Taskpaper for the iPhone

- buy Taskpaper for my iPod Touch @done(2010-02-23)

Would have done it sooner but I just received the email announcement.

My current planner setup Feb 2008

I've been asked about my planner setup, so here goes. I found myself messing around with the calendar part of my planner too much and decided to replace a 1 inch Circa Junior size notebook with a 3/4 inch notebook and a "large" 5x8" Moleskine weekly + notes calendar.

I'm still using the Dayrunner binder I purchased off ebay for $15 early in 2007. The front pocket is handy for storing a flash drive and a fountain pen that I like but doesn't quite fit in the pen loop.



I switched out the Levenger discs with clear & blue Rollabind rings. The front pocket works great for business cards, papers folded in half, and Post-It Durable Tabs to divide major sections.



I still have the tabs set up in a way fairly similar to what David Allen recommends with a couple minor changes. Of course the big one is my calendar is a different notebook from the rest of my planner. This allowed the front section of my notebook to become notes instead of a calendar. I also don't have a regular tab for my address book. I have a pocket divider after the "Someday" tab and then I have my address book after that. One tab I did add: Goals. I have some things I want to do that are too big for me to consider projects but break down into different projects. One example would be "Be Healthy" which breaks down into get down to a healthy weight, exercise often enough, etc.



Here's the big change in my planning system. This is a standard large 5x8" Moleskine Weekly + Notes calendar. Calendar on the left for stuff that has to happen at a certain time. Stuff that needs to be done on the top right page, and a lined Super Sticky post-it with my Goals for the month on the bottom right.



I just use regular Rollabind refill pages for notes with a Levenger pagefinder to mark my current spot.



I keep two writing instruments in my pen loops. Unfortunately the pen loops are small so I had a very limited selection to work with. I ended up with a Hero pen from isellpens.com and a mechanical pencil - a Pentel P205.




I'm still using the Circa-magine notebook cover as my cover.




And finally, in the back of the binder I keep an extra index card or two for quick notes.

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.

Goals and Projects

In the past, I've read multiple books about time management and organization. Among them, it seems that two that seem more popular and better than the rest. They are "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey and "Getting Things Done" by David Allen.

Each one has a completely different approach to planning. Seven Habits advocates "Begin with the end in mind." Think about what you want people you care about to say about you at your funeral (as morbid as that sounds) and figure out what it would take to make that happen. The things that would make this happen are what you should focus on every day and then everything else fits in around it. This would include things like being the best husband possible to your wife, leaving the world a better place, etc. etc.

The GTD approach to planning is anything that requires more than one action is a project. Every project goes on a list, and then you break it up into actions, and then you do the things on your list.

I'd read GTD twice and I really like the idea but I had one issue with the project planning way of going about things. It seemed to me that if you follow this method, you end up having a bunch of projects and will spend your life just doing stuff that probably won't matter.

Then I borrowed a copy of the "Getting Things Done - Fast" audio program (no longer available) and realized I'd completely missed one thing and missed most of one other thing.

First off - the thing I missed most of. GTD advocates planning on different levels. There is the "runway level" (projects like go get the car fixed, fix the plumbing, etc) all the way up to the "50,000 feet level" that is find your life purpose and make it happen. To have a successful life, you need to operate on all levels.

And the thing I completely missed when I read the book. David Allen says that one of the first steps in planning a project is to define what the project will look like if it is wildly successful and also how to know if the project is done.

If you think about it, this sounds like a goal to me! A goal is a defined outcome. I want to be debt free by Christmas, I want to get my weight down to 180 pounds, I want to drive X amount of traffic to this blog, etc, etc. These are what many people would call goals.

Now to turn any of those goals into a project, just figure out what steps you would need to accomplish to make this happen.