Driven to distraction

I can really understand why folks get to the point that they don't want to fool with GTD on anything but paper. I continually feel that my system isn't really designed for me and that it's not working for me. Of course, it's really about me not working the system. I think that my combination of simple programs should work, if I have good work habits. Then I start to feel that I have too many programs and that it would be nice to work in just LB and Daynotez again. So far, I've managed to keep myself from tweaking my system. Honestly, I don't have that many projects to track. I find that I have things I've worked on as simple next actions that really should have been written up as projects. And I always find that trying to get myself to use memos is difficult. There is just something about them that doesn't lead me to use them. I just can't seem to find a way to structure them that I like and I can't seem to get in the habit of using my very good tools for searching to track my daily stuff.

I look at LB, where I still have a nice Ratz based system and think how nice it would be to have software that just puts those reminders up for me regularly. It's a good tool, an old friend. And I look at all that stuff in my memos, stuff that doesn't tempt me to do a regular review and wonder why I try to work that way. I've had some very good success lately with carrying a small notebook with me and writing down thoughts about things I should be working on and changes I'd like to make to my system. If I write it down first, I give myself time to think about these changes and why I'm interested in making them. I think the system I've been using (KSdatebook, KStodo, PSmemo) is a good system. I'm still not sure it's the system for me.

And then there's the browser thing. I'm running an old G3 Mac on OS 10.2. I can't seem to find a browser that doesn't make me crazy. I like Camino, but it acts like there is a memory leak. I think it maxes out my video memory (which is tiny for OSX). I've been running the CPU monitor and process monitor to check it out. It seems to max the CPU out, which makes it very flaky to use. Firefox seems to drag. Same with Mozilla. I don't like Safari, since I can't get a feel for how much of the page is loaded. I don't like IE and it chokes on Gmail. I'm using Mozilla today, which doesn't seem bad, but has been slow to load in the past. It makes using the internet frustrating. I am trying to decide if I want to continue with Macs and upgrade at some point or bite the bullet and go back to Windows based stuff. Maybe I just need a holiday from all this stuff.

Alternative to Moleskinne

You read a lot about GTD'ers using Moleskinnne notebooks. I've looked at them, but have always felt they were overpriced. So, let me share a nice alternative with you. It's the Apica notebooks shown here. I bought three of these in light green during my New Orleans trip. Now I use one for thoughts on my GTD system and for anything I want to jot down quickly. I use a fountain pen, so I can definitely say that they are marvelous to write on. It fits perfectly into my bag too. They do come in different sizes, so take a look at the other sizes too. I'm going to stock up on these in the next couple of months because I don't want to run out!

Thinking before doing

I've been working on some thoughts about how I want to organize within my system and the areas that still need work. And I'm doing my thinking on paper, in a little notebook. It really seems to clarify things, to have a discussion with myself about how I should try organizing. I think I'm pretty much there and have something that I don't want to change. I do still need to set up some templates to automate things and I think that there are programs with power that is being underutilized.

I gotta say, if you ever work in a call center, take a Palm. If I hadn't had eReader, iSiloX and Bible Reader this week, I'd be completely crazy.

Cool links and plain vanilla

I ran across this link last week: http://www.macdevcenter.com/lpt/a/5399 , which lead to this link: http://lifehacks.com/ . It really inspired me to continue working towards a plain and simple system. I wrote down a lot of thoughts about how I think this should work and some areas that needed decision. I'm sticking pretty much with what I have, with the exception of changing from PSMemo back to pedit. I could do everything I want in PSMemo. I want to be able to try and create a few pscripts as my interest in programming and automating is back. And I haven't really used PSDB. I'm keeping KSDatebook and KSTodo and will rework Teikei so that I have more useable templates. Since I wanted to use text files on the Mac, I needed to find a way to sync them. So I've reinstalled MacNoteTaker. When I've synced the file, I can move the info into memos or anyplace else they belong. I could just use Palm desktop and memos there, but I really don't like the Mac Palm desktop.

On the Mac side, I created a text file called do.txt and a routine.txt. I use these files as inboxes (the routine.txt file is for things I want to do on a regular basis, just as a reminder). I've installed TextForge to use as a text editor (and I do like it), but may wind up using Stickies, since they will export plain text. There's still more thinking to do, as I know there are a number of projects that haven't been written down and should be. The longer I do GTD, the simplier I want to go.

Staying on track

I'm doing a bit better, although it looks like another stint of call center work for me. That's the hardest time to stay focused, when you're not working or you're working in a basically dead end job. You have all these great organizational skills that you can't use. The very hard trick is to make sure that you don't lose those habits and to stay on top of things, even when you could track everything you have to do on a small Post-It note.

I guess the good news is that I haven't had an urge to tweak. I've had a thought or two about firing up Life Balance, but it goes past pretty quickly. I thought about reinstalling pedit too, but I really like PSMemo. In fact, I discovered a new trick that it has. When you tap on the scroll bar, it enlarges so that it is much easier to use. I can't take a screenshot of it, because the program I use for that has a PC conduit only. So you'll have to take my word for it.

I have moved a few things into PSDB and I think it would be a good tool for projects, if you want to keep them separate. It's a pretty customizable database and you can export over to memos if you want. I am trying to keep things simple for now and not put stuff into too many apps. I'm still just using KSDatebook, KSTodo, and PSmemo for my system.