I actually have started this, before even reading GTD, truthfully. Now that I have read it, I see what a powerful tool it is. I’ve archived every article (not just links), every email, and it’s instantly accessible via the search. That takes care of the file system.

Items that need action are labled as such.

Gmail and GTD seem to go hand in hand. Now if they just had an integrated calendar, I’d be set.

I write about my attempts to do GTD on Gmail here: http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2004/04/managing_interr.html

It’s particularly useful to use the “Starred” items as the tag for “@action”, since those can be done very quickly from the UI (faster than say assigning an arbitrary label).

I just got Gmail this week so I’m just setting it up. I have redirected all the mail that I get from a mailing list and put it onto gmail and auto label it. This keeps it off my machine and ‘out of my head’. Still getting used to the gmail thing and how to use it to it’s full potential.

BTW I’m also trying Notebook (http://circusponies.com/). So far I like it and it’s helping to GTD.

Jim, do you have any comments on using NoteBook with GTD? I’ve had the program for quite some time, but have dl-ed LifeBalance (again!) to see how it might work with GTD.

Warning - only started reading GTD yesterday…ie biigg newbie.

I haven’t tried using Mail.app in Tiger to see if the Spotlight features are enabled. I’ll let you know…

Based on a previous entry on 43Folders, I started using gmail for GTD. Basically, I created a label called “todo” which I use to label… guess what. Whenever I finish a task, I remove the “todo” label. I also created a label called “reply would be nice” for messages (usually from friends) that don’t merit an immediate response, but a reply would be nice.

Since I still have messages arriving in Thunderbird for my work mail, I created a folder called Todo, and a subfolder called Todo-gmailed. I put anything that needs action in the todo folder, and then periodically I use gmailloader to shuttle those messages to gmail. It’s redundant, I realize. After I’ve loaded my messages into gmail, then I move them into the subfolder todo-gmailed.

I’d love to hear further suggestions for optimizing email management with gmail.

If anyone has a spare GMail invite they could let me have, let me know so I can try this. ;-)

You can actually implement this in Outlook as well using note flags and search folders.

If you still need a gmail, Rob, please e-mail me at davehurley@NOSPAMgmail.com (remove the obvious first)

Note to all: I have 6 to give out right now, but will be leaving for the day at about 7:30 am pacific.

If anyone wants one, e-mail me. If you don’t hear from me, they’re all gone.

—Dave

I also have several gmail invites to give away. Please email me if you want one.