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April 04, 2006
Unusual Capture Tools (A Confession)
One of the things that has always intrigued me about GTD, or rather about GTDers, is the wide range of tools we choose to capture our ideas. It makes sense that when a bunch of diverse people learn about writing everything down to keep it off your mind, some creative capture tools emerge. Here are my musings on some of my favorites. I welcome your comments on cool tools of your own!
-3 by 5 cards- stackable, lined or unlined, easily papercliped together for portability. The big con I see is that they're fairly thick, not something I'd want in my pocket.
-My Notetaker with a twist- I decided to take the idea of our popular Notetaker wallet and create my own version of it. It's essentially a paper pad (the same ones we put in our wallets) tucked into the business card slot in my leather Palm carrying case. My expandable pen fits into the center section, which is normally used for an extra graffiti wand. The result of this little recipe is a paper capture tool for quickly gathering up my thoughts on the left, and the PDA where I often input these thoughts on the right.
-The Winner, my absolute favorite of the capture tools I've adopted:
I have a standard yellow post it pad attached with velcro to the stearing wheel of my car. The velcro allows me to remove it and switch in a new pad when I need to. I know it's dorky, I know it doesn't look particularly cool, but I can't tell you how many times I've had an important thought while caught in traffic or driving along the beautiful California coastline. The pen that goes with it lives on my dashboard, so anytime I'm in my car I'm ready to offload my thoughts. I don't recommend anyone write while driving, of course. It's just such a handy way to eliminate fumbling for my purse when in transit.
Finally, I just wanted to pay a little tribute to my friend Eric Mack for his great blog on capture tools, one of his ideas involves capturing while in the shower- brilliant, I think. Besides, it makes me feel better about my post-it note confession!
Posted by Lisa at April 4, 2006 09:21 AM
Comments
Great topic and tips, Lisa. The 3x5 solution reminds me of the HipsterPDA, described here:
Introducing the Hipster PDA
http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda/
It goes hand-in-hand with Doug Johnston's cool DIY Planner site: http://www.diyplanner.com/
I used the hipster for a while, and liked it for the reasons you mention. However, I ultimately switched to a regular planner (I prefer paper). More here if you're interested:
Fare thee well Hipster PDA - I barely knew ye
http://ideamatt.blogspot.com/2005/08/fare-thee-well-hipster-pda-i-barely.html
What's so great about GTD is this flexibility. I've had clients who have tried systems that require you to buy their hardware and/or software, which I find to be a turn-off.
Posted by: Matthew Cornell at April 5, 2006 10:19 AM
I've adopted your velcro/postit note on the steering wheel idea. Now, where to secure a pen that won't get lost or misplaced...
Thanks!
Posted by: Steven at April 21, 2006 04:49 PM
Steven,
Glad to hear it's catching on. A couple of my others friends are using it now too.
Someone is bound to invent a pen holder for the steering wheel someday!
Posted by: Lisa Peake at April 24, 2006 08:10 AM
