I'm a graduate student in English literature. Here's a quick run-down of the system I've developed over the last year or so.

1. I only have two contexts: "Work" and "Life." I find that as a graduate student many contexts (@Library, @Email, and so on) have very little meaning. I tend to get into one mode, work mode or life mode, and stay in it, so these work for me. I *do* keep an @Errands context, but it's just a single index card that I carry around with me.

2. I find the computer very distracting, as you can see from the fact that I'm writing this post. As a result, I've tried to migrate as much away from it as possible. I use a Moleskine large weekly planner for my calendar. I keep my addresses on my computer--but they're synced to my iPod, so I always have them with me. At night, I actually shut down my computer so that I have to start it up again for a reason in the morning.

3. All of my projects live on large index cards that are the same size as the Moleskine weekly. They have a little W or L in the upper-right corner. I use the big cards *not* to cram them full of info, but because they give me room to write very clearly and to put new items between the old ones. I use a little _ to create a space for a check-mark before each item. These fit exactly into the planner to make a very convenient little book. I have one card that's my 'next actions' card -- one side for Work, one side for Life. It's a different color than the others and goes in the Moleskine.

4. I carry my 'active' projects with me in the Moleskine. I keep waiting projects and so on in an alphabetical file. I use the alphabetical file because I also write down other stuff on index cards. So, for example, if I come up with some really interesting idea for a course I'd like to teach, I'll put it in the file too. I find that, in my field, I have a lot of inactive projects that I still want to remember and think about from time to time. Projects that are in the file have little post-it flags on them to indicate that that's what they are.

5. I have a Levenger "international pocket briefcase," which is a vertical wallet with space for a pen and index cards. I note down a lot of stuff and toss it in the inbox from this - it's a great wallet.

6. For note-taking, I use Levenger Circa. I have a junior leather notebook, a desk punch, and some of the cheaper letter notebooks. This is a pleasure to use. It might not work for everybody, or you may prefer a binder. But it lets me alphabetize my notes, i.e., take them out of a small notebook that looks and acts like a notebook, with dividers, pockets, and so on, and file them away in an easily retrievable form. One great thing is that you can punch all sorts of different paper and stick it in there. You can even file away index cards in your Circa, so if I'm taking notes in a lecture on an index card it goes right into the notebook.

7. I have big hanging file folders in my desk, and one 'action support' folder that I carry things in to and from the library. I don't make photocopies of articles and I don't store them digitally or store notes digitally unless I'm trying really specifically to write something. In general, I like being away from the computer, which tempts me with Metafilter etc. If an article strikes me as important, I'll note it down and put it in the alphabetical file box.

8. I've ended up feeling that ease of filing and capture trumps ease of retrieval. For example, one of my research areas is the study of consciousness. If I read an interesting article, I'll scribble down the title, author, and a sentence about it, and toss it in the alphabetical file under 'C.' I find that I use the system more, and don't worry so much about categorization. If I need to go back and find something it takes a few minutes, but blundering around my own files is a kind of 'mini-review.'

9. I use GTD-style next actions when I can, especially for teaching, where it's very helpful; and I have a teaching notebook where I can write down agendas for individual students, etc. But for long-term academic projects I find next actions don't work, and that a list of deliverables or goals (i.e., "Get document X to advisor Y" or "Write short memo to the file on novel Z") combined with reverse scheduling works better. At the beginning of the week, I'll look over my goals for that week, then schedule in the time I think I'll need into my planner in light pencil. I don't always stick to it, but it serves as a good incentive to really bear down and read that Proust. I rely quite a lot on what Merlin wrote about in his post on "moving parts" and "creating a weekly plan" a while back. I think it works better than next actions for projects in which the next action is HUGE and isn't just an hour or two long, but maybe a day or a week long. I make small daily checklists of two or three items at the bottom of the day column in my planner. David Allen doesn't want you to make daily lists because most people in normal jobs would make a daily list of 10 or 20 or 30 items and then not complete many of them, thus breaking their contracts. But in my job, I can really write down three items ("Finish book X," "Start book Y," "Write report Z") and complete them all. When I start a book, I calculate how many pages I can read per hour, and then use that to schedule the time I'm going to need.

10. I buy as many books as I can afford and use post-it flags _sparingly._ I find that this is more efficient and more useful in the long-term than either lengthy written notes, the transcription of passages, or photocopies. This is frustrating--I wish I could have a watertight system for this. I've asked about it on Ask.Metafilter and gotten some good resposnes--but in the end I've decided, again, that working faster and in an intense and uninterrupted way is better than spending ages filing and storing material that I don't know I'll need.

11. Finally, I've found that the 'life hacks' side of this whole discussion is very helpful. Get up early, get exercise, come up w/ little tricks to make yourself work, find a good working environment - or a series of them - and get nice tools that you like to work with.