5 Simple, Effective GTD Tools

Kim Roach Says:

May 1st, 2007, 9:13 am

I love GTD. Making lists has helped me get everything out of my head and recorded in a trusted system. I review my lists on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The daily review helps me to focus on what immediately needs to get done while the weekly and monthly reviews help me to analyze what’s working best and what I need to eliminate. This way, I am able to focus completely on the 20% of inputs that create 80% of the results.

Thanks once again for your great tips Leo. I will definitely be checking out some of these tools, but it’s hard to beat the plain ‘ol notebook and paper.

Vincent Says:

May 1st, 2007, 9:30 am

I recently discovered this blog and now I’m a subscriber. Thanks for all the lovely information! It’s awesome.

For my GTD purposes, I use a program called Tomboy. It’s included in the latest GNOME desktop, which is included in the latest release of Ubuntu GNU/Linux.

Tomboy is nice because if you’re at your computer all the time, it’s accessible via hotkey (ALT+F12 opens a list of recent notes–or, in my case, lists–and ALT+SHIFT+F12 creates a new one automatically). It can be likened to Post-Its for your computer, but better, because you can link them all together. Which means that I have a Next Actions note and an Inbox note, etc, but within those notes are lists containing keywords that lead to other notes. This is a particularly useful feature for Projects, where I’ll create a main note for one project wherein each task can be linked to other, smaller tasks, quickly and easily.

Tomboy is also smart enough to know if you’ve already created a note based on what you type–so, say you type “fold laundry” within one note, the words “fold laundry” automatically become a link to the note entitled “fold laundry” (if it exists) which can include a list like fold socks, fold shirts, etc.

I think I like how free-form it is. You can associate thoughts and create a web of information almost instantaneously. It’s much simpler and more intuitive than I’ve made it sound here, but I’m not so economical with my words. Basically, though, it’s like Post-Its, but if Post-Its automatically had strings attached to other Post-Its with similar (or parent or child) ideas written on them.

Sorry, this is probably the longest first comment in the history of first comments.

Leo Says:

May 1st, 2007, 9:37 am

@Kim — I agree, paper notebook is best. That’s actually second on the list, but I listed it as “Moleskine” because that’ my favorite brand of notebook. Any brand will do, though!

@Vincent: Don’t worry about long comments — yours was great, and long comments are encouraged! Thanks for sharing your experiences with Tomboy. I’ve heard of it, of course, but haven’t given it a try. It’s definitely something worth noting, from what you’ve told us. Thanks!

Ben Says:

May 1st, 2007, 9:42 am

I have been enjoying iGTD. It works really well for me. Although this is somewhat counter to what David Allen recommends I keep my work and home life strictly separated, and to me part of the point of GTD at work is that I leave work everyday without a worry on my mind, and knowing I can pick up in the morning. In rare case work thoughts do stumble into my life, I put them on the hipster PDA. So iGTD, the hipster PDA and a big Utrecht sketchbook take care of my GTD at work.

My GTD at home hasn’t been as smooth. I use my hipster PDA and Backpack reminders to keep me alerted to the next actions I need to take at home. I use backpack to keep track of the projects I’m working on in my home life, but since I’m not in front of a computer all the time at home it doesn’t work great. I have an inbox at home that I have trouble processing thoroughly.

I want to spend 15 minutes a day at home on GTD, and 15 meditating, but those are the two tasks that get dropped day after day even though they give me way more satisfaction than Battlestar Galactica and my RSS feeds. I guess that’s why I’m at the zen habits site!

Kit Says:

May 1st, 2007, 9:53 am

I happen to use Rainlendar. It’s customizable and helps me keep on track. It allows for lists and it allows for appointments. There might be better, more complicated things to make your life simpler but for me, Rainlendar is a glance-and-go type of program.

Jose Says:

May 1st, 2007, 9:54 am

Personally, I believe the simpler the tool, the better. A simple steno book from Staples (sorry for the advertisement) does the trick from me. This notebook has been more efficient than my previous PDA and any other todo list I tried online. I carried with me all the time wherever I go. I look like a weirdo with my notebook, but I don’t care because I write down whatever todo that pops into my head. I use a red pen to check off an item, it feels good seeing a notebook with red lines over many items in a todo list. :)

Eventually, I will organize my list by using different labels like @home, @errands, etc. I have a separate notebook for work, so I don’t overlap and/or confuse things.

