 August 6th 2007
 Getting Things Done
 4 comments
When I sat down to develop my current GTD system I looked at why I stopped using my previous approaches. I asked myself a number of questions to try and make a system that totally fitted my personal needs. This got me thinking about what other questions a person could ask when coming up with their system:
Neat or scruffy?
Does it matter to you that everything is kept nice, neat and orderly or can you happily scribble rough notes on scrap pieces of paper? Personally speaking, I found that with all my prior systems I tried to keep everything as neat as possible. However, I’d always ultimately fall back to scribbling my next-actions down on paper. So I created a system where neatness was not an issue. However if you have an advanced GTD system you may need to keep it neat so it functions optimally.
Lo-fi or hi-fi?
Are you most comfortable using a simple pen and paper or do you want to surround yourself in technology? There are plenty of GTD applications out there to choose from, both online and offline and they often provide more options than a lo-fi option could. Portability and speed is generally a big issue when making your decision here. Paper based solutions are usually the most lightweight. Personally I prefer lo-fi solutions so I am not tied too much to a computer or finding an internet connection.
Cheap or expensive?
Are you happy using a basic notepad that simply serves its purpose, or would you rather have an expensive Moleskine with its nice cover and quality paper? Could you cope with a simple mobile device as long as it stores projects and next-actions or would you want somthing like an iPhone? There’s a reason a lot of GTD enthusiasts use Apple products. If your system is going to be used considerably in your life, it can be nice to use good quality tools. If you are a lightweight GTD user will you need all the nice features more expensive products have?
Reader discussion
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James, I just love these kinds of posts, thank you! Looking forward to the upcoming parts of this series. Besides the technical and style questions, we might also consider our values and how the system reflects them; the stability and longevity we’d like to achieve, the standards we’d like to employ, or the barriers that an inappropriate (though maybe stylish) system can impose on us. I’ve blogged on these issues on a more generic level at my blog.
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I was so happy when I realized that I didn’t need anything fancy to get all my actions out of my head. I just found some paper I like (bright yellow) and cut it into quarters. I scribble what I’m thinking on these and use binder clips to group them. I no longer worry about wasting index cards with random thoughts because I’m essentially using scrap paper and I love being able to physically sort them… and toss them in the recycle bin when I’m done!
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Thanks for the feedback. This was originally going to be a two part series, but I keep coming up with new questions. Rolf’s post gave me different angles to look at things.
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Thanks for posting this. I was running out of ideas on becoming a more organized person. I shall have to re-evaluate what is right for me.
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