Your advice for handling Voice Mails and Calendared items?

[WebMarketer]

Hi all,

Still kinda new to the GTD thing, and at this early stage I'm struggling a bit to get comfortable with these 2 areas (among others):

Managing voice mails: I know that the answering machine serves as its own in-box, so the voice mails I want to keep get transferred to paper. But this is where I'm sorta stuck...

1. Once I transfer the contents of these messages onto paper (names, contact info, details discussed, etc.), how do I go about processing and organizing them effectively?
2. Is it simply a matter of extracting the important stuff out, and then routing all this to the appropriate place in my system?

Managing calendared items: Currently, I'm handling these items by tracking them two ways:

• paper-based calendar: for scheduling my day- and time-specific commitments
• digital calendar: same as above, but using Google Calendar

1. Is it redundant to mark down my day- and time-specific commitments in BOTH my paper and online calendar?
2. Do you use a "hybrid" solution (digital+paper) for your calendared items too? If so, how do you make it work effectively?

I could use your help in these areas. ANY advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

[kewms]

1. Once I transfer the contents of these messages onto paper (names, contact info, details discussed, etc.), how do I go about processing and organizing them effectively?
2. Is it simply a matter of extracting the important stuff out, and then routing all this to the appropriate place in my system?

Process voice mail messages like any other inbox item: decide whether to do it, delegate it, or defer it, then add to the appropriate list.

[*]Is it redundant to mark down my day- and time-specific commitments in BOTH my paper and online calendar?[*]Do you use a "hybrid" solution (digital+paper) for your calendared items too? If so, how do you make it work effectively?[/LIST]

Yes, having two calendars is redundant. There's a significant risk that they'll slip out of sync with each other.

The best answer is to only have one. If you need two for some reason -- say to share with others -- decide which one is definitive and make sure it has *all* items.

Good luck,

Katherine

[TesTeq]

Is it redundant to mark down my day- and time-specific commitments in BOTH my paper and online calendar?

Having two calendars is like having two clocks.

If you have one clock you know the time. If you have two clocks you never know the time (unless you are sure that clocks are synchronized).

[ScottL]

Dissenting opinion on the two calendars.

Yes there is a risk, but there is nothing that can replace the look of a large month at a glance paper calendar--my PDA alone would not work as well.

"Do you use a "hybrid" solution (digital+paper) for your calendared items too? If so, how do you make it work effectively?"

I asked this very question and there is a thread somewhere (last 12 months) where I asked this same question and got some helpful answers. Try searching.

[Brent]

About digital+paper calendared systems: Yep, it's possible, though it's somewhat more complicated than just having one. The complexity might be worth it for your own situation.

Personally, I only use one calendar (paper), which works well for me. But that's just me.

[WebMarketer]

Hey everyone,

Thanks a lot for your suggestions! Some really good points have been made, which have helped me to re-assess my calendar situation.

@ScottL: I found the thread you mentioned -- thanks for pointing it out.

The slightly intimidating habit of "duplicate writing" that comes with using 2 calendars, one digital and the other paper-based, is what I see as the main Achilles’ heel in maintaining such a system.

On the one hand I like Google Calendar because it has a nice clean layout and it's just fun to use. Yet on the flip-side, and perhaps more importantly, using a paper-based calendar gives me the advantage of having it with me at all times, and I also must admit that paper does feels more natural to me. When it comes to calendaring, pen and paper works best for me I think.

So here's my current solution:

I started using Google Calendar to print out each month of the year. Then I took each monthly printout (May, June, and July for now) and fitted these inside my main 3-ring paper planner, so that each monthly foldout appears at the beginning of each tabbed month in my planner. So if I flip over to the June section, I now have a nice month-at-a-glance view for June, which I can refer back to and update on the fly at any time. This kind of system is working well for me so far!