Also, I use index cards for evening routines (shave, shower, prepare for next day, etc.). Since I get on my computer when I get home, I place these index cards right in front of my monitor as a remainder. To my surprise, lately I have been doing my evening routine without even looking at my index cards.

Thanks for sharing additional tips, Leo.

Balfour Says:

May 1st, 2007, 11:10 am

I love GTD and recently started re-reading the book. I use the to-do list function in my Palm Pilot, with mostly separate lists for work vs. home (some are the same - I have only one “reference” list, one “shopping” list, which I have set up so it appears handily at the top).

My big problem still, though, is procrastination–I know what I need to do, I just don’t get it done. Then, that cascades into not doing my weekly review, since I think, what’s the point.

Nonetheless, the ideas in GTD have been revolutionary for me.

Ben, I’m curious how you use the Utrecht sketchbook?

Brian Keith Says:

May 1st, 2007, 11:19 am

My favorite GTD device is an excel sheet, one page, updated/printed daily, with each project and its Next Action beside it. Most Important Task(s) are highlighted.

Brian

Deb Says:

May 1st, 2007, 12:07 pm

Thanks - again! I tried the todoist and I am liking it! I think this may help me overcome my lists challenge - as in - not making them or referring to them.

Like Balfour, I have a procrastination problem and am trying hard to correct it. Even with the list in front of me, I have to do SOMETHING. But working from home, I always seem to find a little task that can do instead of doing a project.

I am finding this site very helpful and will continue to read and take part in the challenges.

Rod Says:

May 1st, 2007, 12:24 pm

I am just trying to start GTD, actually ZTD and I opted for the Moleskin. I always wanted to own one but I didn’t know how I was going to use it. ZTD gave me the best excuse.

Still struggling with it as my initial lists are HUGE. I am getting more done by just writing it down. I purchased the GTD book to get more info but I plan to use ZTD approach.

ROD>

Jose Says:

May 1st, 2007, 12:43 pm

I, too, had a big problem with procrastination. This is why I decided to opt for a simple notebook to carry with me at all times. It forces me to write down (and helps me remember) everything as it comes to mind. It feels even better when you write off an item with a huge red line across.

I like this approach better because it doesn’t force me to check a tool online…which was my weakness for procrastination a lot before.

For those people struggling with a list, just write whatever comes to mind for that moment. It doesn’t have to be in any order or priority. You can always reorganize it later.

Matt Says:

May 1st, 2007, 12:44 pm

Whenever I see GTD software discussed, I always feel the need to mention Hiveminder, which is always left out for some reason. I’ve found it really easy to use (the braindump allows input of multiple tasks at one time). The use of custom tags lets you organize by whatever method you choose (projects, subprojects, contexts)

Faith3 Says:

May 1st, 2007, 12:45 pm

I use a post-it version of hPDA, which consists of a 3×3″ post-it pad and a little 10-cent golf pencil, held together with a binder clip. I keep several of these around the house - desk, bedside, kitchen table - plus one in my purse and one in the pocket of my workout pants. Then I tear off the post-its, fold over the sticky edge, and toss ‘em in my inbasket.

My weekly list is written in a Cadic notebook. The sheets are ruled, with a grid across the top. I use the top grid as check boxes for my daily 9 Good Things - those are the 9 simple things I can do every single day to make life smoother and better, such as Make my bed, Take a walk, Process the mail, and so on.

My weekly list is categorized by context - Housekeeping, Car, Money, Study, Social, Health, and Work - with subcontexts as needed. When tasks are completed, I check them off with a red X - I love to see that page filling up with red Xs as the week progresses.

Every morning, I scan the weekly list and select 5 “big rocks” for my daily to-do list, which I write on a large ruled post-it. I add 10 smaller tasks, and there’s my daily list. I purposely overfill the daily list because I know, as the day progresses, shift happens and I can readjust my priorities as needed.

Greg Says:

May 1st, 2007, 13:07 pm

I feel what it boils down to finding a system and stick to it…it’s very easy, especially for the “techie” GTDers to keep tweaking/switching systems. This almost always causes GTD “newbies” to loose sight of the goal in lieu of a new toy (been there, done that several times!) GTD, IMHO, is about taking a concept and implementing it into your life in a way that makes sense to you.

