As the end of the year approaches it is time for the inevitable navel-gazing that productivity Pr0n addicts love. It is, of course, time to update my “Killer GTD Setup” post to reflect 11 months of learning, practicing, working and tweaking. Some things have changed quite a bit, others have stayed the same. So let’s get started!

One thing that has stayed the same is the most important part of my practice - my “home base”, the In-box and Tickler file. I used to have two of them - a Tickler at home and one at work, which I would carry back-and-forth far too much of the time. (Which sort of defeated the purpose of having two!) This is a picture of the In-box, Out-box, and (now defunct) Work Tickler.

Since my wife and I moved to the back woods of Maine in November, some of our routines have had to change a little (a lot!). Since there is no home mail delivery we must go to the Post Office for the incoming mail. And not every day either, because it is 6 miles away.

Going to get the mail has become a task that has to be scheduled. So, obviously the in-box does not have as high a frequency of inputs from the outside world any more!

The Tickler File has become indispensable to me. I just use the one now, at home, and it is where I file those papers and notes that are date-specific but will not physically fit into my calendar (which I refuse to load with notes and extraneous “Stuff”).

One of us will go to the Post Office for the mail, my wife will takes what she needs, and put the rest in the In-box.

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When I get to a point where I can process it, I will do so quickly:

• Tickle the bills for the date of the next Weekly Review,
• Toss the junk,
• Do what may need to get addressed immediately,
• and Defer the rest to an appropriate time (usually Weekly Review day again).

It is a very simple and user-friendly approach.

How does it work?

Well, each morning, while the coffee is brewing I will:

• Turn on the computer,
• Make a journal entry about what happened yesterday and what I am thinking about today.
• Check my e-mail for any customer-service issues,
• Respond to any reminders from Wrike about my online project plans,
• Sync my calendar with the G-cal that my wife and I share,
• Pull today’s Tickler folder,
• Check my RSS feeds (while my wife is still sleeping!),
• Define my Most Important Tasks for the rest of the day, and
• Get to work.

I have found the Tickler File to be invaluable to keeping this process running smoothly.

The second important set of tools in this GTD practice are my Circa hPDA and a leather-bound notebook, where all of the capture takes place.

The hPDA is made up of blank 3″x5″ notecards, Circa-punched (or “smurfed”) on a 3″ side and disc-bound. This is where I jot down my thoughts and ideas, notes, Next Actions, and instructions from the Boss when I am away from my home office. (The cover art that you see here is a color photocopy of part of the cover of Lisa Haneberg’s book, Two Weeks to a Breakthrough).

When I get back home to the office, I pull the notes out of the hPDA and put them into the In-box for processing later (or process them right away if I have an opportunity).

The leather-bound notebook is my Commonplace Book, where I capture interesting quotes, books that I am interested in reading, and other ephemera.

Clippings, photos, observations and more get written or pasted into this notebook instead of simply being stored in a file folder. I look through it every week when I do the brainstorming part of my Weekly Review. The notes, quotes, and clippings often spark ideas for posts or projects.

I must tell you that I am in love with this book, the paper is so smooth and the leather cover really gives it that “old-fashioned” romantic feel of the Egyptologist or Grail-quester. The tactile quality is much more appealing to me than an electronic PDA or super-phone/cappuccino-maker.

The third basic component of my GTD practice is my Organizer, where I keep my calendar, project planner notebook and assorted office supplies.

This is my control center. The calendar is a two-page-per-week of my own design, where I can focus on everything from my “Big Rocks” to appontments to the fine details of my Next Actions.

The calendar notebook is Circa-bound (5.5″ x 8.5″) and is divided into 8 sections:

1. The Index - with business cards and blank notecards
2. Objectives - a worksheet with my monthly objectives written out
3. Calendar - the home of the hard landscape itself
4. Errata - color-coded yellow, this section has room for notes and other time-specific information that does not go into the calendar proper, whether for space or security reasons
5. Next Actions - color-coded blue, this is a list of the things that I need to do
6. Waiting For - color-coded green, this is a list of the things that have been delegated or that I am waiting for a response to
7. Contacts - friends, family, and business associates contact information
8. Storage - blank forms for the other sections, and a couple of Project planning sheets that I got from Corrie Haffly

The project planning notebook is a second Circa-bound notebook, also 5.5″ x 8.5″, and is filled with Cornell-style quad-ruled paper. I use this for planning and plotting out the course of my various projects. It has basically two sections - Active projects, and blank paper.

These two notebooks are carried in a leather folio that previously held a 3-ring binder. I pulled out the rings and now it has room for:

• A pen, a pencil, and a hi-liter
• Post-it flags, color-coded
• Half-size index cards, color-coded
• Post-it Index cards (3″x4″), also color-coded
• Plain, blank index cards (some are smurfed)
• Stamps for the mail
• 3 small binderclips (holding the various cards)
• 3 large paper clips
• 5″x8″ notepad inside the back cover
• USB thumb drive with Firefox andThunderbird

This is pretty much everything I need (at the bare minimum) to stay on top of things.

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How does the system run?

The Weekly Review is your best tool for managing these information centers. The thing to remember is that the information needs to keep flowing into and out of the Tickler. I suppose that is why it’s called Workflow, hmm. To this end I use a set of worksheets that I developed for doing the Weekly Review quickly and efficiently.

In fact, I created a Circa-fied “68 Worksheets” notebook for my Weekly, Monthly, and Quarterly Review checklists. I had a hard time going into the files for a blank sheet, or having to print one because I had run out. Now they are all in one place, collated, punched, and ready to be archived at the end of the year. These worksheets are also letter-sized to accomodate my need to spread out and take lots of notes. I have gone ahead and created a PDF version of my “68 Worksheets” into a DIY download (click on the “Shop” link at the top of the page to see all of the download products).

Here is a pic of my workflow diagram:

I keep this on hand for the Quarterly Review, to check on the status of the system, and look for bottlenecks. It also helps me to make sure that my tagging system for Contexts is working properly, and allows me to identify old Contexts that may need to be deleted, or new ones to add.

What are the tangible benefits?

The tools and processes of this particular system create a real motivation that allows me to set realistic and exciting goals for the future. I have been able to accomplish projects that would otherwise have been lost in piles and files. Keeping a close eye on the Contexts and Workflow process are very helpful in maintaining my routines and keeping my ADD as a force for good, rather than an excuse for destructive behavior.

So there you have it folks, my “Killer” GTD System, as it stands at the close of 2007.

Once again I would like to thank the following bloggers for their assistance and inspiration:

• Leo (Zen Habits),
• Ellesse (Goal Setting College),
• Mike (The Daily Saint),
• Al (7pproductions),
• and Lisa ( Design Your Writing Life )

Just for fun, let’s tag a few folks from the original meme to see if they are in the mood to follow up on their Killer GTD Setup posts for an end-of-the-year review:

• Jennifer at Lifemuncher ,
• Jeroen Sangers ,
• 7Breaths goes all-digital
• Brett’s system at Cranking Widgets,
• and the gang at Gearfire .

Leave a comment, your thoughts and questions are always appreciated.