The GTD Academic [Archive] - David Allen Company Forums

mcogilvie

12-01-2011, 10:43 AM

I'm an academic with a particularly heavy teaching/advising/administrative load, and I'd love to hear how other academics have implemented GTD.

For GTD: mainly Omnifocus and Evernote on macs, iPhone and iPad. I do mindmaps and outlines sometimes using several different programs. I generally like OF, but it is slow sometimes. I have set up several custom perspectives:
Today, Soon, Dates, Waiting, Added, Complete, Someday and Weekly Review. Today shows items that are due or flagged, and it's my daily dashboard. Soon is a list sorted by date. Added is a list sorted by date added, newest first, used mostly for flagging purposes. My projects are in folders, with Research, Professional, Teaching and Other Work on top and personal folders below those. My file system, on dropbox, mirrors the folders in OF, but with a numeral to sort them to the top: 1 Research, 2 Professional, et cetera. Now that Evernote has stacks, I'm slowly redoing it's structure to match. I have very little physical paper to file nowadays.

Other stuff: I use Lyx and TeX for technical writing, Mathematica for calculations, Keynote for talks. I used to use RapidWeaver for my web site, but I need to update the site. I had an infection in my back this summer, so to cut down on weight and trouble I went to Circa for my class notes as well as general notes. I found a company called Myndology that sells compatible supplies at a better price than Levenger. I've tried several reference/pdf managers, but it looks like Zotero is going to be the best choice now that they have a stand-alone program and a clipper for Safari.

I have to say that the software is all very good, and any failures of productivity are attributable to me. Ten years ago, computers were slower, software was not as good, I was using Windows, and it wasn't always just me. By and large, I do not use my university's software tools if I can avoid them because they are just not very good. Blackboard, for example: was it designed with the 70's or the 80's in mind as a retro theme?

But enough about me. Tell us about yourself. :)

mmurray

12-02-2011, 01:30 AM

mcogilvie

12-02-2011, 05:24 AM

Hi mcogilvie,

What do you use the iPad for ? You can't LaTeX without complications like a compiler somewhere else as I understand it. My wife has been using it to project up in lectures writing on the iPad with a stylus and iAnnotate. Just wondering what else it is good for ?
I'm using it now, in fact. I use it for email, rss feeds, todo list, calendar, presentations, uh, piloting the space shuttle. There is a TeX equation editor that I have used to touch up Keynote presentations. I read in bed with it, I take it to meetings, I give talks with it. When I was in the hospital and then stuck in bed for months with a back problem, it was my connection to the outside world. It's 1.5 lbs, gets 10 hours of use on a full charge, and turns on instantly.

What kind of academic are you human ?

Sounds like an old star trek episode, where Kirk defeats the aliens. :)

human

12-02-2011, 02:29 PM

What kind of academic are you human ?

Almost as tough to answer as if you had asked what kind of human I am---
I teach writing and direct a small program on campus.

And you?

I love hearing about tech details, by the way.

human

12-02-2011, 02:29 PM

Human--

Since you are a GTD Connect member, listen to the podcast I just posted last week with Professor Sue. It's specifically about how she applies GTD to the academic world.

Podcast:
https://secure.davidco.com/connect/multimedia/audio.php?titleid=412&trackid=1031

Members-only Forum discussion about it:
http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?13084-Slice-of-GTD-Life-with-a-college-professor

Thanks! I loved Professor Sue's solution with the pouches for each class. Brilliant!

mmurray

12-02-2011, 02:40 PM

Almost as tough to answer as if you had asked what kind of human I am---
I teach writing and direct a small program on campus.

And you?

I love hearing about tech details, by the way.

Mathematician. Research, teaching, too much administration -- the usual stuff!

Michael

mmurray

12-02-2011, 02:46 PM

I'm using it now, in fact. I use it for email, rss feeds, todo list, calendar, presentations, uh, piloting the space shuttle. There is a TeX equation editor that I have used to touch up Keynote presentations. I read in bed with it, I take it to meetings, I give talks with it. When I was in the hospital and then stuck in bed for months with a back problem, it was my connection to the outside world. It's 1.5 lbs, gets 10 hours of use on a full charge, and turns on instantly.

What's the TeX equation editor ? Sounds interesting. They are certainly becoming popular around my campus as something to take to meetings and do presentations with. I was thinking also of using one as a pdf reader using Papers.

Sounds like an old star trek episode, where Kirk defeats the aliens. :)

I did have trouble composing that question :-)

Thanks for the information.

Michael

mcogilvie

12-02-2011, 06:12 PM

Almost as tough to answer as if you had asked what kind of human I am---
I teach writing and direct a small program on campus.

And you?