So my advice, pick a system and roll with it…your gut will tell you when you need to make change…

I will second iGTD on the Mac side. It’s a simple to use tool that has all the basic GTD concepts built in. It’s also one of the few tools that has great support for synching to .mac, if you have the service…valuable for those of us who use multiple computers.

Although I am rarely more then 10′ from my computer (I know, it’s a sickness) I still carry a pocket Moleskin around for capturing data. I always get a laugh when someone recognizes my Moleskin and asks “Are you into GTD???”

Ben Says:

May 1st, 2007, 13:24 pm

Balfour asked what I do with my big Utrecht notebook. My morning ritual is to read yesterday’s page, then write the date in the upper right hand corner of a fresh page, list my MITs for the day and a schedule of any meetings I have to attend (with room numbers). I use it during the day for meeting notes, sketching (I am a user interface designer) and brainstorming which I do better with paper somehow.

I forgot to mention that use Yojimbo pretty extensively to track project notes and all sots of other stuff. One text note for each project, and I just prepend new notes to the file. Dating every page in the sketchbook lets me refer to it from digital notes like this “in sketchbook 2/28/07.”

Legaleagle Says:

May 1st, 2007, 15:10 pm

I’m not sure if it is exactly a “GTD” system, but I have two little books that I carry around with me. The first is a little Moleskine style notebook for writing down “to do” items as I think of them. The second is a little “goals” book I made for myself through lulu.com (a wonderful little self-publishing site) to help me build and keep up with my routines. My lulu book is divided into three sections: the first section lists my morning and before bed routines as well as my daily and weekly chores. The second section contains mini spreadsheets for each week (up to 13 weeks, modeled loosely after Benjamin Franklin’s habits book) where I can give myself “points” for completing each of my routines or meeting my goals for that day/week. The third section contains a daily food diary (made up of forms for me to fill out each day). I like this little book because I was able to customize it to my needs and goals, and I can easily track my progress. It gives me motivation and reminders to do the things that need to get done on a daily basis without letting them crowd up my “to-do” list.

AgentSully Says:

May 1st, 2007, 15:34 pm

I use a simple small notebook. The cool part is I use 3M divider tabs so I can have lists for the different areas of focus. They can be lifted and re-stuck in a new place when the page is full.

ganges Says:

May 1st, 2007, 18:00 pm

I use Hipster PDA and

http://gtdinbox.com/

Work perfect for me

Terry Says:

May 1st, 2007, 18:06 pm

My five GTD tools are the following:

1. A A4 notebook
2. A pen
3. A ruler
4. A highlighter
5. …and me!

We are never seperated from first thing in the morning until last thing at night.

Each day I create a new journal entry with the date and three columns to prioritise my tasks…not all tasks are created equal!

My ‘A’ column is for my Big Rocks (Highest value activities)

My ‘B’ column is for my Medium Rocks (Medium value activities)

My ‘C’ column is for my Baby Rocks..pebbles if you prefer… (chores, errands etc.)

Each task is highlighted when it’s the right time and right place to complete the task.

When the task is complete it’s crossed out with the pen and ruler… there’s something magical about crossing out tasks with a ruler!

And the process is repeated:

highlight task…do task…cross out task etc…

jason Says:

May 1st, 2007, 20:40 pm

Leo - great blog! Keep up the good work!

Betsey Says:

May 2nd, 2007, 0:34 am

I have been using Actiontastic (www.kaboomerang.com) for a few months and really like it. It has a very simple interface that lets you see tasks by project or context and also has a nifty “next actions only” setting that works really well if you’ve arranged the tasks in your project in any kind of functional order. (I haven’t always and this can turn into a time sink). It’s easy as pie to enter tasks from the computer as there’s a Quicksilver shortcut that sends tasks immediately to Actiontastic. It also allows you to sync to your ipod and to iCal… I usually sync to both and then run a script that spits out the whole list ordered by context from iCal to Word, then I print it. I will be very happy when printing direct from Actiontastic arrives.

The problem I have is that it seems like almost the whole list turns into a someday maybe list because I’ve had so many pressing time-sensitive things to do lately that I don’t need to put down there (teach classes, go to rehearsals, etc) that fill up my day. But I guess that’s the point, as long as I look them over every day or two and make sure nothing is falling through the cracks.

I do tend to put stuff that really is time-sensitive on iCal with an email reminder to myself, even if it’s not something that occurs on a particular date. I do think that it’s easy for the important stuff to get lost within my system, since there’s no prioritization (a weakness, I think, of GTD).

