IGX

Not as powerful as some want, but other than that, it's perfect. GTD on an iTouch is ideal. Be advised the iTouch only synchs on wifi.

http://culturedcode.com/things/iphone/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://culturedcode.com/things/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Boo on Things. It looks good, but they fucked up on the iPhone (read Touch as well) implementation. People are having lotsa problem syncing. Also the iPhone functionally strips away many of the best features of the desktop edition. People are paying to be beta testers. Check out their forums.

There are no good "organizers" for the iPhone. I am a recovering GTDer and I always return to paper and pen. For a brilliant approach:

http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Then mix in a little bit of this advice during times when stuff move into urgent mode:

http://zenhabits.net/2007/04/zen-to-don ... ty-system/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have lately been swamped at work, home, and with self-employment. I am getting more done in all areas than when I had less to do, because I have thrown myself back into pen and paper and ditched the overly complex stuff from GTD. Autofocus is great.

If you have projects that have long and complicated structures, then a little project planning might run in parallel.

IMHO.

Oh yeah, Things sucks.

Norman,

I have a couple of questions. How do you know the number of problems discussed in their forums is large compared to how many units they have sold? I don't see shit on the web as far as undependability goes. It always gets good reviews.

Are you saying GTD has no merit for anyone in any situation?

ultracool wrote:Norman,

I have a couple of questions. How do you know the number of problems discussed in their forums is large compared to how many units they have sold? I don't see shit on the web as far as undependability goes. It always gets good reviews.

Are you saying GTD has no merit for anyone in any situation?

Maybe for you, if GTD is cheaper with a vacuum purchase.

The Unflushable DEATHTURD wrote:
Maybe for you, if GTD is cheaper with a vacuum purchase.

LULZ!!!!!!!!!

Excellent Post.

ultracool wrote:Norman,

I have a couple of questions. How do you know the number of problems discussed in their forums is large compared to how many units they have sold? I don't see shit on the web as far as undependability goes. It always gets good reviews.

Are you saying GTD has no merit for anyone in any situation?

You are reading reviews for the iPhone / Touch app that fell in love with its look and simplicity. The problem is that you can't try it out without paying for. These "industry" reviews (I don't care if it is Merlin Mann or not) are not using this app enough and under enough conditions to determine if it is stable, nor viable in the long term.

Read the Things forum. Lotsa problems with syncing. The desktop became more buggy than it was in beta due to trying to accomodate the iPhone app.

Cultured Code should be giving away the iPhone app as it is (I know Apple does not let trial application to be hosted) and not charging $50 dollars for the desktop. That is an outrageous amount of money for an app that was effectively made worse once they started charging for it.

Things could be great if they get it right. The Hit List is the new kid on the block and looks better than Things, but wait till they try to get their iPhone app out there. It will caused a shit storm of problems. Llamagraphics Life Balance is probably the most stable and reliable app. That is because they have been at a long time and have done little development. The lack of development shows though in its clumsy interface, especially on the iPhone.

As to GTD, almost everyone I know and from the hours spent on the web discussing tweeking GTD, it seems a lot of GTDers spend more time getting GTD right than getting things done.

I think GTD helped me with a lot of ideas, but over all I find the system entirely too bloated and hackable. Take a look at OmniFocus. I mean WTF? Do you really need a fancy system to tell what tasks you can do while with your wife, standing in line at the grocery store, when you have wifi access?

I think ZTD tries to pair down GTD to something more reasonable for most folks.

Also I found that GTD kept me on task doing stuff that I (and others) thought was urgent / important and was losing the perspective on stuff that was not urgent but very important. This is a complaint from many users of the system.

For most people GTD is too much.
A lot of us nerds hack it to death.
Regardless of the altitude metaphors, I found that it did help me address how what I was doing fit into my values and long term goals.

These are not flaws in GTD as such and it fits specifics needs for a small number of people IMHO.

Autofocus and paper allow me to balance urgency and look at what exactly I am spending my time on. I found out that a lot of the stuff that I had resistance to doing when using GTD was simply because I didn't give a shit about it, so I dropped those responsibilities. I also found that spending just five minutes on a task and scratching it off then writing it down again and being able to do something else has helped get over a lot of procrastination.

But if GTD is working for you, great. If you are spending a lot of time on the system itself, I suggest another approach.

No trial? I was using it during the beta stage and just bought it when the time came. (I think those guys were swamped because it was a small company and it was catching on like wild fire during the beta. I think Omni's bloatedness had alot to do with it. That Omni thing is just awful unless you are a total propellerhead.) If they are having problems post beta, well that's really bad. I'll take your word for it.


The rest of what you say is dead-on. It's not for everyone or every situation. If you are really busy and you aren't a fast touch typist you can't use it, period.

David Allen warns everyone about this in the book. It's a real problem:

Norman U. Senchbau wrote: As to GTD, almost everyone I know and from the hours spent on the web discussing tweeking GTD, it seems a lot of GTDers spend more time getting GTD right than getting things done.

The other thing is you really need to get every thing out of your head. If you aren't going to do that, you might as well do something else. The state of "everything out of your head" and knowing I can find stuff is what I get out of it. I am much better off for it. I don't keyboard every single thing in, either. Some of it's on 3x5. I've also found what he says about how to unstick shitty project planning very helpful.

When you goolge it, zillions of hits come up so it either works or it's a cult.

I think Abandoned By Wolves mentioned it, initially, here.

Also, Things is great if you hate keyboarding.

Based on what I know now, I might look at hacking Bento into a GTD system if I got really busy and Things broke down. That's sort of the way Entourage was /is. I haven't thought a lot about it though.

I largely use Yojimbo and the OSX w/ coverflow for a file cabinet.

The two-minute rule great idea, unless you end up replying to useless (but always URGENT for someone else) email all day, endlessly sitting in Communicator, or returning calls; this is why I used to be able to post volumously on IGx. I just quit doing this shit and my managers freaked out, but after a month they were shocked how much more work got done when you quit talking about talking about it.

Separating the "hard landscape" is a great idea.

Tickler file: brilliant.

Stuff got a lot better once I got rid of contexts.

My own tweek is that I pretty much never place a due date on anything more. There is one project I am on the has a lot of contigencies that rely heavily on other people. Those dates I track and management the progress of the project. Many deadline-based tasks just get done by reviewing my todo list and doing what the moment calls for.

You will never get everything out of your head, well at least not by writing a bunch of stuff down.

Good luck with Things. I just think anything electronic hides too much from me. I like allowing my mind to survey what's happening and not siphoning out tasks based on predetermined criteria.

Whatever works.

iCal is great.

[quote="Norman U. Senchbau"]
You will never get everything out of your head, well at least not by writing a bunch of stuff down.

/quote]

Well, all I can say is I don't sense that at all. I feel much better having done this practice for a long time.

Norman U. Senchbau wrote: My own tweek is that I pretty much never place a due date on anything more.

.

Uh, isn't that exact GTD doctrine? Hard vs. soft landscape etc. It gets rid of a lot of negative motivation, IMO.

I'm making a note of that other stuff, too. GTD has way too much of a "band wagon" quality to, so it's better to check it against dependable criticism.

David Allen is actually in the John-Rodgers cult for real. Kind of weird.

David Allen is actually in the John-Rodgers cult for real. Kind of weird.

What is that?

TomFurman wrote:

David Allen is actually in the John-Rodgers cult for real. Kind of weird.

What is that?

http://gawker.com/5064930/ariannas-mand ... t-meetings

It looks like they have scrubbed a ton of stuff off of the web since I last looked. I don't know much about it.