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4 Fantastic Reasons Why GTD Converts Should All Start with Paper Systems

By , on Sunday, March 25th, 2007

Moleskine

As I’ve said in the past, I was an analog GTDer (but have since converted to a kick-ass digital solution). I used paper products for absolutely every aspect of GTD when I started and found the experience to be extremely valuable. So much so, that I’m going to tell you now why every single person who chooses to embark on the journey that is GTD should do so with a pen and a notebook instead of a stylus and a PDA.

Think about driving for a moment. Many people (myself included) learned to drive in a car with an automatic transmission. Move the little needle above ‘D’ and stand on the gas – you’re moving. But what if your buddy (who drives a car with a manual transmission) breaks his leg or – for whatever reason – suddenly needs you to drive him to the hospital in his car? Sure, you could clunk yourself down the road, stalling the car at every red light, but you’d eventually get there. But wouldn’t you rather spend 10 seconds getting to know how sensitive the clutch is, then driving it like you were born to?

I realize this is another one of those hyperbolic examples for which I’m known, but the basic principle applies. If you don’t know how to work with what are likely to be the most available tools, you’re overall effectiveness is in question. What happens if you drop your Palm Pilot in the toilet? Or if you leave it on the cross-town train? What then?

Well, aside from losing your precious lists (and you should really have a backup, anyway), you’re going to be temporarily relegated to the world of paper. When this happens (and notice I say ‘when’, not ‘if’), will you be the guy who can’t drive the stick-shift? Or will you be the guy who slips right into the completely different situation while remaining totally comfortable?

The bottom line is this: you need to be flexible. If you only know how to drive an automatic, you’re a liability to yourself and your stick-shift-driving friends. If you only know how to ‘do’ GTD using a computer or other digital medium, the same risks apply. Here are my 4 reasons why every GTD newcomer should do paper first:

  1. Working with the Bare Minimum Teaches You Where Needs Lie – When spending time with a paper system, you’ll realize quickly what your specific needs are. Whether that means an effective means of reminding yourself of upcoming obligations or events or just that you find it easier to capture things using a computer program instead of a pen and paper. The point is, you’ll see which parts of the system comfortably convert into something digital (if any – a great many GTD Masters are all-paper folk).
  2. Fewer dependencies – The more gadgets, websites and applications you depend on to really get going with GTD, the worse off you’ll be. Everybody knows I love stikkit, but it doesn’t fit in my pocket the same way a stack of index cards would. The idea here is to use a system that, although possibly not optimal in your particular case, will be available when you need it. Also, you want to have the knowledge that – should anything happen to your precious Motorola Q – you can borrow a pencil from the gas station and maintain your system on the backs of envelopes and fast food receipts (should it come to that).
  3. Challenge Yourself – Honestly, getting into this whole GTD thing – you didn’t expect it to assimilate gently into your existing patterns and practices. You did this so you could get your poop together, and in the process, shake things up a bit. A paper setup will do just that – cause you to work in survival mode instead of that of a pampered prince/princess. You’ll need to change the way you react to new inputs, as well as how you track the status of projects and obligations. Hell, you might even find this all-paper bit to be just the refresher you needed and decide to stick with it long-term!
  4. Portability, Portability and – oh yes – Portability – In my humble opinion, this is far and away the best reason to do paper. As I’ve said, web applications and spreadsheets don’t come with a handy spot to hang your pen. For thos solutions to work, you pretty much need to be near a computer a good chunk of the time. While this might work down the road, at first you’re going to be second guessing yourself every time you’re at the dry cleaner and have a few minutes to knock out a few @phone items. For the paper GTD hacker, these items will likely be sitting comfortably in their back pocket, just waiting to be accomplished.

As per usual, this is just one fellow’s opinion. Some folks go straight for the ready-baked online solution and others completely invent their own from scratch. And those people get things done just as effectively as the moleskine-toting purist. You just want to have as big a productivity toolbox as you can for the times when your smartphone lands business-end-first in the swimming pool.

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  • http://www.frugallawstudent.com Brett McKay

    #2 and #4 are the main reasons I use a paper based system. I used to have a PDA, but when the battery died and I needed information, I was screwed. Additionally, it was too much maintenance. I hated having to charge the thing. I tried using outlook for a while, but if I wasn’t at my computer, it didn’t help me at all. That’s when I decided to go paper. However, it’s like you said, it’s a matter of preference.

