2 "Lives", one system? Help with tech approach, p

[Anonymous]

I began this posting on the general forum, but it seems that the answer may be tech-related, so I'll quickly recap here, then post my questions.

I have a corporate job where I work from a home office and on site with 20 fixed clients. All info is done on a corporate laptop on WinXP, on which I am barred from adding any software of my own. I use MS Outlook, which operates through a firewall.

I also have my own company, which takes 10-15 hours per week. This is run from my home PC, running Win98. I do not have Outlook on this PC. I cannot access corporate resources from this PC because of the firewall,except for the "mymail' function of Microsoft Exchange which does not allow you to add new tasks.

Both computers are hooked up to my home network, so I can share files between them.

I am trying to set up GTD, but can't figure out a way to 'meld' these two lives onto one machine. I do have an older Palm Pilot, but it is currently not set up to sync on the laptop because I am using 3rd party programs (which I will give up if need be).

Someone in the other forum suggested creating a Word or Excel system for GTD -- so, my questions:

1. Is there a better way that you can think of?
2. Is there an existing template/system already designed in Excel or Word?
3. How would I integrate the emails into a Word/Excel format, or is it better to have 2 parallel email systems?

This is mind boggling ... thanks for any ideas.

[Anonymous]

1. Is there a better way that you can think of?

You might try using MemoLeaf http://www.redwood-creative.com/softwar2.htm on your Palm to implement the CyberPoche http://avm.online.fr/cyb.html method. This would require you to (probably) sync only from your W98 machine. Although you did not like not having the ability to sync with Outlook, unless you wanted to keep your office emails on your Palm, it should not be a great burdon to duplicate your office "stuff" on your Palm. CyberPoche only requires DateBook and MemoPad (MemoLeaf uses it), and I have found that having all my addresses on my Palm is a VERY good thing. Yes, there would be duplicate entries. However, you would also have a backup device (your Palm) that would contain your GtD system in case the laptop was lost/ stolen/ broke.

2. Is there an existing template/system already designed in Excel or Word?

There is a freeware implementation in Excel http://www.bellc.com/productivity_management.html that may be up your alley. Sorry, I just found it the other day, so I can't speak to its quality. But the price is good. If it works for you, you can keep the Excel spreadsheet on a floppy or a thumbdrive and carry it with you everywhere. A search for '"David Allen" "Getting Things Done" software' on your favorite search engine might give you some other possibilities.

3. How would I integrate the emails into a Word/Excel format, or is it better to have 2 parallel email systems?

I would keep 2 parallel email systems. I have (at my office) Outlook email, and personally I use Yahoo email. As long as you check both inboxes, I doubt that you would have any problem. Unless, that is, your job requires you to receive and reply to many emails from both sources each day.