What’s working best for me in GTD so far
Well, with the start of the new calendar year, I have tried a couple of methods - a 3x5 week-at-a-glance calendar and a DIY Planner with week view cards.
The week-at-a-glance book lasted less than a week. It looked nice, it sort of fit in my inside coat pocket, but it needed something more to add note taking and temporary notes into it. It very quickly became too cumbersome.
The DIY planner - 3x5 cards in a holder from Target that lets me display the current week (with next week tucked in behind) on the inside flap, and several more 3x5 cards in the pocket that the flap covers. This has become the easiest for me to use, update and follow. I don’t have a lot of other forms I use from the DIY Planner package, but my HP 3840 printer takes blank 3x5 cards just fine. I’ve printed up about 9 months of cards and put them in a drawer at work. Each Monday morning, when I log in, I update the new week’s activities on the new card and put the old card in the desk drawer right next to the unused cards. This gives me a record of what I’ve done in the past week(s), and I’ve also noted any reimbursible mileage I’ve logged in the past week. That allows me to report them once a month. I have the entire back side of the week’s card for any additional notes I might want to make during the week. I can transfer any other info to permanent cards or to my work or home computer.
This system is fully portable, even into places where I am not permitted to take my Palm T|E. I can take notes on blank cards at meetings during the week, so all I need to take with me is the note card holder and a pen or pencil. If I bring anything else, I still don’t have to worry about having too much in my hands.
