Ponies, Journals, and notebooks

I promised I'd blog about which tool I ended up using to get organized and how I got there. I'm not going to go through all the details and background but I will focus on the two that work out the best: Journler and Circus Ponies Notebook.

Both are truly wonderful programs. The big difference here is Circus Ponies Notebook uses a notebook metaphor - it looks exactly like a notebook including you can make it look like a spiral bound notebook, a yellow legal pad, or even Cornell Notes. The problem here is trying to make a computer program look and act like a notebook ends up being a tad on the clunky side.

After trying Journler, I switched. It makes use of the features a computer provides: searching, indexing, categorizing, and tagging. You can do folders and smart folders. I call it "iTunes for my life". The folders are like playlists of the information you want to organize - you just drag 'n drop your stuff and it is there. The smart folders are like smart playlists - define the search criteria and anything that matches just shows up there.

Now if Journler just did todo lists better, I'd be using it for everything. I wonder if you could somehow combine Journler and iGTD.

the big analog/digital DUH!

For the last few months, especially since re-discovering the site DIYPlanner.com I have been in a mentality that I should either do all my organization with a planner or all of it in electronic format. So the dilemma became: do I want everything to be digital and searchable or on paper and so I won't have to worry about computer problems?

My answer came later from David Allen. I wish I could remember which interview I was listening to with him exactly, but someone asked him which he uses: analog or digital tools? His answer: both! I've heard him say it before that if someone isn't comfortable using either of these toolsets they are in trouble. What I hadn't heard him say before is that he personally uses both and recommends that anyone comfortable with this do the same.

It was one of those "Well, DUH! Why didn't I think of that before?" moments as David went on the explain. He carries paper and pen with him at all times so he can jot down anything that pops into his head. Later he processes this information. In his case, if something is important, part of "processing" is entering his handwritten note into his computer. The note can then be saved, stored, searched, emailed, posted online, or whatever he choses to do with it.

So lately I have been revisiting different tools for stored everything I need to keep track of. More on that in another post later, but for now I'll say this. I've settled on a tool called Journler which is Mac-only. Windows has a similar tool called EverNote. I have not seen any equivalent in the Linux world.