Steven Aitchison Says:

May 2nd, 2007, 0:50 am

I use the simple notebook and keep it with me at all times. I also have the moleskin effect notebook that my sons bought me for Christmas.

Congratulations Leo on being recommended by DLM

Derek Says:

May 2nd, 2007, 2:20 am

I use gubb for GTD. The wonderful thing about it is that you could send updates via text from your cell phone! I find this an incredibly useful tool for adding things to my inbox while out and about. When I get home, I have time to review and organize accordingly.

It’s awesome.

Brian Says:

May 2nd, 2007, 3:09 am

Unwittingly I’ve been an advocate of GTD. My habit of writing things to do on pieces of paper and putting them in my shirt pocket has amused colleagues for years. I’ve now graduated to a notebook!
The trick is to deal with the things you’ve noted down.
I’m ever so slightly wary of living life by lists, and managing them could almost become a displacement activity, but there’s no doubt in my mind they work.
As an experiment, before you open your notebook at the end of the day, try and remember what you have written in it: I’m guessing you’ll be surprised at what you missed.
Getting up earlier has also been a key move for me.

Thanks for such an informative, well-written blog.

Leo Says:

May 2nd, 2007, 5:40 am

I have to say, this is one of my favorite threads ever! You guys are truly awesome. I love reading about all your GTD tools! This thread has become a really useful.

Thanks, everyone. I can’t respond to all these comments, but I’ve read through them all and have really enjoyed myself.

barbara trumpinski-roberts Says:

May 2nd, 2007, 9:39 am

I put google sticky notes on my personalized google page. (I use an 8×10 legal pad on a clipboard at work.

I carry my PDA to make note of appointments because I can sync it with my google calendar.

I have to say that I really really love this site. I read it on google reader.

hugs,

kitten

Pascal Says:

May 2nd, 2007, 11:29 am

I use GTDinbox for Gmail / Google Calendar and a pen with Pocketmod.

It totally works for me. Email and GTD system in one!

I am total Google junkie..

Helen Says:

May 4th, 2007, 13:45 pm

Post-its!
At work I stick them to A4 sheets of cardboard, at home I have a handful of smaller sheets held together with bulldog clip.

With Post-its I can update a part of my page without throwing out the whole thing, and reorganise (for re-prioritising, for example) by just moving the Post-its around on the page.

Pics: http://www.toomik.net/helen/blog/2006/01/29/new_organiser/

Leo Says:

May 4th, 2007, 19:13 pm

Hi Helen … I’ve heard of the post-it solution before, and actually gave it a try once. It’s a really cool system, and I love your photos! It looks like you’ve done a great job. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Steve Says:

May 6th, 2007, 5:42 am

I use Remember The Milk for all my tasks, and Google Calendar for my “Hard Landscape”.

RtM is quite intuitive, with keyboard shortcuts for nearly everything, tags for items (ideal for contexts, etc.), due dates, priorities, time needed for tasks, etc. Of course, these don’t all have to be used. I’m probably not using all the features. RtM is also updated regularly, with a forum for suggestions/queries. Finally, and very important for me, it has an excellent mobile version of the site which works well on my Treo.

Pretty much everyone knows about GCal, so I won’t say too much about that. Just that I have recently found GooSync to synchronize with my Treo datebook over-the-air. Works well so far; a few glitches, but they are also in constant-improvement-mode.

Oh yeh, and I also carry a notepad in my pocket for quick thoughts.

alex t Says:

May 13th, 2007, 11:54 am

i like monkeyGTD (http://www.tiddlyspot.com)
very good and very flexible (it is just one local saved webpage in mozilla)

Qrystal Says:

May 29th, 2007, 19:46 pm

I have fallen in love with a program called ThinkingRock (http://www.thinkingrock.com.au/) because of its simplicity and flexibility. ThinkingRock is multi-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) because it’s Java based. It has a version 2 that is still in testing, but is considered a “delta” release because the term beta implies unstable, and the publically-released gamma version was evolved far enough to be given an upgraded moniker. It is completely stable, as far as I can tell from my own use and from reading other users’ comments on the forum. To get it, click the link on the righthand side of the homepage where it mentions the 2.0delta release, and from the bottom of that page, go to their sourceforge page to download. As of this version, ThinkingRock has a modular approach to development so that users can submit their own modules to expand the program. There is so much potential here, and so much customizability in progress, that I have officially stopped searching for another piece of productivity software (after auditioning myToDo, myTasks, MyLifeOrganized, Remember the Milk, TaskCoach, Priorganizer, and reading reviews on many, many more).