  • http://lptf.blogspot.com matt m

    I think David Allen’s assertion that all systems involve paper is a good one to remember here. You have to be able to jot down a note, drop it in IN, and be confident that it will be processed in a timely manner. Most everyone keeps substantial paper files. I would say that carrying around a portable IN folder, and processing it on a daily basis, has been the biggest plus for me in a paper based way.

    I can’t beat the Treo, backed-up/synchronized with Outlook at home and work for email, list and calendar management. I need it anyway for calendar sharing and mobile access to email, not to mention it’s a phone, and there is a simple implementation framework for GTD available for the Palm there for the taking from davidco, so why keep my lists somewhere else? Given the size, activity and volatility of my calendar and lists, going back to paper would be a serious loss of a efficiency. I can’t imagine copying all of my meeting invite emails into a paper calendar, for instance.

    Brett had a good point: I keep a charger in the car, and at my home and office desks where I have to sync it up anyway.

  • http://blog.scottjelias.net Scott Elias

    Great points, Brett. I’m still trying to find my state of GTD Zen.

    “Moleskines and Circas and smart phones… Oh my!”
    ;-)

  • http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/ Chris Meisenzahl

    All good points, thanks!

  • Brian Blank

    Can you ever rely too heavily on the back of the envelope/receipt method?!? I too have struggled with the PDA and incorporating it into the arsenal with not a lot of success and your analogy of driving with a clutch for the first time made a lot of sense. Master the basics and then marry that to technology is the way to go…you have to keep candles on hand for when the power goes out!

  • http://www.zacheverson.com Zach Everson

    All good points. I carried a Moleskine with me for a while, but stopped for several reasons.

    -It’s less flexible than using software. My schedule changes, actions get modified, people’s contact information changes; it’s a lot easier to handle all of those changes by deleting and retyping than having to cross out and insert with a ^.
    -I need to carry a BlackBerry anyway. Carrying that device and a Moleskine was just too much.
    -All of my contact information is already in the BlackBerry.

    My GTD plan:
    -Sync my BlackBerry every morning to update my calendar (including actions do on a specific day)
    -E-mail my BlackBerry my actions list first thing every morning

    That way my BlackBerry and iBook are current and I only have to carry one device. When I get a new action, I just e-mail it to myself and go through my inbox when I get back to my desk.

  • http://www.unproductivity.org/ Robert

    WSD converts should already be doing this. ;D

    http://tinyurl.com/2jxxhu

  • http://www.mctoonish.com/blog Heath

    Great points, but I went looking for a technological tool because I spend so much time at my computer, but portability and having access to my next actions and inbox away from the computer is also important.

    I’m using ThinkingRock because it is, in my opinion, the best off-line, cross-platform application for implementing GTD that I have found (there are several great ones that only work on Windows or only on Mac and I’m on both).

    TR prints out a PocketMod list of my next actions, even dividing them into categories. I carry that in my Moleskin (yes, a regular pocket sized notebook would be fine, but I love the hard cover/bookmark ribbon / back pocket thing). I use the MoleSkin as my inbox on the run and then enter the items into TR the next time I’m at either my work or home computer. TR saves the data as an XML file, which I keep on my flash drive.

    Ah, and TR is free and soon to be open source, something that makes me love it even more.

    Just my two cents.

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    Computer Maintenance Tips…

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  • Scott

    Dissenting opinion:

    Portability is the reason I could never go back to 100% paper. I say that as a person who first ran across David in the old time design days and carried around my time design binder most places. My sony PDA (CLIE brand PDAs RIP) goes in my pants pocket and I take it EVERYWHERE. Since it is in my pants pocket I’ve never lost it.

  • http://www.flexibletracklightingguide.com GTD for flexible track lighting

    I bought David book recently. I made a copy where you see the flow diagram and keep it in my pocket. I am following all those 8 baskets; projects, do if you can in 2 mins, delegate and other nice stuff.

    This way I do not have to keep worrying about my gadgets.
    nice post. thanks.

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