On Monday when I discussed how you can simplify the actual practise of Getting Things Done, rather than focusing on a GTD lite approach that misses the point, one suggestion was to stop messing around looking for the latest clever program and hi tech solution. Instead pick up a pen and paper and get on with it! If you need any more persuasion here are my top seven suggestions.

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As promised on Monday when I wrote my seven point guide to clearing your head, I have written an extensive trigger list to help in the process of getting everything off your mind. It is intended to be as definitive as possible and can hopefully serve as a replacement for the trigger list in the GTD book (I have used that as the basis and expended greatly on it). My intention is to publish a PDF of this list for easy printing and reference this Friday in time for the weekly recap. However, I want to make sure I have added as many trigger words as possible (and organized existing ones properly), so the next stage is over to you. If you can think of any words I may have missed please suggest them in the comments!

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Right, so I’ve gone and done it. I’ve sucked up (most of) my reservations and got myself a Facebook account (check out my profile and become a friend). Those reservations have not exactly been proved unfounded because after only 24 hours of being signed up, I’ve wasted more time than I want to on tweaking my profile, searching for people and deleting vast amounts of email notifications.

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Email. It’s great isn’t it? All those spammy messages to process, all the time spent on trying to get your inbox to that mythical empty status. Yeah, email is great… Because it is such an easy and quick medium, people can also get very sloppy with it. Much like showing manners when eating a meal, there is a certain etiquette a person should adopt when sending emails. If we work together to improve our email manners we can all benefit from the time we save. Dream on!

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The humble keyboard shortcut is one of the most productive tools in your arsenal if you are a regular computer user. When it comes to flicking through menus, the mouse is almost always slower, so incorporate even just a few shortcuts into your daily work and you will never look back. If you already use some of even all of the following shortcuts you will no doubt be able to understand the frustration of watching those who use the old fashioned mouse method of working. Can you relate? If you know a slowpoke who could benefit from this article be sure to point it out to them so they too can streamline their computer work!

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