The simplest system for getting things done

[Daybooker]

Has anyone heard of our organizing tool The Daybook? I was astounded when I recently saw a newspaper feature on GTD and found that our humble Daybook allows you to follow David Allen's advice in such an elegant manner. It's a book you keep open on your desk and take with you to meetings etc, where you keep all your written information in. Write lists, prioritize, check who you've delegated an action to and who has delegated to you, take notes in meetings and during phone conversations, and have a beautifully simple cross-checking system which makes sure nothing slips through the cracks. Daybooks are so simple you won't even realize you're using an organizer. Check out our website http://www.qapublishing.com.au

[ggoldman]

I would love to see more about your product, are there screen shots of the pages ?

Thanks

[jennifergeorge]

I'd love to see more pictures too. Is it just the white page and the yellow page that appear on your Web site?

[Daybooker]

ggoldman and jennifergoerge, thanks for your interest. The pages on our web site (www.qapublishing.com.au) are just about it. It really is that simple.

The white pages form the majority of the book. All you do is keep your Daybook open on your desk and write everything on those pages (no more sticky notes to misplace, no more notepads, loose bits of paper etc). You can use as many pages each day as you need - simply date the pages as you go. (Some days you will need to write down more than on other days.) In meetings you can take notes quickly - this is much easier than transferring information from notepads or trying to key things into a laptop or electronic organiser while trying to concentrate on what is being said.

The yellow pages are part of the cross-checking system which makes sure you don't forget to deal with something. How this works: Every 14 white pages you are prompted by a yellow 'Outstanding Action Summary' page to review any unfinished items in the previous 14 pages. You then bring forward any unfinished items and they become your priority before you move on to the next lot of white pages.

But there is no need to read over absolutely everything when you get to a yellow page, because as you finish everything on a particular white page, you colour in the triangle in the top corner of the page. So when you go back to check for unfinished actions, you only need to check those pages on which you haven't coloured in the triangle. No other organiser has a system like this, which is the simplest system we have been able to find.

There is one other page, which is on the back of each yellow page, and this is a time line task planner. Some people use this, others don't. It seems to depend on the type of work you do. It's there if you want to get an overview of any upcoming projects, and it can help to organise your thoughts on what needs doing.

The Daybook's size (210mm x 295mm) and each book has 126 general work pages (the white pages you use on a day-to-day basis) plus 9 outstanding action summary pages, which are part of the simple cross-checking system.

When you finish with a Daybook, you keep it for future reference, and you start a new one. At the front of each book is a space to put the start date and the finish date of that book.

Hope this helps.

[Day Owl]

Why is this not an advertisement?

[mcogilvie]

Why is this not an advertisement?

It is an advertisement of sorts, but it is relevant, informative, and not very aggressive. I was not offended by it, but at $30 a book, the daybook is pricey.

[Jamie Elis]

Just to clarify...the term "day book" is also used for a "tickler" book. Often at radio or TV stations or in the office part of a hospital ward, the tickler is used to put anything in that needs to be acted upon on a certain day, especially press releases where the announcer might want to sort through and decide what fits in that day. In the hospital ward, it might be announcements that everyone should read who is coming in for the various shifts. I know this from working in these places.

[Trish]

Hi, Where is the newspaper article talking about GTD and the Daybook? I would like to read it. Thanks, Trish

[vatark]

Hi, Where is the newspaper article talking about GTD and the Daybook? I would like to read it. Thanks, Trish

They don't actually say it was an article about GTD and the Daybook. They only said they read an article and realised how the two would work together.

Having so far defended them I'd just like to point out that the Daybook system they use could easily be adopted in any notebook. The spiral bound ones would be best, but all you need to do is review what's happened every few days - that'd be the weekly review then - and write up the outstanding actions. You could even colour the corner of pages where all the actions have been completed. Total cost for the system - no more than you'd usually pay for a note book.

[Daybooker]

Hi everyone,

I appreciate all your comments. I suppose my original post was an ad of sorts, but we are not a huge stationery company, just a husband and wife team who ended up producing these books because we needed something like them for our work (architect and editor) and couldn't find anything already in existence. When I saw the article on GTD (in Australia's Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend section, on Sat March 29) I looked up GTD, and you know the rest.

Yes, Daybooks are pricey if you're not in Australia because depending on where you are, half or more of that price is the postage cost, and then there's the package too. In Oz we've priced the book at $15 (AUD) ex tax (with tax 16.95). We don't actually make all that much on them at all.

The most expensive part of producing them is inserting the yellow pages. Every printer I've spoken to says there is no machine that will do this and so those pages need to be inserted manually.

And yes, you could just use a notepad and format it yourself, but then you could do the same instead of buying a diary or calendar. You could even buy blank paper and rule the lines too and make your own notepad. It's all about adding value.

Would love to hear any other questions or even suggestions for better production techniques.