My Top 5 G.T.D. Resources

For the longest time I have been a sad, pathetic little man when it comes to keeping track of what needs to be done around my home and my work. While working, I tried "to do lists," only to find that after putting out two or three "fires," I completely forgot I wrote a "to do list," because it got buried under a pile that the "fires" created. I have tried using my Outlook Inbox at work to track what needs to be done, but, again, emails, or tasks, of lesser importance push the more important work down the column, and if I do not get to it in time, they drop off the radar.

Not very effective.

At home, there were no lists of things to do, just "buzzing" sounds in my head to remember to buy Half & Half or buy some Spackle to fix the hole in the wall I created from beating my head, trying to remember to buy Half & Half.

Again, I am sure you can hear the sucking sound of my non-system.

Since I am currently working from home, consulting for my old employer (this has been awesome so far, by the way), I now have time to do crazy things like read books and listen to podcasts. Oh, such craziness. A couple months ago, I discovered David Allen's "Getting Things Done." Even in your first week of working the system, you will be surprised at how it lightens the load you keep in your head. Amazing.

The following is a list of Internet resources I found particularly helpful in getting me up to speed with G.T.D.

1. The David Allen Podcast - actually the whole davidco.com site is a great resource, but the podcast gives some great real world examples of G.T.D. For a product they are trying to sell, they give away a lot so that you can have a good basic understanding of what G.T.D. is before you decide if it is for you.

2. InboxZero - InboxZero was introduced to me 2 months back when Merlin Mann posted his Google Talk video on his site, 43 folders. The central notion is you attack email like a Ninja, but you only attack it when you ready to fully process what the Inbox hands you. Brilliant stuff. I no longer have an overstuffed email Inbox filled with ramblings.

3. The Hipster PDA - The Hipster PDA consists of index cards, pen and a small binder clip. You carry it around. You write on it. Genius. This idea of Merlin Mann's (this guy is, like, everywhere) has such power it even has its own Wikipedia article.

4. GTDInbox - This is a Firefox extension that "expands" the scope of your Gmail account. Gmail then becomes a resource that allows you effectively track where you are in the getting things done process on any given project. GTDInbox's learning curve is not at all flat, but once you get the hang of it, it really makes tracking where you are in your G.T.D. system very easy.

5. The Book "Getting Things Done" - Not really an internet resource, but, come on - without the book there would be no internet resources. Click the following affiliate link and feed aprigliano. You know you want to. Or not. But do get the book somehow if you are interested.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity - On Amazon.com



Bonus - Getting started with “Getting Things Done” - More of Mr. Mann's fervent scribblings in crayon of the subject of G.T.D. Seriously all great stuff.