ZTD Habit 1: Collect

Scott Young Says:

April 17th, 2007, 22:00 pm

Leo,

Great job with the ZTD posts. When I wrote Habitual Mastery, I got a huge flow of traffic from the extensive series. I’m sure you can probably get an even greater response when it’s completed.

-Scott

Benton Says:

April 18th, 2007, 0:03 am

Loving it so far and hope you align the project with k.i.s.s. so I dont get lost after habit 1. I was wondering if you are planning to do this thing week by week habits with daily rss feeds with tips on the habit. or pumpin them out 1 after another. It’d be very “zen” to introduce the habit then a one sentence tip each day.

Leo Says:

April 18th, 2007, 0:11 am

Hi Benton … thanks for your comment and suggestions! My plan right now is just to pump them all out in the next couple of days, to get it over with and out of my head, and so I can get back to my regular posting schedule. Really, I just want to provide these posts on each habit as a reference for anyone who wants to read more.

As for a daily tip, that’s not a bad idea. Currently, a group of readers is doing the April Challenge with me, and I send out a daily email. Maybe we could work on ZTD habits in future challenges, with daily emails.

Dan Says:

April 18th, 2007, 12:50 pm

I really like the post, but I’d disagree with your recommendation of a paper-based system over a PDA-based one. The fancy electronic gizmos can be a huge distraction if used improperly, but it can work wonderfully if people just ignore all the features and treat the device essentially like a pocket notebook.

As an example, I use a Blackberry to organize my life, but instead of using the overly-complicated Tasks function to keep track of what I have to do, I have a big collection of memo files that are individual lists. Little descriptive prefixes at the beginning of each file tell me what it is. “Act Errands,” for instance, is a list of errands I need to run. “Act Phone” is for phone calls. “Tkl May” is a tickle file for things I need to think about in the month of May. The prefix-scheme has an added advantage in that the Blackberry memo screen includes a search dialog at the top to allow for easy sorting. I just type a-c-t and have a list of all possible contexts for next actions.

Unfortunately, if you type “gtd blackberry” into Google, you get a bunch of blog entries on grossly elaborate systems involving syncing with Outlook and a bunch of third party software. I can confidently say that if your GTD system _requires_ the use of specific GTD-enabled software, then you’re doing it wrong. While PDAs provide an easy way to lose sight of the forest for your fancy new chainsaw, non-paper-based systems can provide a lot more efficiency and flexibility if keep the right mindset.

Leo Says:

April 18th, 2007, 15:40 pm

Hi Dan … thanks for your thoughtful comment. It looks to me like you’ve got a great setup. As I said, if your PDA works for you, go for it. I’m not knocking digital setups, especially if they are as simple as possible, like your is. However, I still think paper systems are simpler (and at least slightly easier to access at any moment), so I would still recommend them for the majority of users — especially if you don’t already have a PDA — there’s no reason to go out and buy one just to create a new system. If you have a simple digital solution, go for it, but if you are on the fence, I would recommend you do a little experiment, and try each system for a few days, and see which one you are more likely to stick with. Thanks for the comment, Dan!

Jens Poder Says:

April 18th, 2007, 15:54 pm

This site is just getting better and better. Thanks!

For capturing tools I’m using my smartphone. My Nokia e61 has a button, and when I push it, it starts the build in dictaphone.

For me the problem with notebooks is that I don’t carry it all the time. I used to have a moleskine with me everywhere, and it worked okay, but especially at home i had a tendency to leave it on my desk.

I always have my phone in my trouser pocket! And it also lets me capture stuff when I drive my care, do the garden, and a lot of other situations where writing in a notebook is akward. These situations actually seem to be where I get my best ideas because of the relaxed state of mind.

The only other GTD-thing i use my smartphone for i calendar. I agree with other people that trying to sync GTD-lists with computers is a hellish nightmare. I wonder why getting these devices to talk to each flawlessly is so dificult…

ZTD rocks.