I'm a physics professor at a research university. OK, what kind of human are you? :)

Suelin23

12-04-2011, 06:58 PM

I'm not an academic, but engage a lot of consultants and always have difficulty in reviewing the documents. They are meant to be done internally, but I always still find lots of spelling errors, typos and minor content errors as well as the bigger content errors. I'd really like to hear how you do thorough reviews of other people's documents. The documents I review now tend to be 50-250 pages, so the long ones could really use a more thorough process to make sure they're done well.

I've bought Tony Buzan's Study Skills Handbook which gives a step by step process to studying, but I thought maybe I should do a once through read first and capture as I go, maybe print out the document and highlight with different colours any typos or sections that need editing fixes and sections with content that needs review.
I find that the first read all the typos stand out, reading it later you tend to skim and miss these things. Also it would be an opportunity to collect ideas as I go and process them after I've read the whole thing at least once, on the second stage focus on studying and looking in detail at certain aspects. Anyway this is my idea but I'd appreciate hearing how others do it.

enyonam

12-05-2011, 01:10 AM

In my work I review my team's deliverables or client's feedback pretty much daily. So I've got to have a system. Most of the documents I can get electronically in MS Word and this makes it simple. I add my review notes using the comments feature in MS Word and ask that all changes be made in track changes without any of the comments being deleted. This way, when I get the document back a second time, I can see what I originally said, as well as the corrections that were made.

If I do a hard copy review, I mark up my hard copy with my review notes - I will also number them and keep track of how many review notes I have. Then when the next copy comes back, I have a reference.

Geoff Dickson

01-17-2012, 04:41 PM

I have been using many aspects of GTD for the last 18months....My academic role has a teaching, research and admin dimension.

I use a Mac ecosystem. The key benefit of this is that I can utilize Things. I cut my GTD teeth with Thinking Rock, but it lacked email integration, so i converted to mac mail which connects to Things more or less seamlessly.

Within Things I assign project status to each of my 12 postgraduate students, and my postgraduate classes. Each research article and each article review is a project. Every other 'initiative' gets project status as well. I have about 55 projects at the moment. I place a lot of emphasis on (re)defining the next actions and the weekly review. These are my GTD bedrocks.

I have an Ipad which I essentially use as a electronic document reader...in fact I bought one for my 12 colleagues on the Research Committee to save trees/money with respect printing costs. I also have an Iphone but I don't use either for GTD purposes.

Would love to try Scrivener as a word processor, but all of my research is collaborative so it is not practical.

I invested some time and money in getting my workstation the way I wanted it...nice and clean and uncluttered and organised. Good pen. Good quality notebook. Stapler. 60 second filing system. All of the GTD basics.

99% of academics who do not employ the principles of GTD are likely not working efficiently (or effectively). I am happy to offer you any specific advice.

mmurray

01-17-2012, 04:46 PM

in fact I bought one for my 12 colleagues on the Research Committee to save trees/money with respect printing costs. I also have an Iphone but I don't use either for GTD purposes.

Do you want an external member for your research committee ? :-)

I haven't gone the iPad route yet. I can see the attractions as PDF reader and meeting tool though. It won't LaTeX though so I am going to pick up my laptop anytime I might need to do that.

So you haven't tried OmniFocus on iPad, iPhone or Mac ?

Michael

Geoff Dickson

01-18-2012, 11:36 AM

I looked at OmniFocus and the GTD add-on for Outlook....the latter was not an option because were Groupwise email...that is now changing so will reconsider...Things looked less intimidating that OmniFocus...I was attracted to the simplicity of Things. It is working well for me...I need to identify and understand of what the more powerful tools like Omnifocus can do for me.

We were spending $18K per annum on printing for our meetings...12 person committee...agendas at 600pages...20 meetings per year....most documents were 'on the table for only a few minutes...spend $10K on Ipads and they paid for themselves within the first year....plus it permitted our whole review system to go electronic/ no hard copies...

mmurray

01-18-2012, 03:31 PM

We were spending $18K per annum on printing for our meetings...12 person committee...agendas at 600pages...20 meetings per year....most documents were 'on the table for only a few minutes...spend $10K on Ipads and they paid for themselves within the first year....plus it permitted our whole review system to go electronic/ no hard copies...

Interesting numbers. So it sounds like our Academic Board which generates a "phone book" for each meeting and most of it is only glanced at! In the meeting do you make your own notes on the iPad as well ?

Michael

SeanJada

01-18-2012, 07:28 PM

I'm an academic with a particularly heavy teaching/advising/administrative load, and I'd love to hear how other academics have implemented GTD.

BE cool to teach every body, don't give physical tension 4 students..

human

01-27-2012, 02:47 PM

I'd really like to hear how you do thorough reviews of other people's documents.