Anyways, the reason I like ThinkingRock so much is that there are SO many ways to view your lists, especially in v2.0, which introduced customizable sub-lists of all your actions (this is why I can’t honestly recommend that anyone should start with v1.2.3). There’s also a very nice interface for the thought-collection without bogging you down with how you’re going to organize those thoughts into projects or contexts. Processing comes later, true to GTD style, and it even gives you the chance to reconsider whether something is actionable or not before you decide its context or any other way to classify the task (time, priority, and energy are additional criteria that are not visible by default, I’m guessing because they’re not pure GTD).

My problem with GTD has been that I don’t have any habits that keep me on the system, and so I’m very glad I found this site today. As a way to express my gratitude, I just had to recommend this excellent software!! :) Everything I’ve read so far here about ZTD seems close enough to GTD that ThinkingRock is still the perfect choice for me! I hope it can help others too!

Qrystal Says:

May 29th, 2007, 19:47 pm

(Oops, I realized just as I hit “Submit Comment” that I forgot to check the checkbox to get notified of followups!)

Jeff Horn Says:

June 2nd, 2007, 8:14 am

I’m a really big fan of Vitalist (http://www.vitalist.com). Its like Nozbe; I enjoy the simple system, absolutely free (paid accounts get a few frills, but free accounts are fully *functional* unlike backpack or nozbe). It’s easy to dump my moleskine into the inbox and then process away! It event prints some pretty aesthetic lists. Give it a shot, if you want a full-featured GTD-centric list maker.

TallDave Says:

June 4th, 2007, 14:53 pm

http://www.todotxt.com/

Usara H Says:

June 12th, 2007, 14:20 pm

I think you missed the boat on this - one of the simplest and effective GTD systems is through the use of NextActionCards (www.nextactioncards.com).

Graham Says:

June 14th, 2007, 1:07 am

I use (and love!) iGTD on the Mac. By far the best I’ve used (and I’ve tried a few!!!)

Fran Says:

July 9th, 2007, 9:10 am

Simple GTD is very similar to nextaction (http://trimpath.com/demos/nextaction_static1/nextaction.htm). It’s a SPADE application, so it can run on your computer when you are offline, which I find helpful in getting things done (I like to disconnect from the internet; this way I still have my lists available). Plus the dashboard view prints out concisely for carrying.

Once you go to the nextaction page, do a “save page as…” to save the file to your computer. The only thing to get used to is that you have to do a “save page as…” and rewrite over the file in order to save changes.

Fran

bart Says:

July 9th, 2007, 15:32 pm

I dig Zenhabits. Just came here via via (another blog, but I do not recall which one) and you got me hooked. As of yesterday I’m using Simple GTD and I could not be more satisfied.

Also thanks to your blog I cleaned out already more than 700 emails out of my inbox (the last count was well over the thousand emails) and my desk is much neater. Many thanks with sugar on top!

Dan Says:

September 9th, 2007, 12:01 pm

I tried using a Moleskin notebook but it quickly went into chaos. Crossed out done things were next to still active things, and I had lists on different pages so it became a treasure hunt. I really have done well in the past using a reporter’s notebook, but it was a strictly ‘do today’ list and not really useful for GTD.

I wish someone would post some really detailed instructions on using a Moleskin with GTD. Do you rewrite all those lists over and over? (I really mean detailed, like a time lapse review of pages over a week or a month. Although who would open up their life like that?)

Still looking for an answer in spite of the fog,
Dan

AgentSully Says:

September 9th, 2007, 14:21 pm

Hey Dan,

I saw your question and am responding because I had a similar problem, although with just a regular notebook.

Here’s what I did: I switched to a small binder. Mine is 5 1/2″ X 8″. It was actually for addresses. I just took out the address pages and put in white lined paper.

Then I put sticky tabs on my different projects. I don’t really use contexts because I don’t really need them, but you could use colored sticky tabs to create contexts too and just have them run along the top edge of the pages, where the projects run along the side edge.

Now I still have completed items next to uncompleted ones, but as pages are completed, I can remove them and either discard or archive them. Or they can be moved around if needed. And I can add a blank page easily into the ongoing project sections.

