Part I - The preparation
So I started reading GTD.
I was awfully busy during those days... I mean, really busy. Several times I had to stay at work until maybe 1 AM. The last week of the year, the company I work for closes its doors, and I looked anxiously forward that free week. Meanwhile, I implemented the "next action list" as a way of not going nuts.
I was reading avidly, and avidly taking notes. In the middle of the way, I decided to write a list (in Word to Go) that would include every wish, every project which I thought GTD would help me to accomplish. Later, David Allen was going to ask me to do the same. Heck, I had done the homework in advance! Let me tell you that this list is one of the most encouraging outcomes of implementing GTD. Whoa, there are so many things I wanted! And many of them were a couple of steps away. But most important, all of them are within my reach! My Someday / Maybe list is bursting, but it feels so good to move one (only one) project from this list into my current projects lists, not to mention to move them to my "done" list.
Simultanously, I was reading the book and thinking how to implement GTD. That my PDA was going to play an important role was out of the question. But how?
What I needed was an app with a desktop companion.
It was through
Jeff Kirvin that I
found Life Balance.
There were other candidates, but only two finalists: Life Balance and ECCO Pro. God, I really committed myself into finding the perfect solution!!! I spent hours and hours of my free week into this.
Life Balance has its own desktop interface. ECCO Pro is a Windows program that can be synced with the built-in todo, datebook and memo palm apps. This was a tough decision. It soon became clear that the only way to decide was to test them
live.
I started with Life Balance, and I don't think I'm going back, ever. I'll review LB in a future post. Just let me tell you that during the first weeks of this year I was learning/testing the GTD methodology, integrating LB into this system (and learning how to use it), and trying to keep up with my daily life. Can you imagine how afraid I was? I mean, I jumped into this only hoping that the system would work and that it would work for me. I did sweat in those days. I'm not sure but I don't think I've gone nuts. Rather the opposite, it's been paying off, indeed. One example: six months ago I bought a book about yoga. It's divided in several progressive stages. Many times I started it, but never managed to make it not even to level three. I started level four two days ago. So, while I started GTD hoping that it would help me to be less stressed at work, it has helped me well beyond that. And it's only a book! I'm still at
white belt, no doubt about it, but the future looks good.
Oh, let me tell you about another discovery I made these days: the notebook. For so long I could not believe there were people not going digital. Well, as it turns out, I have been re captivated by the charm of pen and paper. I have a legal pad at hand in my office, and one in my night table (how do you call them in English?). All under the influence of
Merlin. Whenever some task in my @action list starts stressing me, I draw my pen and legal pad and brake it into tiny and less scary tasks.
Also, most of the tasks related to my job are on paper. This might trigger my expulsion from MRead, but I have to confess that my @work action list is on paper.