent nearly two years trying to make it work. And the effort to make it all "sync" formed its own resistance.

So, this September, I went totally to 3x5 note cards. Paper. Only. It slides in my shirt pocket when I'm at work. It slips in my jeans pocket for the weekend.

Finally, it is truly and universally portable.

Digital is great if you can make it work. If not, the humble 3x5 card is also a good choice.

I just got the Motorola Q, and I love it.

The first thing I did was put a task for each person I needed to buy a gift for in Outlook.
I sync'd up my Q before hitting the mall and I was off.

It felt great knocking those tasks off 1 by 1. I didn't stop until the list was empty.

Then I got home, put the shopping down and realized I had forgotten to add 1 person to the list.

The mall was very busy when I went back.

Thanks for your comments Joe and Jeff. Joe, I want to specifically address your comment about 3x5 cards. You probably know that Hipster PDA is a great option for this: http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda/
I think you brought up something that is a common misconception, which is that digital is better. That's not always so and I encourage people to choose a system they really like and are attracted to in whatever form that comes.

I coached someone recently who is very kinesthetic, visual and has large handwriting. For her, the thought of seeing her lists on a Treo (which she has) short circuited her creativity and motivation to use the system. She actually writes her lists on 8.5x11 card stock with colored pens. I knew if I tried to have her do this all in the Treo she'd drop the whole thing after the honeymoon phase with it.

I say go with what works the best for you. That's the key to a good system.

-Kelly

Regarding the Treo,

I have tried a number of times and "tasked" our IT department wiht finding a way to organize my tasks by categories on my treo. Unfortunately I carry more tasks than I should and having them listed by date is not bractical. Have you solved this issue? Are we missing something basic? I am afraid that it may be that we use an interface called Goodlink on the treo?

Hi John,

Unfortunately, not seeing categories is a feature of Goodlink. I have no idea why Goodlink will not show categories on the handheld (Palm or BlackBerry) but for someone reason it doesn't and I've heard and seen your exact problem before from other users. What I've recommended to other people in your situation is to start each task with the category name you would have used so at least you can see then that way (play around with Treo sorting too).

I use classic Palm Hot Sync, so I see all of my categories.

If you have more tasks than you think you should, you might try starting with a good GTD weekly review and get any non-task entries out of there and into something like Memos instead.

Hope this helps,

Kelly

For all the 3x5 card addicts, you must visit Levenger.com - They have pocket holders, 3x5 color coded file folders and even wooden racks to display your cards!

I do mix my media. It's tough to use my Treo with mittens on during field work and I would rather draw landscape plans on paper! But for all other things, I love the Treo / computer / internet link!

One very wonderful and portable system is an online service called Backpack (www.backpackit.com). You can log in to you lists from any computer--no syncing required. If you are still looking for the perfect system, check this out. It has been a lifesaver for me.

another "paper" person here -- I have been a 3x5 index card user for a long time. As I integrate some of the GTD concepts I am trying the following set-up:

NOTES/"IN": (THE PORTABLE IN-BASKET. fOR CAPTURING RANDOM NOTES TO BE PROCESSED LATER - My trusty index cards. They fit in my little DayRunner Calendar, and I have a stack by my bed, and they're just so dandy-fine.

CALENDAR: Well, my calendar.

NEXT ACTION LISTS: non-immediate ones pertaining to Projects will go on post-its on Project sheet to be transferred into my Calendar as appropriate. "To-do" lists (which I often compile the night before) will be on an index card.

PROJECTS (THE MORE-THAN-ONE-STEP OUTCOMES THAT WE NEED TO KEEP REMINDERS ABOUT -- THE OPEN LOOPS) Anything with more than 2 or 3 NAs or further ahead than a few days will get a Project Sheet in the looseleaf notebook, to be adorned with post-its, one NA per post-it.

SOMEDAY/MABEY -- Also sheets in notebook, simalarly addorned with post-its; may be accompanied by non-NA notes and musings.

I am trying to get less anal about separating "personal" and "professional" -- sometimes the lines are very blurry, and I'm not sure it matters -- it all has to get done.

Two record keeping musts, that I am working on getting habitual, like brushing teeth habitual, about are 1) household budget (believe me, I have a great set-up, entering the incidentals is what I trip up on and 2) log of how I spent work time that day. I'm thinking about whether these should go in this notebook also, or not.

Brigid Manning-Hamilton
www.ietextiles.com

Kelly,
I have a Treo 680, and would like to implement GTD on it. At work I have outlook, and the treo has the Palm Desktop. Can I get the Outlook to work with the Treo 680?

Hi Howard,

Yes, the Treo should sync to Outlook as an option during setup. The synching software will work with either Palm Desktop (included with Palms) or Outlook (which is far more common and popular out there.)

Hope this helps,

Kelly