At the front of the notebook is simply for capture, but if you have your project tabs set up you can capture things right into their respective project areas right away so you don’t have to re-write them.

There’s no perfect system. Online systems are nice too, but I’ve found that there’s nothing like pen and paper for ease of capturing ideas.

The medium I use for my Today list varies. Sometimes a yellow sticky. Sometimes in my notebook or sometimes I’ll use tadalist.com. Backpack is nice too for online. And for a program on your computer I like Tudumo.

Let me know if that was helpful! Sully

Dan Says:

September 10th, 2007, 21:46 pm

Sully,

Thanks for the response. The binder thing is a problem for me. I usually put the notebook in my pants pocket. The Moleskin fit fine and lived through the ordeal. I don’t think sitting on a loose leaf binder will work. I am kind of hard on things. I liked the Moleskin because it could take a lot of punishment. I tried index cards, but they didn’t work at all. I made a good start with the Moleskin, I just got tangled up in the chaos. I even had a system where when I was done with a page I would cut about one eighth inch off the long side so I would go right to the new page. That worked, but it just got too hard to find things.

Just an aside, I don’t understand how people use computer programs to keep their lists, do they carry the computer with them all the time? Do they print out the lists? Printing them out didn’t work out for me either.

Be well,
Dan

Leo Says:

September 10th, 2007, 22:26 pm

@Dan … people who use computer programs to keep lists generally do all their tasks (or almost all of them) on the computer. If everything you do is on the computer, you don’t need a hardcopy.

That said, I mostly use a paper system (Moleskine).

Helsen Says:

September 13th, 2007, 14:01 pm

Yes, Leo is right, but not necessary, the persons who use a software to get organized are usually office guys, they spend a resonable amount of time on the computer or if they really move alot a PDA can help.

They use applications to get reminded, to keep a to-do list, notes, contacts and many more.

The market is full of software of this kind, but few of them worth a buck. Personally i recommend (tested),
Remember The Milk or tadalist as online applications or offline: Get ‘em Done as simple to do keeper or uOrganized
(my favorite) as a simple and more powerful application, organize tasks and notes hierarchically, flexible reminders, nice interface etc…

Ofcourse are many tools, but these i like the most.

GTD Tools Says:

December 9th, 2007, 14:43 pm

Take a look at this simple tool, from an independent developer.

Manuel Says:

January 27th, 2008, 17:40 pm

Believe or not the method that works for me is MS Word outline. It’s simple, flexible, can be used online and offline, and works great for brain storming and keeping track. Of course, I also use a calendar, whatever goes along with my email system at work

After I have created my lists I print them one sided and take them around with me. That leaves me plenty of space to take notes, expand them. and cross the ones I’ve completed. One of the benefits, believe it or not, is that they increases the confidence of people around you as they see you following a very simple method to track everything.

When I have the time, or don’t have more space (usually at least once a week) , I create a new version of the file with all the new notes. I use the opportunity to review everything and update next actions and follow ups.

Outline is great also because when something becomes a project it’s immediate to create the new list

In case you hadn’t noticed, this is a first post for me, ever.

Darryl Says:

February 3rd, 2008, 14:39 pm

I use this on my mobile for task management.

http://druzil.webnode.com/info-usage

Dave M Says:

April 3rd, 2008, 18:19 pm

Hi Leo! I’m just curious… Are you still using Simple GTD? I haven’t seen any blog posts from you lately about GTD and/or the tools you’re using.

As I said - purely out of curiosity - what is your GTD setup these days?

Vanessa Says:

April 8th, 2008, 8:25 am

I’m with Manuel - MS Word (or whatever word processor you like) for Project & SomedayMaybe Lists - use layered headings for 10,000 ft, 30,000 ft etc levels. Outlook (send an email to myself) for Next Actions that are Online or @computer - use Rules to sort into folders. Index cards for away from computer Next Actions.

I already know how to drive these tools. No time spent learning new software.

jan Says:

April 28th, 2008, 20:50 pm

I’m trying to get my lofi system to work.
I’m at day 2 and it’s going okay.

A notebook here at home with projects starting on one side, and notes/tickler when I flip it over.

Another notebook that I bring with me with a list of next actions. (and I also flip this over and start at the last page when writing notes/ideas).

On my computer I use Thinking Rock 2 for inputting and processing thoughts and projects. And also to break them up as much as possible.

