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Drew McCormack on GTD for scientists

Submitted by Merlin on March 5, 2007 - 6:31am.

Getting Things Done (GTD) for Scientists - MacResearch

I enjoyed this post by Drew McCormack on how he discovered GTD and has started using it for his work as a scientist:

The thing to realize is that most people don’t get lessons in organizing themselves at school or college, and they certainly haven’t been prepared for the rapid pace of modern life. GTD is nothing more than a few lessons on how best to organize things. At the center of it all is what could be regarded as a multi-dimensional ToDo list. The idea is to get every project you have, however big or small, out of your head and into the list. That allows you to relax about things, and be more productive at the same time.

“Multi-dimensional ToDo list.” I’m totally stealing that.

Also, I mention it here because this post provides that rarest of voyeuristic nerdthrill: getting to peek at how someone else is using Kinkless!

Any tips or stories from the science nerds out there on how GTD is and isn’t working for you?

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I've read the rules, and...

Submitted by Brock Tice (not verified) on March 5, 2007 - 4:53pm.

I’ve read the rules, and so I’m being very careful about this. Recently I had an epiphany about handling my projects and their next actions as they relate to research studies, cataloged on my blog here. It’s mac and palm oriented. You can also check out the GTD category on that blog, most of which is very related to science and/or my research.

Overall, GTD has done two things for me as a scientist: 1) Helped me get my projects under control and allowed me to manage them well and 2) made it abundantly clear that I needed to cut commitments.