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Newbie here with basic question...

Hi everyone...just got the book this weekend and am nearly finished reading it first time through. I have some deadlines to meet today and tomorrow so I cannot begin fully implementing it right away. I am in the frame of mind of getting my thoughts organized, and came up with a couple of questions.

How does one handle mundane tasks that 'should' be done on a given day, but does not really 'HAVE' to be done...for example....laundry. Does this go on the calendar or somewhere else? I don't want to encourage my procrastination by putting it anywhere other than the calendar, but I want to implement the system correctly.

Secondly, I have a time-design day planner but I have never used it to its full benefit. I am still confused when I look at it and I am wondering if I am better off moving to a notebook of some sort for my lists. Does anyone have the time-design system and how has it worked for you?

That's it for now...I am sure I'll have many more questions. I am SO ready to get my life organized!

Thanks!

Dawn

cornell's picture

Hi dawnmo. Regarding the "should"...

Hi dawnmo. Regarding the "should" tasks, I find it helpful to differentiate between "DO ON" and "DUE BY" actions. The former are ones that will die if not done on a specific day, e.g., appointments, picking up a cake, etc. The latter (actually the majority of most of our work) go on your action lists. Note: many clients of mine find it helpful to add "safety net" entries in their calendar as reminders of the latter (e.g., "proposal xx due"), which "heat up" actions during your review. However, you're working from your actions lists, not the calendar for the latter types.

Regarding your Time/Design planner, you'd use the folding action/activity sheets for your projects, waiting for, and actions (possibly using separate sheets for each GTD "context"). Use the calendar for your DO ON activities (and optionally your ticker information if you're using the "calendar + hold" method instead of an actual tickler file). Use the DataBank for whatever you want to keep with you - checklists, project notes (if you don't keep them in folders), agendas, etc.

The following links may be helpful:

How do you use your Time/Design system with GTD?
http://davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4584

What are my Options
http://davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3958

Good luck!

 
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