My Walkaround Version of GTD

Photo by SD

You know how it goes: if you were on an island...

• and could only bring one book- Merton's No Man is an Island
• and could only bring one food- strawberry Twizzlers (is there any other flavor?)

But what if we were talking about GTD?  Would you bring David Allen's first book from 2002 Getting Things Done?  Maybe his latest book Making It All Work would better fit the bill.

As for me, I'd take a small notebook and a simple ballpoint pen.  That way, I could capture all of my ideas for getting off the darn island.  Let me explain.

Although I don't travel very often for work, my days are fairly pedestrian and therefore my GTD system has to go with me.  Kelly Forrister had a great piece this past week about how she takes her system on the road for three weeks out of every month. Now that's what I call portable!

Here's my mini version of GTD:

1. Small notebook, left pocket of my sportscoat. 
2. Pen, left pocket, dress shirt.
3. Blackberry 8830, right pocket of my sportscoat.

With these three items, I can capture all of my thoughts, monitor email and respond if necessary, take calls, and make it to my 3:45pm daily check-in with my boss.  Once I'm there, I process items from my notebook which are important to discuss and voila!  Pint-sized GTD.

Comments

[Ken Stewart]

Great post. I must share that I used to carry around a moleskin that was marvelous until I could no longer decipher my handwriting.

I actually picked up an Apple Touch a few months back and haven't looked back. Not only is it small and portable, I can type notes, keep up with my calendar, and best of all listen to music and podcasts.

Of course, there is the drawback that it would run out of juice on a deserted island, but for business travels in populated areas, I should be OK ;-)