All Narfed Up photography and words by Bryan Villarin

GTD

Switched calendaring and tasks to Google and Remember The Milk

In Calendar, GTD, Google, Productivity on 27 March 2008 with 1 comment

I’m barely using my Tungsten E Palm PDA (organizer), so I’ve switched to Google Calendar and Remember The Milk. Fortunately, there wasn’t much to switch over — I’m not that swamped.

Or, my head isn’t cleared out and nothing has been written down for months. =/

Although I keep my email inbox at zero most of the time, I’ve been off the productivity wagon for awhile. I gotta get back to it. One foot after the other, right?

Book 123 Meme

In GTD, Meme, Productivity on 25 February 2008 with 3 comments

Chris Marsden tagged me with this meme. I barely participate in these, so I’ll humor him and you.

Rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more
2. Find page 123
3. Count down five sentences
4. Post the next three sentences
5. Tag five people

This is from Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. In chapter 6, titled “Processing: Getting ‘In’ To Empty”, this is under the section about one item at a time:

That item may be more attractive to your psyche because you know right away what to do with it — and you don’t feel like thinking about what’s in your hand. This is dangerous territory. What’s in your hand is likely to land on a “hmppphhh” stack on the side of your desk because you become distracted by something easier, more important, or more interesting below it.

I’m trying to think of friends who will actually participate, so I’m tagging: Jean Ma, Jason Stone, Jasmine, Brett Kelly, and Brian Auer.

One reason to use a tickler file

In GTD, Productivity on 27 August 2007 with no comments

A tickler file can help put bills in an organized place on the day they’re to be paid. (Or, a few days before they’re to be paid, if you mail them out.)

Someone I love just keeps them in a stack and sifts through them every few days, wasting precious time she could be spending reading her favorite books.

I had to mail one of her bills a few days ago via USPS Priority Mail so it wouldn’t be late. Why? She misplaced the envelope.

If she had this system, 1) she would’ve known where it was, and 2) it would’ve been sent it out on time. Well, as long as she checks it daily like she’s supposed to.

I know online payments would save her money on stamps, but she’s doesn’t want to change that habit.

The importance of keeping your inbox empty

In GTD, Productivity on 1 August 2007 with no comments

The more stuff that’s in your inbox, the larger the mental block becomes.

Yesterday, I didn’t completely empty my inbox. So what? If you don’t process your inbox on a regular basis, you won’t know of ticking time bombs.

I did shred a lot of stuff and filed a few things, so that was good.

Tip: A lot of stuff can be filed, shredded or thrown away immediately. If it can skip your inbox, that’ll help immensely.

Tomorrow and Friday, I don’t have to go to the office. My supervisor will be going on vacation start next Tuesday for essentially two weeks. So, it’s imperative that I process everything in there so I know what I need to take care of before he leaves. Once he’s gone, I need to be at the office everyday until he returns. (I work part-time.)

I’m much better at work. With my supervisor’s help, we got rid of a lot of stuff from my office (e.g. old computers, broken monitors, broken printers). My work email account is in tip-top shape.

See that picture? I was there before…it’ll happen again tomorrow. Oh yes.

My cousin loves GTD

In GTD, Productivity on 20 July 2007 with 3 comments

My cousin, Leslie, graduated from UC Davis last December and is now trying to get into medical school. (One of the most driven people I’ve ever known.) My graduation gift to her was a copy of “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.”

Yesterday, seven months later, I saw her and her family and we had lunch. Out of nowhere, she says, “Bryan, I love Getting Things Done!” She took out her paper-based calendar and showed me how less cluttered it was. (See “Hard and Soft Landscapes: Calendar vs. Reminders“) She also says she’s going to read it again for things she might’ve missed the first time around.

My uncle notices that I’m fairly laid back, probably because I keep things together. My mom jokingly suggested that I have stock in the company because I’ve bought it for so many people. I’ve bought it for a few high school graduate friends, a coworker, my other cousin in Glendale. Out of all of them, Leslie was the only one to say that she liked it.

This is fascinating hearing this after what Brett Kelly and Ricky Spears wrote a couple weeks ago. Now, I’d probably email someone a few links about the GTD methodology and suggest that they buy the book.