The problem you’re probably running into is not a dearth of applications to help you with your lists. As you’ve probably seen, there are tons. The challenge is finding one that does all the things you’re looking for – without spending next month’s mortgage testing them all out. Fortunately for you, I’ve already done that. So let’s jump into it.

First, some context. My situation is different than most of the hipster GTD bloggers you’re going to find out there in a few key ways:

• I have a more-than-full-time corporate job
• My corporate employer doesn’t let me install software on my machine
• I have an iPhone
• I have an iPad
• I use Macs at home
• I use PCs at work
• My work PC runs IE7
• I have a corporate Blackberry (which also can’t have applications installed)

Given those nuances, it’s highly likely that my conditions are different than yours. Then again, I’m constantly surprised by how many people have the same problem(s) I do…which means that our list of qualifications for a digital system look like this:

1. Web application: the system must have a web application so that I can access it from my work PC without installing any software
2. Compatibility: the web app must be functional in Internet Explorer 7; as embarrassing as this is, the IT folks aren’t interested in my little time management quest, and alternative browsers are not an option
3. Keyboard shortcuts: I can’t believe there are still applications out there that require you to mouse over a button in order to add items; this is absolutely asinine, wasteful, ignorant, intolerable, etc.
4. iPad app: the iPad is almost always with me (including in meetings), so the app must be native and it must sync with the web application
5. iPhone app: when it’s not practical to pull out the iPad, my iPhone is always a quick alternative, so the app must sync with the web application
6. Active development: Vitalist happens to pack the most punch of all current web offerings, but its developers have abandoned it and there’s no iPhone/iPad app on the horizon

In the interest of saving you time, take my advice: go get the Nozbe app, then head over to Nozbe.com and get an account. The iPad app will run you $14.99, and the iPhone app will set you back another $4.99…but it’s your only real choice. Hold on, though, cuz you’re going to want to sign up for a Nozbe paid subscription ($9.99/mo.), as well. That’s $20 for apps, and $120/year. And it’s necessary.

Nozbe remains the only of the web apps that meets all of my compatibility criteria, and truly applies the GTD methodology. It’s not perfect, but it’s the only one that’s close.

I’m dying to see the comment thread fill up with protesters who are loyal to Toodledo, RTM, Things, OmniFocus and Nirvana – because they’ll all be dead wrong. I’m committed to writing a post outlining the reasons that these others tools don’t work for GTD (even where they meet my compatibility criteria), but that’ll come later.

For now, know that Nozbe is the only service that allows:

• Proper projects (and not some kludgy workaround with tags or “sub-tasks”)
• Contexts – as many as you like
• Email input
• Natural language inputs
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Due dates (and reminders)
• Collaboration
• Labels/tags for projects
• Memos and files for tasks and projects

It occurs to me that we’re scratching the surface here on the real dialogue (i.e. “what’s really important for a digital system, and why do most of them suck?”), but we’ll come back to that. I promise.

For now, if you’re serious about trying to maximize your system’s accessibility in any context – and you’re committed to putting your technology to work – Nozbe is the only real option.

Eh, sorry. That is, you were using categories…prior to upgrading to Office 2007. In the new Outlook, categories are no longer text fields that you can fill up with a variety of tags. Categories are now cute little chicklets that you can make different colors. Quite pleasant to look at, but totally useless. Here’s a way to take the power back.

Because Outlook allows you to define custom fields in the Outlook database, we’re going to create a new field called “Tags,” and let it assume the duty of our lost categories. Note: you must repeat this process within each folder that you want to display tags; while the tag data will be persistent, you won’t be able to see the tags unless you modify the view for each folder. Also note that you’re going to begin tagging your messages with a new attribute – one that won’t exist in your older messages. Functionally, it’s not an issue – but you’ll be searching “categories” in old messages, and “tags” in new messages. For this reason, I recommend creating a new PST for stuff moving forward.

Right click the headers in your inbox. Select “Field Chooser.” Press “New” at the bottom, and create a new field called “Tags.” You can call it whatever you want, but it’s what I’ve called mine (note: “categories” is unavailable, as it’s already taken).  The type is “Keywords” the format is “Text.” Drag that field to where your Categories field used to be, and hide that useless field. You can now add comma-separated tags to each of the messages that you receive in Outlook (e.g. coffee, starbucks, friends, scams, ideas).

