An now for the obligatory New Years Resolution: I resolve to be more organized – specifically when it comes to doing things and GTD.
Lots of Lifehackers are big proponents of Getting Things Done (GTD). I love the idea but struggle to stay dedicated, focused, and organized long enough to actually get things done. I realize I’ve struggled with GTD but want to be better at it and decided to usher in 2009 organized. Starting this week (while I’m on vacation), I’m going to get my life organized. Part of this includes becoming smarter about how I go about doing things… and Things (pun intended) is how I hope to stay focused and organized long enough to GTD.
Things, for the non-Lifehackers out there, is an application that runs on Apple’s OS-X. Despite it not even been a 1.0 release yet, it has gotten good reviews from productivity enthusiasts. I’ve tried the demo and feel its one of the better and easier GTD apps around; the optional iPhone app that can sync with your computer to help maintain your task lists is a big plus. The downside: cost. Things is expensive at $49 for the app and $10 for the iPhone version.
But I’m OK with spending the $50 dollars on a decent GTD app that I can use to help me stay organized. With Things, I hope to jot down tasks I think of while at work but need to be done at home. Categorizing them, or course, is a big part of what I want to do… not by subject matter… but by priority. Things does that for me my the ‘Today’ ‘Next’ and ‘Someday’ level of priorities. I just upgraded to the latest RC1 and saw they included ‘Projects’ which can include sub-tasks; this is going to be a welcome addition to my GTD management.
I’m worried that I’ll start writing down all these tasks that need to be done… and not do them. Or worse, write them down but not clear them from the Things application. But that’s part of the resolution. Things, like the fancy computers and phones we buy, are just tools to get things done. The apps that run them are no different and I just have to dedicate myself to changing my work flows to accommodate the new tools which will help me stay focused and organized.
Wish me luck!