For all of you poor bastards that have been following along with my GTD evolution over the last few years, you’ve seen the implementation change courses a few times. For those of you who couldn’t give a crap about my past implementations, and are interested in how I’m using Toodledo in my new system, welcome to the fray.

The basics: Toodledo is an online “to-do list manager” that has some very strong GTD-esque features and options, is free (though it offers upgraded accounts - one with file storage), has a great mobile/iPhone interface, and a very slick and usable online interface. There is a third-party iPhone app in the app store that syncs tasks with Toodledo, but it’s about as feature-poor as could be, and I’ve avoided it.

Why Toodledo? I did consider Remember the Milk (RTM) and a few others in my search for an online component to my GTD system, but Toodledo was the clear winner. First, I’m only interested in those to-do managers that sync well with Jott. I’ve found myself doing massive core dumps in the car over Jott, and all of those items either end up in my Toodledo inbox, or in my Evernote notebok. RTM made the cut there, but was light on text message interfacing compared to Toodledo, and lacked the GTD context assignment parameters that come with Toodledo. The mobile interfaces were a push, as far as I was concerned.

Why digital? What happened to the Moleskine? If you didn’t read this post explaining my reasons for changing the system, or this post talking about the new role of my Moleskine, go do that first.

Read on for specifics on my new system.

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The Moleskine evangelist in me has given up protesting. I think I’ve finally made him understand that there’s no shame being absolutely outstanding at one thing - as opposed to being pretty good at everything. Making an evangelist understand anything is a challenge, but Mr. Moleskine (yes, he has a name) is especially contrary when it comes to change.

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My most-recent GTD refresher course with David Allen’s seminar stuff (Getting Things Done Fast) has proven to be just like every other one I’ve been through: It’s resulted in me learning/discovering something new.

This time around, I picked up on something subtle that David said somewhere in Disc One. He’s talking the tools (gear) that you need in order to effectively execute GTD, and from the outset, he notes that the shape, style and high-tech/low-tech nature of your equipment isn’t important. Rather, your ability to quickly and effectively use the equipment is paramount.

As David tends to do in this seminar, he jumps into a shallow rat hole here, and lectures the attendees on the importance of typing speed. Here’s where my revelation starts.

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One of the things that David Allen talks about is the amount of time required to truly become a GTD Ninja. That’s not his term, it’s mine (or maybe Merlin’s), but the premise is clear: how long does it typically take to make GTD an integrated, instinctive part of your tool kit?

Well, I take heart in DA’s proclamation that it takes years to make the GTD way your way. I take heart because I’ve come to find that I’m substantially more productive when I get a dose of David every three weeks (or so).

It helps me to try and identify the weaknesses and holes in my system, and you’ve indicated that it’s helpful for you to hear about them. So here goes:

1. I’m still struggling to truly use my Inbox for what it’s intended. For email, this is no sweat. By definition, everything that comes in over email shows up in the right spot…ready for processing. But for that non-digital input, I have established a bad habit of skipping the inbox altogether, and processing contextual locations on the fly. This is bad, as it leads to shortcuts, and doesn’t give my brain enough time to truly digest what this new input is.
2. I don’t build lists of things that can be done with minimal brain power. Friday afternoons, after my weekly review (see item 3), I find that my brain is lacking the engagement that it usually has. Accordingly, I’m not excited to bust out my @Office list…I’d rather do something low commitment, and typically end up surfing the net. I need to start building those “sort paperclip container” lists for times like Friday afternoon.
3. I still really suck when it comes to weekly reviews. David says it’s one of the most important parts of the process, and this is clear to me. I’ve even taken to scheduling that weekly review in my calendar for Friday afternoons…but I still continue to skimp out on it from time to time. For what it’s worth, I tend to do a lot of this reviewing during meetings wherein my participation is in in presence only (ack)…but there needs to be something formal there, undoubtedly.
4. There’s got be a good way for me integrate financial reminders and/or bills in my system, without bogging down my calendar. I don’t have 43 folders..and maybe that’s part of it. This is just another example of a massive hole in my system, attributable to my lack of commitment to the whole process, when it comes right down to it.

So what’s the message here? I’m going to keep plowing through it. The feeling that I get when things are firing on all cylinders is unbelievable. It’s just a matter of getting those cylinders to fire as a matter of course.

Onward.

There are scores and scores of tips out there on how to implement GTD with a Moleskine, ranging from pretty strict implementations to stripped-down versions of GTD. After nearly a year of using GTD in my Moleskines (I’m on number four), I’m finally comfortable enough with my method to consider it relatively static. Read on for an outline of my system.

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