It can help to separate the process of editing into different phases. Revision for content is much different, I find, than searching for typos, punctuation errors, and other grammatical details. When I'm editing longer works (like novels), I usually separate the processes. This way, in revision mode, I can focus only on content. In proofreading mode, I can sit with my style manual and go backwards through the manuscript with my eagle eyeballs.

With this said, it's also important to be clear about who is responsible for editing and proofreading and how much time is given for that part of the project. If the manuscripts really are hundreds of pages, it's a question worth asking. Good proofreading takes time -- and usually a quiet room and a sharp pencil.

/writing teacher rant :)

human

01-27-2012, 02:58 PM

99% of academics who do not employ the principles of GTD are likely not working efficiently (or effectively). I am happy to offer you any specific advice.

I love hearing about your system. After a few years of tinkering (knowing sigh), I think I do have a set-up that works, for the most part. My problem seems to be that, whenever things get a little crazy, I abandon every GTD practice that works (weekly review, processing, collecting, inbox emptying) in favor of just trying to get through the day. As a result, I periodically find myself underwater, out of touch with my own reality.

I don't quite know how to keep myself tethered to the system. It's still there, and it's still useful, when I'm ready to return to it. I'm just not doing the routines that would allow it to help me work effectively and efficiently.

Geoff Dickson

02-20-2012, 09:17 PM

Interesting numbers. So it sounds like our Academic Board which generates a "phone book" for each meeting and most of it is only glanced at! In the meeting do you make your own notes on the iPad as well ?
Michael

NOt alot...I have the luxury of a PA to keep the minutes of the meeting as well as anything 'I have to remember' . "Brigitte, could you make a note for me to call/do...."

I can utilise Goodreader if I wish to annotate a document...I am also starting to make use of the Notes app if I wish to make notes ..that way, I can easily email it to myself.

Geoff Dickson

02-20-2012, 09:26 PM

I love hearing about your system. After a few years of tinkering (knowing sigh), I think I do have a set-up that works, for the most part. My problem seems to be that, whenever things get a little crazy, I abandon every GTD practice that works (weekly review, processing, collecting, inbox emptying) in favor of just trying to get through the day. As a result, I periodically find myself underwater, out of touch with my own reality.

I don't quite know how to keep myself tethered to the system. It's still there, and it's still useful, when I'm ready to return to it. I'm just not doing the routines that would allow it to help me work effectively and efficiently.

I use GTD but have nowhere near perfected it. Hang in there. If you fall off the wagon, then get back on it.

I have printed out the GTD workflow diagram as well as the a list of next action and project verbs...there are only a few that I actually use, but it sits there on my desk all day everyday as a reminder.

Project verbs
Finalize Resolve Complete
Look into Submit Update
Organize Design Set-up
Ensure Roll out
Install Implement

Next-action verbs
Call Organize Review
Buy Fill out Find
Purge Look into
Print Email
Collate Draft

I have also taped this message to the bottom of my computer screen: Informed + organised = productivity = Things.

In other words I love the feeling of being informed and organised...but the end point is about being productive....and all three are far more likely to happen if I am using Things as my daily guide to tasks (as opposed to the email inbox).

This note headed 'Start the day routine' is also prominent:

Plan
1. Check calendar
2. Inbox Zero
a. Delete
b. Delegate
c. Do (if less than 2min)
d. Defer
3. Switch off email

Prepare
1. Organise material for daily meetings
2. Identify ‘best bus’ if going to city
3. Identify priorities for the day
a. What does a successful day look like? [Today list]

Execute
1. Switch email off
2. Eat the Bear

Note how I twice remind myself to switch email off...eat the bear is just a message to get on with the show. One of the above is original, I have lifted parts from various 'best practice' guides.

GTD_Fan

02-21-2012, 06:36 AM

I use GTD but have nowhere near perfected it. Hang in there. If you fall off the wagon, then get back on it.

I have printed out the GTD workflow diagram as well as the a list of next action and project verbs...there are only a few that I actually use, but it sits there on my desk all day everyday as a reminder.

Project verbs
Finalize Resolve Complete
Look into Submit Update
Organize Design Set-up
Ensure Roll out
Install Implement

Next-action verbs
Call Organize Review
Buy Fill out Find
Purge Look into
Print Email
Collate Draft

I have also taped this message to the bottom of my computer screen: Informed + organised = productivity = Things.

In other words I love the feeling of being informed and organised...but the end point is about being productive....and all three are far more likely to happen if I am using Things as my daily guide to tasks (as opposed to the email inbox).

