Get Everything Done

Are there folks here using any of the Web 2.0 tools (Google, Scrybe, Remember the Milk, BackPack, Tada etc.) to DIT and manage their closed lists? Or a combination of paper and computer?

I have enjoyed a thoroughly productive first full week using closed lists in a $9 page-a-day diary to manage my load at work. I am obliged to use Outlook for email/calendar at the office but I keep my personal calendar info in Google calendar for access at home and work.

I'm just wondering how folks (i) combine/separate work and personal action and (ii) mix and match paper and web tools.

Hi Buzz, I used to be a real Outlook fiend but I found that it was way too easy to generate a lot of tasks which then felt overwhelming. I still use follow up flags on emails if they need to be actioned and when they are completed I fill in the followup flag with the result and mark them as done. As I work at the computer all day I don't feel like using it when I go home so using Outlook for personal tasks too is not something I find emotionally satisfying. I have gone back to the old paper and pen method of using a pukka project book which has 3 sections. The first section I use as a journal, the second section is for "thoughtdump" - anything about projects/working stuff out that needs to be done. The third section I use for goals so I know in what general direction I am supposed to be headed in. There is something really satifying about crossing things out and writing notes to yourself by hand as well as celebrating your achievements by writing down milestones along the way. I also use stickers a lot to make things look pretty! You can't do that in Outlook! This works very well for me but I know it wouldn't suit everyone. For reminders I just use my mobile phone to set up things I need to remember and that is really handy.

Nicky

Thanks for the reply - much appreciated! I'm not quite an Outlook fiend/fan but it does the job for work email and appointments. I too enjoy writing things, doodling and mindmapping and have found my first weeks of DIT pleasurable in that respect. I suppose I was hoping to learn if anyone had found a way of using web-based applications to manage their closed lists. My 'work' is split between my current career job, personal & family stuff and activities around my second/future career (organisational development and the coaching of junior management/small business owners). As such, I tend to carry a lot of stuff around in my Crumpler bag and wondered about recording my longer-term written goals, lists and actions online - still able to print out and carry them but safely stored in case I lose my task diary. Perhaps I'll just settle to DIT first and experiment a little later.

[off topic] Had a nice wander through your blogs - beautiful work and lovely observations about the UK countryside (parts of which I miss cycling around, and not just because of the pubs!). I am thinking of steering my emigration blog - www.bignoseduglyguy.com/no8wire/ - away from the emigration viewpoint and more towards living life on the rural fringe north of Auckland, with more observations of our surroundings.

[back on topic] Which reminds me that I need to add more notes and ideas to the relevant project list!

Thanks again for the reply