Digital (Or perhaps paper) Workbooks and GTD

[black.rhino]

I've been finding a bit of a problem with my GTD system. I use evernote and have 3 notebooks:
Inbox
Reference
Workflow

I keep it simple, everything is either an action or not, I differentiate actions with tags for context, lists, etc. That's not really important right now so much as actual "Notebooks". It's more a question of practice, not software.

If I am in college and have a few courses, I can't decide whether I should start a new notebook in evernote for the class or where else I could put the notes from that class. On one hand, I don't really want to add a category to GTD besides the True categories reference and action. On the other hand, if i was not paperless, I would use a typical scribbler notebook for this class and not be filing my notes until I was done the course. On the other other hand why do I always hit snags between reference and "not quite reference"?

[mmorowitz]

Here's how I use Evernote for GTD:

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1dUpKd05tOfilZTZEe3HDGFvRe6damoKzAHvZ7cg-JmA

[mcogilvie]

[QUOTE=black.rhino;92885]I've been finding a bit of a problem with my GTD system. I use evernote and have 3 notebooks:
Inbox
Reference
Workflow

I keep it simple, everything is either an action or not, I differentiate actions with tags for context, lists, etc. That's not really important right now so much as actual "Notebooks". It's more a question of practice, not software.

If I am in college and have a few courses, I can't decide whether I should start a new notebook in evernote for the class or where else I could put the notes from that class. On one hand, I don't really want to add a category to GTD besides the True categories reference and action. On the other hand, if i was not paperless, I would use a typical scribbler notebook for this class and not be filing my notes until I was done the course. On the other other hand why do I always hit snags between reference and "not quite reference"?[/QUOTE

It's up to you, but the newish notebooks in binder metaphor seems useful:
BINDER: Courses Fall 2011
Notebook: Physics of the Heart
Notebook: Physics of the Brain
Notebook: Physics of Vision

But I think the key is processing: you have to pull next actions out of your notes and into the action part of your system. Evernote has a lot of ways to do that, but checkboxes and a saved search come to mind. Or you can put your course notes into your inbox and process regularly, then move them into the appropriate place.

[TomW]

On the other other hand why do I always hit snags between reference and "not quite reference"?

It sounds as though you're not allowing for the category "Project Support." Besides keeping a list of Next Actions, Project, and References, GTD recommends you keep folders/files/whatever to contain any needed information, plans, thoughts, reference, etc. for that particular project.

I don't use Evernote, and I'm not 100% digital -- I create paper folders for some projects -- but I create a digital folder as necessary for each project where I store any digital documents I receive or create. This is where I save any documents, photos, scans, any project planning I've written down, etc. I would guess as a minimum you need to create a place in Evernote (whether a separate Notebook or not) where you store all information related to each active project.

[Cpu_Modern]

I don't really want to add a category to GTD besides the True categories reference and action.

I am with TomW on this one. You are a heretic! The GTD book clearly speaks of the True categories of "Project Support Materials" and "Reference" besides the system with the lists and calendars and whatnot.