GettingThingsDone
ThoughtStorms Wiki
Last decade's personal knowledge management and productivity cult.
https://gettingthingsdone.com/
Getting started with it : https://web.archive.org/web/20041122024836/https://merlin.blogs.com/43folders/2004/09/getting_started.html
A shorter way to say all that is: do what you absolutely have to do, and what you really want to do; ignore all the vague obligations in between. Same with possessions: keep what you actually use and what you really like; get rid of everything else. Easier said than done, but it's the only way to maintain one's sanity! – SJ (ThreeOrdersOfOrder)
Well, it's bit more complicated. The main insight, seems to me, to be that you group things not by "theme" but by "context" of where and when you can do them. Sort things into "things that need to be posted" and "things that need to be emailed" etc. means you can find all the things you need to do at the post-office. All the things you need to do in front of your email etc.
These days when we all have Tagsonomies this almost goes without saying. But when you have an older, less search-oriented tools, you may miss this. And, frankly, it's very easy to start classifying everything by theme again.
Actually, reading the description of the "bins" in the GTD method, I'm suddenly struck by the way they are an example of TypingNotCategorizing. Tasks are typed by how and when you need to do them, not categorized by their semantics / what or who they're about. And of course, this is actually the solution to my problem of the OnlyHandleItOncePrinciple. The danger with categorizing by meaning is exactly that your new documents can upset the file-system. However, these local types of bins are very unlikely to be challanged by new data which comes along. And also are fairly easy to sort with local knowledge rather than global.
What are next actions? : http://www.43folders.com/2004/09/doesthis8220n.html
Alternative advice :
- turn off the internet.
See also :
CategoryOrganization