How is it Going with my Hipster?
A progress report:
I have toyed with the Hipster PDA for several months. I’ve looked at the package of 3x5 card formats, printed samples of nearly all of them to see what works with me, and fussed around with various ways to use them. All, seemingly, to no real avail - I still don’t have a system that I have confidence in.
I should explain, I have a Palm Tungsten E - nice, contains tons of information, has Note Studio 3.1 a very nice browserlike/wiki-like program that’s easy to use. I had used Megawiki before I bought the T|E, but that didn’t work under the new OS. I also cannot take my T|E into the office, nor can I connect it to my work scheduling and contact information - company rules. I also frequently find myself in places where an electronic PDA is not permitted by my hosts. That’s why I had been interested in the hipster - analog is allowed wherever I go.
I think I can make use of the hipster 3x5 format, but I’ve got to find ways to get the information from the 3x5s into my computer so I can do some other organizing with it. I frequently use email (both Yahoo! and Gmail) both at work, when I travel and at home. I’ve seen the articles advocating the use of Gmail for next actions (ala David Allen). Yahoo! also has a Notes section on their web mail, so I can use that. I just haven’t found the right way(s) to record in analog format, find the right place and method to transfer to electronic format (available whereever I find myself, since I can’t predict where, when or in what context I might need some things).
One thing I have come to see - I bought a 3x5 calendar book for 2006. I had found one of those to be very useful in the past. It was cheap, looked nice, and may turn out to be the best way to do things for me. In the mean time, I’m using the week view hPDA cards in a small card holder. I’ve printed enough to use through the end of the year. What I’ve done is printed only on one side, leaving the other blank to write notes on. If this turns out to be the easiest way for me to keep track, I’ll have a nice gift to give someone at the office… the other week-view schedule.
I also have other 3x5 cards in my holder for other kinds of notes, but blank ones seem the kind I like the best.
More later…
