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James Fallows on GTD apps

Submitted by Merlin on May 2, 2008 - 9:20am.

Bright side #5: interesting GTD software, including for Mac

The Atlantic writer (and recent Mac convert) James Fallows covers three apps that have caught his attention, including OmniFocus, ThinkingRock, and MonkeyWiki. Fallows says:

The GTD Way mainly involves habits of mind and action, but it also places a lot of emphasis on having the right tools, gizmos, and gimmicks to support those habits. Over the years I’ve used a variety of software to set up GTD-based systems on my computer.

And, if you’re in a real “grab the shovel” mood, don’t miss his link to a metric buttload of GTD apps.

As ever, though, friends, just remember: GTD’s power is in what it does to your approach and to your thinking; it’s not about magic beans and doo-dahs. Never allow yourself to obsess over tools to the exclusion of actually completing tasks. This is about action.

in

I can dream

Submitted by janotte on May 6, 2008 - 3:46am.

I have fairly modest expectations of the people I work with (I have learnt I have to) but I am constantly surprised by them.

Having people react other than with slack-jawed amazement, ridicule or open aggression to a suggestion that it would be good to operate in a way that is summarised as “They specifically requested my assistance because they liked having clarity about what needed to happen.” is a little dream of mine.

Oh well. I can dream that one day my workmates realise that confusion ambiguity, missed deadlines and forgotten tasks are NOT “The way it is everywhere.” and a symptom of a problem that has (fairly easy) solutions.

I dabble at GTD but simple don’t have enough different tasks to make the effort worthwhile and in a culture where it’s “Do it now or safely forget it (because everyone else will forget who was to do what and when)” and the concept of dates beyond ‘tomorrow’ is an abstract notion similar to imaginary numbers I find organisational tools and techniques can get you burned as a heretic if anyone catches you using them.

The impressive thing to me is that the business is profitable and the workers reasonably well motivated (with a few notable exceptions). Shows just how easy managing can be in some industries.