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Getting Things Done with 37signals’ Backpack - Why I’m Switching Back
As some of my twitter friends noticed this week, I’ve made the switch back to Backpack as my primary GTD tool. Some found this surprising, given how heavily I’ve pimped Remember the Milk. This post will outline why I left RTM and why Backpack makes so much more sense (for me, anyway).
Let me get one thing out of the way - this post (and my aforementioned switch) is in now way an indictment on RTM as a service. They have an outstanding product and the sheer number of users they have will attest to that. Having said that, here is the main limitation I found with RTM as a digital tool for Getting Things Done:
Sandy v. Remember the Milk: The Web-Based Reminder Cage Match
Within this little GTD cult of ours, there are an alarming number of battles fought over the best tool, notebook, web application, etc. In my mind, it’s a little silly - just use what works, right?
Well, sometimes there will be two “competing” services/devices/things that both offer a compelling solution to a common problem. Today, that problem is reminders and the two services I’ll be covering are Remember the Milk (hereafter referred to as ‘RTM’) and Sandy.
Now, before everybody starts frothing at the mouth about how the service they use is better than both of those, let me reiterate - I don’t really care what you use. If a stack of cocktail napkins, a set of soap crayons and a shoebox get the job done for you, then that’s great. My point here is not to decide on the all-time greatest way to remind yourself to take the pizza out of the oven or pick up your kilt from the dry cleaners. I’m simply going to compare the capabilities of these two services and tell you which one I like best. Mmkay? Mmkay.
The iPhone as a GTD Swiss Army Chainsaw
I have to be honest - this past Christmas, the item at the top of my wish list was the completely drool-worthy Amazon Kindle. I had watched the video intro a dozen times and was completely smitten. And while I had been secretly longing for an iPhone since they were released, I simpley never thought of it as a plausible reality due to my current cell phone contract, the new T-Mobile Sidekick I had just bought, etc. But, thanks to my terrifically perceptive wife, a shiny iPhone found its way under our tree. I seriously haven’t been the same since.
Obviously, I’m a little late to the game when it comes to this little piece of technological magic. It’s been out for well over 6 months now, has been hacked, jail-broken and otherwise futzed-with to seemingly endless degrees. But, it was new to me and I was in heaven. And, as with most Apple products, it did exactly what I expected it to, and did so (almost) flawlessly. Without rehashing what thousands of people have already said, let’s just say that it’s the single coolest piece of techno-gear I’ve ever owned.
My New Favorite Productivity Application
After spending several months flirting with all manner of web applications, notebooks and the like, I think I’ve finally settled on my GTD implementation of choce. Backpack, a product by the venerable 37 Signals (makers of Basecamp), is simply fantastic.
When considering my previous idea about the two types of web-based GTD systems, Backpack is as close to a perfect marriage of the two that I’ve come across. I bet you’re probably wondering why I say this…
The Two Types of Web-Based GTD Systems
I have a confession to make. I get way too enamored with new and fancy ways of getting my crap in order. Which means I’m regularly transitioning between GTD implementations (and this frustrates me to no end, I assure you). I’m not kidding - when a new GTD app shows up on my radar, I’m like the only Eskimo in the ice cube store. I guess the silver lining is that I can pretty accurately describe why most of the new kids on the block won’t work (at least, not for me). But that’s another topic for another post - I’m just bringing all this up as a way of introducing my experience with many different types of GTD setups and systems.
When it comes to managing your projects, etc. using something digital, you’re faced with two options:
4 Fantastic Reasons Why GTD Converts Should All Start with Paper Systems
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?
How to Make Stikkit into Your Personal GTD Powerhouse
(If you’re interested in Stikkit, you might also enjoy this handy little program I wrote to import your Gmail contacts into Stikkit, or maybe adding Stikkits directly from your desktop with WinStikker!)
