You’ve noticed by now that I’m a Moleskine junky, and that these trusty little books are the cornerstone of my GTD system. It’s true that every time I get a new book, I tweak my layout just a tad…but that’s to be expected, right?

My most recent adaptation has been completely away from @”Person” lists. There are several people with whom I need to converse on a daily basis, and initially, I created a list for each of those people. These lists would team up with my @Calls list, sometimes spilling over into my @”Building” list (where the “Building” is an actual, physical location), and it was effective…but dreadfully complicated. Let me illustrate, with an example.

If I need to speak with Tom about TPS reports, I might add “Asked about TPS report status” to my @Tom list. Intuitively, the next time I see Tom, the reminder will be right there. But Tom’s office is in Building 20, so it might also be appropriate to add “Asked Tom about TPS report status” to my @Building 20 list for a trigger. Then again, while I need to speak with Tom, I don’t necessarily need to see him to speak with him, so I might throw “Asked Tom about TPS report status” in my @Calls list.

I’m dumping this nightmarish overlap in favor of one ubiquitous @People/Calls list. In this list, action items look like this “Tom: Asked about TPS report status.” This isn’t anything ground breaking, but my philosophy is simple: when I’m talking to people, I check the list; when I’m walking, with access to a cell phone, I check the list; when I’ve got a few minutes at my desk (and am not on the phone), I check the list. Since there are several ways to accomplish “talking” to someone, I’ve found that this method keeps things more orderly…especially as I start stacking lists inside my Moleskine.

As a quick note, I still keep email actions rooted in my @Desk list: “Sent email to Tom about TPS report status.” While I’m trying to streamline the “talking” actions, they still need to be contextual.

Tags: gtd, moleskine, @calls