You should check out the hipster PDA, it’s just some index cards and a binder clip together but it’s an cheap and easily expandable paper-based way to take care of business.
For years, I missed my (stolen) Newton MessagePad 2100. I tried a Palm, but all that did was screw up my handwriting (just now recovering). OK, to be fair, it beeped at me when I had meetings, and could sync with my computer, so it was usable.
Then I spent a nice amount of time with todotxt.sh and a hipster PDA (Actually, I guess a “mini-hipster”: a single folded 3×5 card with microscopic print. I’m not that hip.)
Now, I’ve switched to an iPhone and web apps. I installed Tasks on a web server I have access to, and my data is accessible and modifiable everywhere. My wife can even email me things to do and they get added to the system. Well, maybe that’s not an advantage.
Well, your iPhone will only serve you well within the USA because they are not supported in Canada, for one thing. I’d probably own an iPhone right now if they did.
This being said, my current setup is similar.
I carry a low-tech analog solution which is just a pocket notepad. I don’t actually use it as an organizer, it is merely a collection tool. Things collected there will either end up on my calendar or my GTD to-do list.
I now use my Calendar exclusively for meetings. I use Google Calendar. It is on the Web and (in theory) my wife could have access to it.
Then, I have this GTD todo list that I created using an XML file. The file itself is stored in a CVS server, so it is available from anywhere. It is highly sophisticated in the following sense: projects are organized into goals and I distinguish between “actions” and “next actions”.
Here are some important points:
1) Having your projects organized into goals forces you to have goals, to keep them up to date, and to figuring out what you are doing to achieve your goals. You start to see patterns in the various things you do. My goals are very high level, like “unify the laws of physics”.
2) Organizing actions into projects is obviously useful because it avoid the “one-big-stressful” list syndrome. Because I am a researcher and professor, and not an administrative assistant, some of my “actions” are pretty high level like “implement this algorithm”. I find the decomposing the projects into more actions than necessary is wasteful.
3) Throwing everything in the calendar is crazy. I invariably end up with “clusters” where I have too many things to do. Then I have to push back my tasks further into the future. In any case, for many reasons, mixing to-dos, reminders and meetings on a single calendar ends up being a source of stress.
4) My current setup is pretty much stress-free. What I carry with me is a temporary collection of notes and to-dos which I am in the habit of throwing away once I got around to classify it. My calendar is pretty empty. My to-do lists are also pretty thin: I rarely see all of the actions I need to do, I only view the “next actions”. (Since I maintain my to-do file as an XML file, you can imagine how I achieve this feat…).
The important thing is to setup a system and come to trust it, and get most reminders out of your face, most of the time.
I think that a PDA ends up being a source of stress.
You should check out the hipster PDA, it’s just some index cards and a binder clip together but it’s an cheap and easily expandable paper-based way to take care of business.
http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/03/introducing-the-hipster-pda/
I carry a small Moleskine notebook; it’s good quality, lasts long and comes in a variety of styles & sizes.
For years, I missed my (stolen) Newton MessagePad 2100. I tried a Palm, but all that did was screw up my handwriting (just now recovering). OK, to be fair, it beeped at me when I had meetings, and could sync with my computer, so it was usable.
Then I spent a nice amount of time with todotxt.sh and a hipster PDA (Actually, I guess a “mini-hipster”: a single folded 3×5 card with microscopic print. I’m not that hip.)
Now, I’ve switched to an iPhone and web apps. I installed Tasks on a web server I have access to, and my data is accessible and modifiable everywhere. My wife can even email me things to do and they get added to the system. Well, maybe that’s not an advantage.
Well, your iPhone will only serve you well within the USA because they are not supported in Canada, for one thing. I’d probably own an iPhone right now if they did.
This being said, my current setup is similar.
I carry a low-tech analog solution which is just a pocket notepad. I don’t actually use it as an organizer, it is merely a collection tool. Things collected there will either end up on my calendar or my GTD to-do list.
I now use my Calendar exclusively for meetings. I use Google Calendar. It is on the Web and (in theory) my wife could have access to it.
Then, I have this GTD todo list that I created using an XML file. The file itself is stored in a CVS server, so it is available from anywhere. It is highly sophisticated in the following sense: projects are organized into goals and I distinguish between “actions” and “next actions”.
Here are some important points:
1) Having your projects organized into goals forces you to have goals, to keep them up to date, and to figuring out what you are doing to achieve your goals. You start to see patterns in the various things you do. My goals are very high level, like “unify the laws of physics”.
2) Organizing actions into projects is obviously useful because it avoid the “one-big-stressful” list syndrome. Because I am a researcher and professor, and not an administrative assistant, some of my “actions” are pretty high level like “implement this algorithm”. I find the decomposing the projects into more actions than necessary is wasteful.
3) Throwing everything in the calendar is crazy. I invariably end up with “clusters” where I have too many things to do. Then I have to push back my tasks further into the future. In any case, for many reasons, mixing to-dos, reminders and meetings on a single calendar ends up being a source of stress.
4) My current setup is pretty much stress-free. What I carry with me is a temporary collection of notes and to-dos which I am in the habit of throwing away once I got around to classify it. My calendar is pretty empty. My to-do lists are also pretty thin: I rarely see all of the actions I need to do, I only view the “next actions”. (Since I maintain my to-do file as an XML file, you can imagine how I achieve this feat…).
The important thing is to setup a system and come to trust it, and get most reminders out of your face, most of the time.
I think that a PDA ends up being a source of stress.