The GTD Academic

[human]

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

[kelstarrising]

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/m...2&trackid=1031

Members-only Forum discussion about it:
http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthr...lege-professor

[human]

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/m...2&trackid=1031

Members-only Forum discussion about it:
http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthr...lege-professor

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

[mcogilvie]

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]

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 ?

Sorry I am leading us astray. What kind of academic are you human ?

Thanks - Michael

[mcogilvie]

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.

[mmurray]

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

[human]

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.

[mmurray]

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

[mcogilvie]

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?