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July 14, 2008
GTD & Google Spreadsheet
Easy accessibility to your GTD lists is key. If your brain thinks it will take longer to get something onto a list than to hold on to it in psychic ram, it will have no incentive to let go of it.
For those of you who are fans of Google spreadsheet as a GTD list manager, a quick way to get actions on to your lists is to create a "form" for new entries. What a form will do is give you a few simple fields to capture next actions. What you enter will automatically get filed onto your spreadsheet (setup as GTD lists) in the proper format. No need to even navigate to your spreadsheet.
Here's how to set that up:
1. Once you've created a Google spreadsheet, open up your spreadsheet on your desktop
2. Go to the sheet you are using for next actions (will be easier if all next actions are in one sheet)
3. Click on the Form tab
4. Click on Create a form
5. All of the columns in your current worksheet are captured as a form and will open in a new window
6. Once in your new form, hover over the Categories question, select Edit, and create it as a drop-down list instead creating options for each of your contexts (quick fill on the first letter of the list name will work if you don't use the @ at the beginning.)
7. Change the Next Actions question to the format of Paragraph text for more space to type
8. When you are done making changes, click Save, then Next, choose recipients. You don't actually have to send it to anyone. Just create a bookmark for the unique URL you see there. I added it as a button on my Firefox toolbar called "Add Actions."
What this gives you is a simple web page that includes all of the fields you need for capturing a next action on the fly:
For those of you with web access on your phones, this could make getting things onto your lists much faster and easier. If you primarily work from your desktop, keep an open window for this form when you start your day so that you can easily toggle over to it.
Posted by Kelly at July 14, 2008 01:46 PM
Comments
Why the "Due Date"? If an action is to be done on a specific date, shouldn't it be put into your calendar instead of on a list?
Posted by: Danny at July 15, 2008 01:28 AM
Hi Danny
If something is due ON day and can only be done that day, it goes on the Calendar.
If something is due BY a day or can be done ANY day, it goes on the Action lists.
Kelly
Posted by: Kelly at July 15, 2008 07:08 AM
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for your quick reply. By that logic, you don't put any deadlines in your Calendar for projects you need to do activities for on multiple days (instead you use due dates in your Action lists). Correct?
Thanks again. Danny
Posted by: Danny at July 15, 2008 07:21 AM
Can a form like this be used within Excel as well as Google spreadsheets?
Posted by: Naomi at July 15, 2008 09:45 AM
Danny--Correct!
Naomi--I don't know of an equivalent type of form that would work with Excel. This Form is for Google Spreadsheets.
-Kelly
Posted by: Kelly at July 15, 2008 08:46 PM
Is there a way to make the form persistent? Every time I click 'submit' it goes to a thank-you page, and I have to go 'back' if I want to enter a new action.
Posted by: andrew at July 18, 2008 06:03 PM
Would this be used in place of the Outlook Task Manager? That is what I've been doing. Are there pros and cons to these two ways of managing your GTD list?
Love your column and have it placed at the top of my GTD igGoogle tab page and my iGoogle home page.
Thanks!
Posted by: Vikk at July 25, 2008 12:06 PM
Hi Vikk,
Sure, if you wanted, you could use a spreadsheet instead of something like Outlook Tasks. This is just one of about a million options for managing GTD lists.
Pro of using Outlook Tasks versus an external thing like a spreadsheet is that if you're using Outlook already for Calendar and Email, it's all self-contained. Splitting off into a spreadsheet means managing things in two places, but that's not to say it can't work really well.
Upside for many people in using something like a spreadsheet (local or web-based) is that it's fairly portable, sortable and customizable. And for some people, the accessibility of a web-based app like Google Spreadsheet is appealing.
I suppose it really comes down to personal preference more than anything and what you know will work and are willing to maintain.
----
Hi Andrew,
I've experienced the same thing (goes to thank you page.) I think it's part of the design. Google engineers would be the best ones to answer that!
Kelly
Posted by: Kelly at July 29, 2008 08:42 PM