I use MyLife Organized for the 2-3 current projects I need to do. It’s kinda like a big “to-do” list ordered in folders and subfolders. Things to do disappears instantly when you check them off. :)

I’m looking forward to use/improve my lofi system because I feel that it’s the one of my 3 system that I’m going to be using the most. Maybe I’ll check some cool lofi gadgets such as the moleskine etc. :)

Dave M Says:

April 28th, 2008, 20:54 pm

I’ve literally tried dozens of different GTD systems and tools, and never stuck with any of them until I started using Todoist. IMHO, it is the best. I think what appeals to me most is the minimalist approach it takes with everything.

Vio Says:

June 30th, 2008, 5:02 am

You might want to try also http://www.taskwriter.com

DavidR Says:

September 30th, 2008, 1:04 am

Hello to everyone,
Before I knew GTD method, I was just depressed about the number of things I had to do and couldn’t do. Then somebody offered me that book (GTD) and I just became more depressed, because of the incredible gap between the GTD theory (pure, sleek) and the daily reality of a guy involved in IT. The problem is that we (IT guys) would like to go on analogic but also need to input our lists with a lot of digital data, like urls, copy-paste, etc. I have tried and used all these tools (even donated to their developpers):
-thinking rock
-tudumo
-remember the milk
-etc.
Each of these tools are great, and I thank them for the hours of distractions they provided to me, BUT they are not reliable enough. I mean, disk-based apps need to be installed, are stuck to your machine, and web-based ones go in maintenance just when you need them.
So right now, I’m just using NOTEPAD, and build my own system in a TXT file, because I think a text file is as solid as a piece of paper.
When I’m out, I use a paper sheet folded in 8 and clip it in my pen.
Cheers to all, and “bravo” for this beautiful site,
David

Sridhar Ratnakumar Says:

October 5th, 2008, 20:52 pm

No other tools adheres to the GTD process as strict as ThinkingRock - http://www.thinkingrock.com.au/

David Says:

December 13th, 2008, 3:14 am

Hello Sridhar,

Thank you very much for your commentary. Actually, I came back to Thinking Rock, which has something “magic”, as it sticks to the GTD theroy, while being fully customizable. I even became a member of TR community.
TR is now at the version 2, which is very mature, and very well interfaced with over data formats, like mail, for exemple.
I recommand it highly.

David

Derek Says:

February 8th, 2009, 22:47 pm

I like the moleskine for capture… but am not sure about lists… how do you adequately split up lists? Keeping contexts separate rather than just a running list?

thanks

Derek

ussia Says:

February 17th, 2009, 20:50 pm

I use http://www.threetags.com - easy to contextualize through tags.

Bob Says:

February 27th, 2009, 12:03 pm

I would recommend checking out http://www.vitalist.com for a powerful GTD solution.

Albert Smith Says:

April 24th, 2009, 11:49 am

I use http://www.fruitfultime.com/products/taskmanager/fruitfultime-taskmanager.php

Great easy to use task list software

Johann Fererra Says:

April 28th, 2009, 14:16 pm

I use ‘Things’ by Cultured Code:

http://culturedcode.com/things/

I have tried so many GTD programs over the years and nothing comes close to the simplicity and elegance of this system, I have it installed on my iPhones and Macbook and they sync together beautifully.

GTD systems should just work, no hassle, no confusion, just pure efficient organisation. They’re simply isn’t anything on the market that can touch ‘Things’ and I’ve tried them all. Once a system clicks it is an incredible feeling to suddenly see Things Get Done!

Try it!

Robin Says:

April 29th, 2009, 11:42 am

Me and my comand using web based tools from 5pmweb
They have intuitive interface with perfect desktop for work. Recommend.

Jump Higher Says:

May 18th, 2009, 3:22 am

Some great tools are mentioned here but I want to tell you that the best GTD tool for me is my moleskine diary

free divorce papers Says:

June 12th, 2009, 7:09 am

You wrote another awesome article with loads of information. I also have a my own lists — my once-a-week schedule, my menu for the week, my MITs, appointments, events, birthdays and other occasions… and they are all kept on just ONE calendar. Yes, one calendar that says it all. It’s difficult and time-consuming looking at so many calendars to check what is scheduled for each day.

Erikw Says:

June 12th, 2009, 11:16 am

I’m using Evernote.