GTD Journey: What's not working and things I want to change
I've been noticing some glitches in my GTD system lately.
You know, the whole point of having a method to organize tasks and projects and goals is to be okay with what I'm doing at the moment. I've talked a lot about GTD in this blog and how it impacted my life by reducing stress and anxiety, bringing order to chaos, and allowing me to fulfill my goals. But that's not what I want to talk about here.
I want to talk about being engaged with the tools I use every day, and what has been bothering me.
So, what's not working right now?
My Next Actions/Projects lists:
- I've used Nirvana for years now and I've written about it multiple times (I’m a huge fan!). I've tested other tools here and there (Todoist, TickTick, Trello, Microsoft To Do…). Lately, I've been feeling bored with Nirvana. I don't know how to explain it, other than it's so dull and I feel like processing and organizing has become too complicated to me.
- I've been avoiding capturing things to Nirvana because it seems a hassle to process items in there now.
- I'm becoming more inclined to work directly out of contexts lists, and having them up front in my face, instead of selecting the contexts tags from a list.
- I'm getting tired of having to manually insert a link to an email I want to reference in Nirvana, or to manually edit a link to a website I sent to Nirvana's inbox by email (sometimes the titles come in as the web address, and then I must copy/paste the title of the article manually).
- I like being able to have some integration between emails and the to do list.
- I like having a widget on my phone showing the actions due today.
- When I did an experiment with Todoist and Microsoft To Do without linking projects to next actions, I had a feel of how snappy a system can be. I believe that I'm ready for a simpler setup right now.
- I want a more direct system focused on doing rather than on organizing information.
Time Blocking/Daily Planning
- Planning my day and time blocking are both great habits! They are now part of my day start-up routine. I use Outlook Calendar for work and personal, they are synchronised together, that's great. I've also been using Cal Newport's Time Block Planner.
- I think what's not working is that I feel like I have duplication here. I have meetings and some focus time on my calendar, but I also use the Time Block Planner, which is a separate notebook. So I have 2 separate daily plans, and every time one changes, I have to update the other. I know they are meant to be complementary, but I've been thinking that I could do it all digitally in one instance.
- I once did an experiment with using Outlook to schedule time blocks to check emails, and it worked well.
What do I want to change?
- I want less back and forth between different tools, avoid having to copy/paste things from one to the other.
- I want a to do app that is more flexible to create different lists, better looking (or more attractive to me RIGHT NOW), overall, less boring and more exciting to use (playing a sound when I complete a task is so satisfying to me!). Also, emojis, of course 🥰!
- I want to be able to attach files/images to my next actions.
- I want quick and easy processing, with less complexity.
- I want less tools, and having a more integrated digital ecosystem (I'm stuck with Microsoft anyway... and I use Outlook, Word, Excel daily... so, Microsoft To Do seems the way to go).
The Plan
- I will switch to Microsoft To Do as my next actions/projects list app.
- I will use 2 accounts keeping work and personal separate.
- I will plan my day and do time blocking using Outlook Calendar.
- I will set up my computers to start up with Outlook and Microsoft To Do.
- I will use hashtags in Microsoft To Do to create some links between projects and next actions.
- I will continue my other planning routines: Daily Reviews, Weekly Reviews, Monthly Planning, Quarterly Planning.
- I will continue using my GTD Dashboard.
I will soon post about how my setup with Microsoft To Do is going.
I gotta say, this is a new phase for me. I'm letting go of some old beliefs and being more adventurous!
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Post 50/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
#100DaysToOffload #100Days #Productivity #apps #GTD #MSTodo
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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.