Hi, Kelly:

I was a bit surprised to see "Due Date" on the spreadsheets. Do you use DD's with your GTD implementation?

Hi Dean--

Yes, absolutely I use due dates. Some things have a day they need to be completed by, so I need to have that tracked in my system. However, my advice to people is always USE DUE DATES SPARINGLY. So many people create false due dates for things on their lists, miss those dates, and then feel bad that they are breaking agreements. It also creates this weird mix of what's real and not real. I try to only use them when there's an actual "expiration" of that thing and I need to get it done by a date, or as a gentle nudge to get me to work on it.

Thanks for asking.

Kelly

Kelly:

I have always avoided using due dates in Outlook Tasks as I thought it was contrary to pure GTD. But if it works for me, great. I may give it a try, keeping in mind the cautions you mention.

Also, how do I get in touch with someone at GTD Connect to schedule a telephone coaching session? I searched the site tonight on the different telecoaching links but couldn't find a specific email address to make the contact.

I've had my trusted system in a an Excel sheet for the last 2 years. I don't split lists out into separate tabs but I use the filter feature to print out lists for specific contexts. I like it because it is simple and fairly portable.

Nice spreadsheet!

Definitely a simple, but powerful way to manage and organize lists.

Hi Dean

Sorry that's not clearer. I've sent that along to our web team as a suggestion. You can contact us about telecoaching at info @ davidco.com or 805-646-8432.

Thanks...Kelly

Hi Kelly,

I use in the past when I began to use GTD, I hardly recommend this method for people who are not use to "computers". This might sound incredible, but it is real life. It is easy for people to use Excel, it looks like a folder with list which is similar to a normal page

Congratulations for the blog. Sorry for my English, I am Spanish.

Hi Kelly-
I have been 'dabbling' with GTD for a while trying to settle down into a system that i like best as also trying to get into the discipline. I looked at the Excel - and am a bit confused . Is the Projects page meant to be the mother load of all items ? And then from there it flows to all the other tabs which therefore are the Next Actions ? Whats the difference then between Projects & Agenda ? And finally - I see no links or formulae so I suppose the sheet is in its simplest form and one must cut n paste across tabs ?

Here is how I implement GTD with Excel

For your convenience I have posted an example file on MediaFire

http://www.mediafire.com/?3rxidvn1x2z
(gtd.xls)

I only setup 3 tabs: Projects, Next Actions, and Waiting For.

I will start with the Project worksheet:

Each project gets a unique number (Column A). The number doesn't reflect the importance of the project at all. As projects are finished, their row is deleted. As more rows are needed, I simply start adding some more sequential project numbers.

The date is when the project was added to the list (Column B). I prefer ISO dating, but you should know that this column's format is set as Text, b/c most spreadsheet software still has a hard time with ISO dating. The project due date (Column D) is used sparingly and may have tasks laid out on the hard landscape of my calendar as necessary.

Column E and F are used to query the Next Actions and Waiting For worksheets to see if this project has a NA or WF item on either of those lists. For instance, in my example file, project #2 is a red flag b/c it doesn't have a step in NA or WF worksheets. This means that a next action or waiting for item must be defined for that project. Long term, I plan to have those columns just say Y for yes and N for no, but I am OK with this layout for now.

Now, the Next Actions worksheet:

There is a project reference column (Column A), if applicable, but a next action needn't have project. The reason the project reference is important to me is that when I print these lists, I like to have a reference to what project this action may be for.

The Date is when the next action was established. Not only is ISO dating an international standard, it makes for easy sorting.

Action is the very next physical action. If digital files need to be referenced for Desktop searching then I include a FileRef for the filename. If it is regarding an email I will include the email subject and date. If there is a phone call, I try to include the phone number. Time is a time estimate, in minutes, of how long the action will take (Hat tip: Julie M.); only the action, no "travel time" is included. Priority is used sparingly and is almost exclusively used for "A" items (Hat tip: Stephen C.).

The Associated Project column is used to reference the project. I don't print this column by setting up the print area to avoid it. It is nice, however, to see when reviewing actions while editing the spreadsheet.

Now, I use the spreadsheets Sort tool in this worksheet quite a bit. Whenever I am about to print, I sort by Context (to group things together), then by Priority (to put the most important things on top), then by Date (to look at the oldest items first).

The Waiting For worksheet is setup very similar to the Next Actions worksheet.

I hope this helps. Please share your thoughts.

Joe--thanks for writing up your Excel solution. I bet others will find that useful. Kelly

Tarun,

Q:Is the Projects page meant to be the mother load of all items?

A: The Projects list serves as an inventory of your current projects. Next actions are your actions to take, project-related or not.

Q: Whats the difference then between Projects & Agenda?
A: Projects is a master list of your multi-step outcomes. @Agendas is a possible next action list for people you talk to or meet with on a regular basis.

Q: the sheet is in its simplest form and one must cut n paste across tabs?
A: If you are using Excel for all this, yes, there will be some cutting and pasting. For example, you might have a phone call, you left a message, now it's a waiting for. Other list managers, like Outlook or Lotus Notes, handle this with more finesse since they allow resorting rather easily. Another option for Excel is to have all actions in one worksheet and delineate the context in one column. Changing the context in that case would just be a simple change of list with no cutting and pasting.

Just to be clear too--I am not suggesting Excel as the best way to implement GTD. It's just a way, among thousands of options out there. Experiment to find what will work best for you.

Have you read David Allen's book Getting Things Done? It's a great resource for the background and purpose of the lists, especially projects versus actions. I also have a blog post that describes this called "You don't Do Projects."

Kelly