- Jens Poder

Leo Says:

April 18th, 2007, 16:05 pm

Thanks Jens! I appreciate that. I also like your take on your capture system. It sounds very easy for you to capture new thoughts and tasks. Can I ask: how easy is it for you to get the things you’ve dictated out of the phone and into the computer? If each dictation could be sent to your email via a service like Jott, that would be ideal. If it’s too hard to transcribe your dictated notes (i.e. if you find yourself reluctant to do it because it takes too long) then I would give that some thought. Great comment!

Iskandar Says:

April 19th, 2007, 22:50 pm

I agree. And to get the habit going online, don’t forget that there’s something called the Google Notebook.

You can copy down good things from websites into the notebook just like that. A nifty tool

betsbillabong Says:

April 20th, 2007, 1:09 am

I have to say that, for capturing action items on the fly while at my computer, I really love Actiontastic (www.kaboomerang.com) — because it also syncs with my ipod, leaving me a nice collection of all my context lists. Of course, I still have to carry around an index card or something else to write down things on the fly, but my ipod is tiny and I almost always have it. It’s free, too. (the software, not the ipod, unfortunately).

Jess Says:

April 20th, 2007, 8:50 am

Hi Leo,

While I like the idea that capturing on paper is faster than a PDA at the point of capture, it just makes the process longer at the end of the day, or whenever you transfer from paper to your system (well, assuming said system is electronic, anyway).

I’ve not quite figured out / come to terms with GTD’s amount of paper required yet so my todos/actions contain more information about the thing than perhaps they should, so I need them electronic to be able to search. Plus, the things captured while on the move generally contain info that needs to go in various places in the system anyway, so it either needs re-writing or typing up regardless.

Iskandar: Opera has had a Notes thingy built-in for ages, I don’t use it much though, maybe I should.. /me ponders a system to export them somewhere sane..

Jess

7001 Says:

April 23rd, 2007, 4:55 am

I too use the inbuilt dictaphone of my telephone. I tried notebooks, hipster PDA:s and pieces of paper for years, but it didn’t work for me.

1. I use to carry with me my keys, telephone, wallett, calendar, a memory stick, digital camera, and mp3 player. Thats a bit too much, but at least the first four are obligatory. If I knew the way to reduce even that, I’d do it. Actually I’m thinking of ditching my paper calendar for the inbuilt calendar in my phone.

2. Remembering the notebook is fairly easy but finding where I put my pen or pencil is far harder.

3. I have a terrible handwriting, and finding the notebook and the pencil, preparing to write, writing it down etc. takes time. I too have the dictaphone function programmed so that beginning to record takes only two consecutive pushes of one button.

4. I seem to be better in expressing my thoughts concisely by talking than writing. Very few of my recordings take more than a few seconds. This might be because my old job with horribly long and ineffective meetings, when we made up our own informal way to actually transfer the relevant information. We called it “say it in four words.”

5. Transcribing the notes isn’t any harder than transcribing from paper.

6. I don’t like the idea of my paper notes lying everywhere for anyone to see. Sooner or later someone peeps at your notebook anyway.

7. Dictaphone is an excellent capture tool because once it is done or transferred to my calendar etc, I just destroy the note. Makes it easy to keep the capture lists empty, as I think they’re supposed to be.

8. “Hello, computer!” (http://www.sysprog.net/hello.html)

I’m still on my first step of ZTD, so I dont’ have that much experience yet. Anyway, I’m not going back to writing notes anytime soon. The superiority of a dictaphone (for me) was really drastic.

Bernd Says:

May 14th, 2007, 19:41 pm

I’m using the ubiquitous capture process (albeit not under that name) for about twenty years now, and it made a huge difference in my life. Most of the time I used a small notepad.

For some time I used a micro cassette based dictaphone, but finally returned to the notepad, because the winding operations were too slow and the device was not really robust enough for anytime-and-everywhere use.

