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iCommit: PHP app for doing GTD

Getting Things Done [iCommit.eu]

iCommit Home View

Rainer Bernhardt has put together a nifty little PHP app for doing GTD via a web interface. It lets you wrangle projects, next actions, calendar items, ad hoc lists, and all the other tactical building blocks of GTD all via your (non-IE) browser. The interface is pretty good and typical workflow is quite easy to navigate through. It has nice touches like attachments, per-item effort estimates, printable views, plus Rainer says he may soon offer email integration which would "eliminate use of a separate e-mail app" for workflow-related planning. Wow.

Although I haven't spent a great deal of time with it, I'm very intrigued by the baked-in "weekly review" functionality, which walks you through most of what you need to look over each week from one interface. Since review gets short shrift from the many folks (like me) who use GTD primarily for task management, I think an addition like this is a terrific idea.

iCommit is, like so many of my favorite apps these days, a non-commercial, one-man operation, so there are a few rough edges, no documentation (yet! coming soon, says Rainer), and it is very much "first come, first served" in terms of seats he can handle on his personal server setup (I hope we don't cream Rainer's productivity boxen with this). But iCommit is worth a look if you've been craving a cross-platform, low-paper implementation of Getting Things Done.

Screengrabs below the cut -- I feel like Michael Arrington!

Home page

Logged-in with a few test items.

iCommit Home View

Project view

iCommit Project View

New next action

Note "Effort" estimate.

iCommit New Next Action View

Rainer Bernhardt's picture

Just a few thoughts. in the...

Just a few thoughts.

in the past I was using a filofax to implement GTD and simply ran into capacity problems. The number of projects and lists were to many - too many pages to carry, to much notes to browse when I was receiving a call and needed a specific information. So I needed to have my Project/WaitingOn/NextAction Lists, my Reference information, and my 43folders in just one place - preferrably integrated.

Then I thought of an online system, and found the sourceforge.net-project which actually has been the blueprint for iCommit - if you wanna have a system on your own webserver, their newest update really is the best you can get. I originally wanted the same - a system on my own server, with a few changes to the sourceforge.net verison (and the database design...). But then friends and colleagues asked me to provide a version for them - and they didn't have the skills to load php or didn't have a webserver at all. Here we are...

Nowadays, using the online/remote system I only carrying a small notebook and a pen with me to store my ideas (I even have a second one in my car). Obviously - and latest during review - I would then transfer them into iCommit.

Now, going for a business trip, I typically print the days with "Print & Take a day" to carry my Calendar Items and the Reminders with me (yes - a layout suiting fitting in my filofax would be optimal). Meeting specific people, I would probably print the "waiting ons" for that person (->Find function, select type "waiting on", press print button) to be prepared. Projects I wanna discuss I also would take a print of with me.

I even store contact data in iCommit (as list). From time to time I would print that list to have my contacts with me (yet again, the printing could be improved here).

I experienced that people understand that you cannot always carry all your information with you - but, today they can rely on me that I would respond quick and/or predictable once I am back to the system. As to myself, having all data at least "written down" (empty head) I feel great relexation and I use flights more for the creativity part than for meeting preparation. Due to my empty head now I do remember most information anyway - and trust my gut.

And compared to the filofax implementation my office days grew in terms of efficiency , since an electronic system allows me to find information quicker (iCommit does search the descriptions, lists, notes, ... only attachment content is excluded today).

Besides: I do believe that within 12 months we will have devices with internet access-to-go everywhere (eg satellite??).

As outlined to Merl iCommit will very soon have - a help function including Tips - an email integration - my biggest pain is the gap between two systems... - a feedback mechanism (forum?) in order to respond to upcoming ideas

Have fun.

 
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