This note headed 'Start the day routine' is also prominent:

Plan
1. Check calendar
2. Inbox Zero
a. Delete
b. Delegate
c. Do (if less than 2min)
d. Defer
3. Switch off email

Prepare
1. Organise material for daily meetings
2. Identify ‘best bus’ if going to city
3. Identify priorities for the day
a. What does a successful day look like? [Today list]

Execute
1. Switch email off
2. Eat the Bear

Note how I twice remind myself to switch email off...eat the bear is just a message to get on with the show. One of the above is original, I have lifted parts from various 'best practice' guides.

I am impressed! Thanks for sharing, Geoff Dickson!

human

02-24-2012, 06:46 AM

I use GTD but have nowhere near perfected it. Hang in there. If you fall off the wagon, then get back on it.

Yes. I'm working on this. I love your "eat the bear" reminder -- and I noticed that your power-up routine happens before you get on the bus to head to campus (did I read right?). That makes sense. I notice that, the moment students and others find me, I can be derailed from the very bears I have planned to eat.

Barb

02-24-2012, 08:10 AM

mcogilvie

02-24-2012, 12:47 PM

Sorry to interrupt. I'm not an Academic, but I like them...

Whew!

If our systems break down when we need them the most, what good are they really?

But we have to be careful about breakdown versus the random craziness of life. If you don't even want to look at your lists, and haven't done any kind of review in a month or more, I'd probably say it's a breakdown. But if you have a couple of bad days and then get back on the horse, no big deal. To paraphrase DA, you have to have had the experience of mind like water, and know how to get back to it. I've found that I need to strip GTD to its most streamlined form to get there more often; a complicated system just needs too much maintenance.

Geoff Dickson

03-12-2012, 07:18 PM

Yes. I'm working on this. I love your "eat the bear" reminder -- and I noticed that your power-up routine happens before you get on the bus to head to campus (did I read right?). That makes sense. I notice that, the moment students and others find me, I can be derailed from the very bears I have planned to eat.

No. My power-up routine (I like THAT term so much I think I will adopt it) occurs when i am in my 'north shore' office. I often have to commute to the city campus for meetings. I am less likely to miss the bus if I have organised myself well prior. The trap for young players is to go for the bus 2 minutes before it leaves and then need to organise meeting materials. Best to do that first thing.

I have few students (10 postgraduates) they are all trained to make appointments. If I had a mass of undergraduates then I would definitely create set office hours and play very hard to get outside of those (notwithstanding their ability to make appointments outside of set office hours).

macgrl

03-20-2012, 11:05 AM

Just a quick question (I suppose that this could apply to any aspect of life or business and GTD) I am a research student doing a PhD and so as a lot of you will know there are many threads of research running at the same time.

How is it best to deal with this with the GTD model (I use omnifocus as my tool).

For example. I have just read through my notes from a meeting that I had with my supervisor. From it came about 12 questions / areas that I need to investigation. I have listed these on my note pad for clarity. Off the top of my head it will possible take about 2 hours per question. Each will involve me sitting down at a computer and researching using legal databases (Lexis and Westlaw) and so each are single actions (I think)

Now do I add these single actions to a named folder and tick them off as I do them. Or do I just have 1 action of "questions in notebook for xxx" - this will act as a place holder that I still need to answer / do all those question in the notebook. This way would mean that I have less actions in the system and the system is more streamlined.

In this situation do I have one next action i.e complete questions or 12 single actions? Is it a project? - all of the actions are independent of each other.

I could have various plans, other questions etc in the notebook, kinda like action support with just one action on my list in my GTD system to remind me that I still have a loose end. A very big loose end:D

Any thoughts are very much appreciated. Applying GTD to the actual mechanic of my PhD is not something that I have done yet. I tend to have a load of project support plans and then a few single actions listed in omnifocus. These action cover big and small actions.

mcgeek

03-20-2012, 02:16 PM

I'm an academic with a particularly heavy teaching/advising/administrative load, and I'd love to hear how other academics have implemented GTD.

Hi Human,

I frequently look back and wonder how my life would have been different had I known about GTD when I was in college. I think for me, personally, just having the projects piece would have been such a gift. I'm not a coach, but here's what I would have done had I known GTD during academia:

-Created all my term papers as Projects and made mind-maps to gather all of the particulars. Then look for the next action so that for every paper I had, all my next actions would be dictated.
-Created contexts specifically dedicated to the places I occupied most, such as @Library, @Lecture, @Study time, etc. I imagine this would have been a very interesting group of contexts to create.
-Used the Project Support, Waiting For, and Read and Review folders like crazy! As well as having an inbox to process all of my homework and class notes.

One of the best parts of GTD is creatively catering it to where your life is right now. It might be fun to take a look through the book and see how you can set up the different pieces to fit your life juuust right (like Goldilocks).

Best to you in your studies!

:)