I can get pretty maniacal about process. When I was first learned about the Getting Things Done phenomenon, I glommed onto it like a process-obsessed moth to a properly indexed flame. At the same time, I knew how easy it is to the processing overtake the doing. In the intervening time, I think I’ve developed a pretty good—yet still evolving—system for organizing my life.
The system is centered on a tool called Kinkless GTD. This is my master vault, where I keep all my to-dos, organized by project. On the surface, it is simply an outline written in the excellent OmniOutliner. Underneath the surface, however, are scads of scripting and formatting rules developed by one Ethan Schoonover, using OmniOutliner’s support for third-party scripting. He calls the package Kinkless GTD, or kGTD.
This system is not for everyone. It can be clunky at times. For me, it works, because it embodies the principal of GTD I value most, which is to Get Things Out of My Brain. Everytime I have a thought about a project, I write it down in my kGTD document, filing it under the proper project. Everytime I get an email from a client, saying she’s going to delivery something by X date, I write it down in kGTD, tag it as “Waiting on” and list the date it’s supposed to arrive. Everything anything happens, it goes down in my kGTD outline.
The benefit being, if all my to-dos are one place, they’re easy to retrieve. The first thing I do everyday is open up my kGTD file, sync (which removes done items and changes the formatting of due items so they stand out more), and then scan the document for items to do today. I write those down on a separate list—usually a notepad next to my keboard—then work exclusively off that list for the rest of the day. If I’m feeling really energetic, I’ll even mark down time slots for each task, so I know, realistically, what I’ll be getting done today for sure.
What was revelatory for me about GTD was not the specific systems it describes, but the philosophies behind them. Get stuff off your brain and onto paper. If you’re frustrated, fix the process. Put stuff where it belongs. I’ve tried lots of other tools, and I keep coming back to kGTD, because it’s the easiest tool that allows me to accomplish those goals.
Responses to “A peek into how I get things done”
August 27th, 2007 at 1:07 am
I think this is actually why I like Stikkits. It’s unorganized and chaotic. Kinda like my brain. But having things together in one spot helps. And it truly helps to be able to take bits of information with a variety of tags so I can cross-reference them easily, and in a manner that is most typical to the way my brain works. Backpack required me to be too organized and structured so it didn’t work at all. but this kGTD sounds intriguing and I think I’ll add a link to my todo list in Stikkit so I can check it out. Thanks, Sandy.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:45 am
I’ve been trying to use Backpack with the GTD system, but I’ve fallen off the GTD wagon as of late (it’s summer).
I found the most effective aspect of GTD was to ‘find a place for everything.’ It’s been hugely helpful in eliminating piles of generically ‘important’ things.