The data in this field is persistent, but Outlook doesn’t display it by default. Again: you’ll have to repeat this process for any folder in which you’d like to use the “Tags” field – but only once.

I recommend that you group your view by “Tags” in archive folders, as it makes for pretty quick location of past stuff.

If you have any suggestions on how to streamline this, I’m all ears. For now, this is the most elegant solution I’ve found.

Update: you need to enable “Allow in-cell editing” in the Custom View / Other Settings dialogue in order to quickly type in your tags. Thanks for pointing out this nuance, Peter.

Now that you have your new $10 notebook, and you’re reading about ways to turn it into your GTD launchpad, you have this conversation with yourself:

What should I write in here? I just spent $10 on this notebook – I’m not going to waste the space on things that don’t count.

I have heard this particular concern from countless Moleskine converts. Because the books are so nice (yes, I love the silky paper and the magic secret pocket, too), there’s a natural tendency to try and protect them from the random musings of our brains.

Stop that! Stop it RIGHT NOW!

You heard me, folks. The Moleskine notebook is awesome. It’s beautiful. It’s $10. But above all else: it’s for you to write in – whatever that may yield.

The reason that we spend $10 on nice notebooks is that they entice us to write. Do so, and do so with reckless abandon. After all, you spend  more than $10 on lunch. Fill that puppy up, and get that melon empty.

Process everything...even additional trays

These are the pesky-but-vital procedural details that the DA throws into his books, seminars and site material that you understand but don’t necessarily implement.

[Note: if you read that intro and said “Huh? What things are you talking about?”, then your name is probably David Allen, and I thank you for visiting this site.]

One such thing for me is the inbox. In theory, the inbox (or inboxes) is supposed to serve as the central gathering spot for everything that’s coming into your life. Process-wise, the inbox is spot number two: things come in, you stick them in the inbox, and start processing.

Except I find myself cheating the inbox more often than not…and I’m betting you GTD ninjas know exactly what I’m talking about.

Here’s an example scenario:

You’re in your usual 2:30 meeting, and the boss says “Jim, I would like you to throw together some slides on that Frammus Valve pitch we’ve been talking about. We’re going to show it to Mr. Holinks on Friday when he’s onsite, so I’d like to review them with you tomorrow morning.”

If you’ve been doing GTD for a while, chances are good that your training kicks in, and you flip to your Projects list. [Entry: Built Frammus Valve pitch for boss] Now that you’ve properly identified the multi-action project, placed it in your Projects list, your brain starts planning.

You flip to your @Office list. [Entry: Located company Power Point template on server.]

The project has been captured, and you’ve identified your first action…all without actually touching your inbox. Well done.

So what’s wrong with that approach? Nothing, I say…except that it’s not the process.

Here’s another scenario, with a slightly different twist:

Jenny walks into your office while you’re in the middle of an email to the marketing crew. “Hey, Jose,can you have a look at that report I sent you? I think it’s ready for you to submit it, so if it’s good to go, just send it off.”

Your ninja styles kick in immediately, and you flip to your @Office list: [Entry: Reviewed Jenny's report.] In the speed and elegance of your system, you’ve just turned an input into a single action when it probably should have been a project. Consider that once you’ve reviewed Jenny’s report, you might have comments for her to incorporate; you’ll need to give her the comments, you’ll probably wait for her response, you’ll review again, and you’ll submit. None of that shows up in the landscape currently.

In order to prevent slip ups like the one above, and to try and really underscore the importance of capture in our lives, I’m proposing the 10 Day Inbox Challenge. For ten days, focus on overusing your inbox. Take a step backward in your ninja processing, and insist that all new inputs flow through your inbox (be it at home, work, whatever). Make yourself physically tear of sheets of paper and stick them in the box. I have a strong suspicion that your results will be like mine: enlightening.

By allowing yourself to capture without thinking, you free yourself up to capture things more easily, more fluidly, and more ubiquitously. Not only is streamlined capture a huge benefit when it comes to inputs, but it’s essential to allowing your process to really work. It’s the inbox processing process that ensures you capture Jenny’s report as a project – not as a standalone action.

Try the 10 Day Inbox Challenge. Force yourself to inbox everything for ten days. I’m going to do it again, starting today, and can’t wait to hear from those of you who have tried the same.

