Get Everything Done

Hi there

Am currently using GTD but am curious about AF - am running both in parallel right now. The first speedbump I've hit with AF is dealing with items that in GTD are in the "out & about" context.

My typical day consists of dropping the kids at school, then dealing with any "out & about" tasks whilst I'm in town, before coming back to my home office and settling down in front of the screen for the day.

With OmniFocus on the iPod Touch, I can readily view my out and about tasks while in the car - and cruise around and do them - mail back DVD's, pick up hooks from hardware, bank cheque, buy bread etc etc

How do these context-specific tasks get efficiently dealt with in AF? I don't really want to browse numerous pages just to pick up these tasks to do in town.

Hi bongoman,

I use a separate errands list that is not part of my AF list. This is like the separate context in GTD and works just fine.

-David

Thanks David - your suggestion makes plenty of sense. I foresee that a errands/shopping list would work well here.

Hi bongoman,

I use many of the principles of GTD in terms of collecting and organizing. I come from a GTD background. I was completely digital in my implementation, and tried AF digitally. I eventually went to a simple spiral-bound paper notebook...and you know what, the simplicity has been wonderful! I am very productive in AF, and if you look at my previous posts, I have a very demanding position in Academia with multiple administrative and research responsibilities. I still maintain my calendar entirely in Outlook as am very much a computer geek. Try this with a paper notebook. Give it some time. I think you will find Autofocus to be wonderful.

Best wishes,
-David

I note errands in AF as a task not to interrupt the process of writing down many things that come to my mind . Then I copy them in a separate page in my AF notebook and read them separately. I bring with me another copy when I am in town ( list of errands). In case I lost it ( it happened once) there is the original at home.

OK I keep the original because I like to have all in my AF notebook. This is the main reason.

I note errands and "out and about" type tasks in my main list. Then, when I know I'm going to BE out and about, I will read through my whole AF list looking for those items and transfer them to a piece of scratch paper so they're all in one place. I keep a couple of pieces of scratch paper in the pocket of my AF notebook for just this purpose.

If you are out and about daily, maybe you could make a habit of collecting those items from your main list either the evening before or in the morning before you leave. Then just mark them as done either when you transfer them or when you get back home.

On a related note,

I've been using AF now for a few days and I have two separate main AF lists.

One for work and one for home.

However, I also keep a 'portable' list which is more mobile than the other two and captures errands and things to add to either the home/work list, especially if I have some inspiration out and around town, where I have neither my work or home lists.

However, I'm concerned that while this portable list seems like a good addition, it does contravene several of the apparently 'core' instructions/recommendations of AF, namely:

1. The notebook I use has less than 25-35 lines
2. I normally add a "transfer any necessarry tasks to home/work list" item and then in the usually way, transfer any that I feel should be added to either the home or work list.

LiberatedRebel

Sorry, forgot to add to my last post that in relation to point 2, I remember reading a recommendation not to add items from previous lists/system onto an AF list.

Liberated,

1. I have been using a list with 15 lines since the beginning. I've not suffered ill effects yet ;-) I do this because I carry my book in my pocket and I can't fit anything larger.

2. The instruction about not copying from other lists has to do with the phenomena of "dumping". Basically Mark, and just about everyone else, has found that if you "dump" into your list you'll be overwhelmed. It is better to just let the list grow in its own, adding things only as you think of them. With your ancillary book, it is really acting as a sort of "proxy" book, if that makes sense. IOW, you'd write it in your main book if you had it with you, but you don't, so you write it in this book and then transfer. So it is not that you are "dumping" into your main book ... you are really using it as intended. Your ancillary book is just a capture device.

It would be better to develop a system that you could have with you at all times so you could continue to work in any environment, but your system seems just fine to me.

Thanks for that reassuring advice Mike!

I also have separate work and home notebooks along with a pocket notepad I take everywhere. It is used to capture everything when I am away from the right AF notebook or even for those things that aren't "tasks" but that I just want to remember. It becomes my Inbox in GTD terms.

When I get home or to work, I automatically open my book and transfer what needs to be transferred. It might be something for AF or a phone number/email address or an appointment. Once transferred, it gets lined out.