But for two years now I use a digital dictaphone (Olympus VN series), and I significantly prefer it over the notepad. The advantages are: The capturing process is faster (this is most important, using a PDA would be far too slow for me), I need only one hand to do it, and I don’t even have to look at the device to operate it. So, for example, I don’t have to stop walking to capture an idea. And it’s very robust. Transcribing the notes is — as another commenter said — not any harder than transcribing from paper. This is the best solution for me I found so far.

Dave M Says:

May 24th, 2007, 6:39 am

Has anyone tried voice-recognition systems like http://www.jott.com? I started playing around with this last week, but so far I really love the concept for GTD/ZTD collection.

Jott is a free service - you register your email address and your cell phone number, and then you simply call a toll-free number and talk. The system transcribes your voice and sends an email. You can send to yourself by simply saying “me” at the beginning, or you can actually send “jotts” to anyone else in your contact list. It’s pretty cool so far. Once you have the email, it’s “captured” and you can then add it to your task list, calendar, etc.

The reason I like this is for the same reasons others have mentioned… I ALWAYS have my cell phone with me. It’s not an advanced PDA phone or anything like that, just a basic phone (it’s all my company will provide). :-( But with services like Jott out there, I just need a way to make a quick phone call.

Again, I’ve just started using it, but so far I really like it!

Cristina Ramos Says:

June 19th, 2007, 17:49 pm

I have an iPaqrw6815.
It’s both a Pocket PC and a phone. And it has Bluetooth and Wi-fi.
I love it.
And I love OneNote 2007 to capture all kinds of information.
It has a mobile version in which I can capture written notes, voice recordings and photos (the iPaq comes with a 2M pixel camera). Sometimes I just take a picture of something I want to remind later, some product, street name, cover of a book, etc.
Voice notes are also easy and quick.
When I sync the PDA with my home computer the notes are immediately copied to OneNote 2007 where I can processed them later.

–
Cristina in Lisboa, Portugal

Kyle Says:

August 9th, 2007, 2:13 am

I see the logic in using a small notebook for quick entry on the go. My question is how do you process the information later?

Do you keep all your lists on your computer? This would mean that you would have to enter them all into your computer several times throughout the day. Also, your lists wouldn’t be mobile so you wouldn’t be able to review them when out.

I am also thinking about my physical inbox. Just because someone throws a piece of mail in there doesn’t mean I stop everything and process it. There should be a designated time to process all the stuff in your inbox. I would like to have a similar set up with my “mental inbox” (even when I am not on the go). What do you think?

Sir Vertual Says:

February 11th, 2008, 11:53 am

In 1990 I opened a ‘1st of it’s kind’ specialty retail based business…selling mainly the high investment, custom-built items I designed and had built to spec. along with 3rd party support product…
Hiring only down & out, lost souls…I experimented with my concept: ‘the School of Getting your Sh*t Together’…
So, I had to laugh when I read the 1st line here:”Carry a small notebook”…as this was the main ‘tool’ in organizing not only the day’s tasks, but also longer term projects and goals…Although, I had some ‘employees’ that were useless and had no intentions of actually ‘working’ (especially working with a team toward a common goal), I can attest to the fact that this 1st ‘Habit’ is (without question) the basis for organizing (provided its actually used)…By using each page ‘as a day in the life’, these notebooks become a most valuable tool…And I’d ‘wholeheartedly’ agree that the standard (for me: the ol’ 8.5 X 5.5) ringbound notebook and a good pen with a clip (for attaching to the ring binder), is the best…allowing you to ‘remember’ names, numbers, ideas, diagrams, dimensions…’anything’…almost instantaneously…(provided you made the small effort of taking notes while doing anything that you might want to recall later)…As an example, months after speaking briefly with a random prospect, you become an amazing ‘instant recall specialist’ when the prosect calls one day out of the blue…But the main benefit is that ‘things get done’…and both short-term and long-term goals can be reached much easier than without ‘just an ordinary lil’ ol’ notebook’…