I've read GTD a couple of times and i'm trying to find the best way to adapt it to my current system.

I'm a 27 years-old professional that works as a systems analyst for the local government. I am starting to tackle bigger projects and for the first time in my life, i'm going be managing a medium-size project and one co-worker.

Back in 1996, I programmed a simple application in Clipper that printed calendar pages. I simply input a date, it would then go back to the monday of that week and print a week with big squares and lines. I've been using this as a life logbook as well as a general (calendars) for date-specific actions. I use this to jot down basic things (bought new hard drive, went to dinner with Roxanne, purchased VCR for 90$, etc.)... This has been working nicely.

At this moment, my personal binder has the following sections :

1) Calendar (I have about 60 pages, I keep 3 months backlog and 12 months forward)

2) Notes

3) Address book (which is a simple Word file I update and print out as needed )

4) Work (work-specific documents, insurance thingies, paychecks, etc.)

5) Misc (hospital cards, newsletters I need to read, etc.


What i'm having trouble with is managing the projects and next actions with paper. I tried using a PROJECTS section as well as an ACTIONS section, but I end up writing actions on both sections. I would like not to have to re-write as much. I also try to use @home, @work and @out as main categories.

Can somebody give me tips on how to manage PROJECTS and ACTIONS with plain paper?

Thanks a lot, regards from Quebec City, Canada !


Dave