As most of my regular readers probably already know, I’m terribly impressed with Stikkit. Sure, it’s a little rough around the edges, but my goodness is it ever slick. In a previous post, I described how bummed I was that Stikkit wasn’t designed around GTD (selfish, selfish me). There has been a somewhat-active discussion around Stikkit + GTD in the Stikkit Forums, but it doesn’t appear that they ever arrived at a solution. Any proposed solution involved a fundamental change to the software instead of a more creative approach.
Well, dear readers, I’m happy to say that I think I’ve figured out a pretty keen way to use Stikkit as a functional, usable GTD system. It’s not bullet-proof by any means (and, truth be told, I haven’t actually implemented it myself), rather it’s the product of my limited knowledge of Stikkit’s capabilities married with a few hours of brainstorming and diagramming. And please also know going in that, because Stikkit wasn’t designed to be a GTD system, there are a few rather hackish workarounds contained in the following guide. Perhaps some of these things will be added as features to Stikkit somewhere down the road, but this should do for now. Read on, if you dare…
Digital GTD: A Review of the ‘Tracks’ Software
As some of you might have read in the recent interview I did at Black Belt Productivity (thanks guys!), I’ve moved from an all-paper GTD system to a hybrid setup. The primary difference is the employment of Tracks to track my projects, actions and a sort of basic, digital tickler. This wasn’t a whimsical decision, mind you. I toyed with several different web-based GTD applications before deciding on Tracks, including Nozbe and Vitalist. Tracks seemed to have the most usable interface with the least amount of fluff. So, I installed it on my webhost and started inputing all of my projects/actions. Here are my thoughts/reactions:
Short version: Tracks has a long way to go. It’s got some decent features, but it’s not ready for prime time. For the longer review, read on…
Rethinking Analog GTD and Why Stikkit is Making Me Drool
So after spending a few months with this new-fangled GTD thing using only paper-based tools, I can’t help but notice all the super-cool web apps that keep cropping up all over the place. I’ve played with a couple of them (SimpleGTD, Vitalist and Nozbe - the last only briefly), and while some of them are very cool indeed, I was always able to think of several reasons why the wouldn’t work for me. Since, ultimately, they’re all designed to solve the same problem, they all also share the same shortcomings (as far as my needs are concerned). Mostly, it came down to a single issue: portability.
As I’ve described in the past, my primary reason for choosing to use a wholly analog GTD system was the notion that I would be able to manage that system from anywhere I had my notebooks, index cards and a pen. Capture would benefit most directly here, as that’s the one task I do frequently when not near a computer. It’s worth mentioning that I spend very little time more than 30 feet from a computer on a given day - my drive to/from work and any socializing I do outside of my home (which is very little considering I have a toddler son and a baby daughter due this June). Heck, even my in-laws have a computer with Internet access that I could use should the need arise. So, given these circumstances, it seems like I’ve just made a pretty strong case for using a digital system (or at least a hybrid). Why then don’t I pull the trigger and switch?
Digital GTD: Ajax-Enabled Mind-Mapping with Bubbl.us
Mind-mapping is one skill I’m still developing as a relatively new GTDer. I’ve tried a couple different apps, as well as plain old pen and paper. The latter works best for me (though, I’d be lying if I called any of my previous mind-mapping attempts wildly successful). But, if I were a digital GTDer, I can say bubbl.us is definitely worth a look. It’s about as web 2.0-ified as you can get, complete with rounded corners, pastel backgrounds and dripping with enough Ajax to choke a horse. But it’s definitely got the sexy thing happening 
Gave it a quick go around, and it’s really easy to use. The TAB and Enter keys are your primary action keys, and there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of mouse required (something that makes me very happy, personally). I would think that being able to just type as fast as you can would be a terribly effective mind-mapping tool, rather than having to click on the “create new box” button, etc.
Anyway, though you guys might like to check this guy out - Happy Mapping!
Source: Lifehacker
Technorati Tags: gtd, getting things done, ajax, productivity, mind-mapping, web2.0, software