The Someday/Maybe List

There is way too much drama surrounding the someday/maybe list these days. Think I’m kidding? Check this out.

I’ve actually encountered resistance to the someday/maybe list quite a bit in the last few years, and it’s not coming from me. Rather, people (I’m talking to you!) seem to consider the someday/maybe to be another one of their @action lists: in need of serious attention.

Hey, Mr. WrongGuy, you’re wrong! Leave that list alone!

The someday/maybe list is your permanent, ongoing, leave-your-number-on-the-nightstand, get out of jail free card. It’s a holding pen for all the things that just might carve out a piece of your life…maybe, someday.

The DA talks about the someday/maybe list fairly extensively, and rightfully so. You’ve probably heard his garage metaphor. If not, let me paraphrase.

If you want to clean your garage but keep putting it off, every time you walk by that garage it yells at you: “Hey, you’re supposed to be cleaning me!”

This is a problem, because your garage owns a piece of your melon. You’re not committed to cleaning your garage, but it’d be awfully nice to find a 4mm socket when you need one. Of course, that could be months from now…so the garage can hang tight for a while.

That is, of course, so long as you tell your brain that the garage effort can wait! Your head understands that you might want to clean out that garage, and is tracking that potential action item. That’s not good. Putting a “cleaned the garage” item on your someday/maybe list tells your brain: “Relax. It’s on a list, and if I find myself with extra time (and have already stuck needles in my eyes), I’ll clean the garage.”

You review the someday/maybe list during your weekly review, conclude that cleaning the garage is not mission-critical this week, and pass it right up. It’s still in your system, and it’s right where it belongs: at the bottom, with its priority.

Folks, don’t get obsessed with clearing that someday/maybe list. It exists as a way for you to capture those things that have even the slightest bit of interest for you. In fact, that’s a key point: only when something has lost appeal should it drop off your someday/maybe list (unless, of course, you just did it).

This list is your freebie. Let it collect dust. Drop in and say hello once a week, then mosey on past it. You’ve got better things to do than worry about things at the bottom of your priority list.

Note: this is one of a few posts that are being recycled from Turnipville here at the outset. If you’ve read this before, please excuse our trash; if this is new to you, enjoy.

One of the things that David Allen talks about is the amount of time required to truly become a GTD Ninja. That’s not his term, it’s mine (or maybe Merlin’s), but the premise is clear: how long does it typically take to make GTD an integrated, instinctive part of your tool kit?

Well, I take heart in DA’s proclamation that it takes years to make the GTD way your way. I take heart because I’ve come to find that I’m substantially more productive when I get a dose of David every three weeks (or so).

It helps me to try and identify the weaknesses and holes in my system, and you’ve indicated that it’s helpful for you to hear about them. So here goes:

1. I’m still struggling to truly use my Inbox for what it’s intended. For email, this is no sweat. By definition, everything that comes in over email shows up in the right spot…ready for processing. But for that non-digital input, I have established a bad habit of skipping the inbox altogether, and processing contextual locations on the fly. This is bad, as it leads to shortcuts, and doesn’t give my brain enough time to truly digest what this new input is.
2. I don’t build lists of things that can be done with minimal brain power. Friday afternoons, after my weekly review (see item 3), I find that my brain is lacking the engagement that it usually has. Accordingly, I’m not excited to bust out my @Office list…I’d rather do something low commitment, and typically end up surfing the net. I need to start building those “sort paperclip container” lists for times like Friday afternoon.
3. I still really suck when it comes to weekly reviews. David says it’s one of the most important parts of the process, and this is clear to me. I’ve even taken to scheduling that weekly review in my calendar for Friday afternoons…but I still continue to skimp out on it from time to time. For what it’s worth, I tend to do a lot of this reviewing during meetings wherein my participation is in in presence only (ack)…but there needs to be something formal there, undoubtedly.
4. There’s got be a good way for me integrate financial reminders and/or bills in my system, without bogging down my calendar. I don’t have 43 folders..and maybe that’s part of it. This is just another example of a massive hole in my system, attributable to my lack of commitment to the whole process, when it comes right down to it.

So what’s the message here? I’m going to keep plowing through it. The feeling that I get when things are firing on all cylinders is unbelievable. It’s just a matter of getting those cylinders to fire as a matter of course.

Onward.