Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: In Context Blog

For those of you who may be interested, I have posted my pics onto Flickr. I have annotated the workspace and organizer pics. Let me know what you think.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hdbizblog/

While I wait for dinner to cook (roast chicken, yum!), I thought I’d catch up on what’s been happening in the GTD-o-sphere. Behold, a group writing excercise on your number one productivity tip from Instigator Blog. Now this looks interesting!

Write a post on your best productivity tips. Challenge yourself by picking your single best productivity tip (although this isn’t a requirement; you can give us more if you want!)

It looks like I am a little late to the game (sorry, work has been busy yet strangely unproductive), as I have found a few others who have already jumped on the tag-wagon. GTD Wannabe and Ian of the Messy Desk are already on the case. Leo at Zen Habits has already been tagged, but since he’s just getting up he may not have had time to post on it yet.

My number one tip is easy: Keep your appointments, especially with yourself! I have found that using my Tickler File and Weekly Review really keep me one track. Since I have started practicing Getting Things Done these two tools were the hardest to get in the habit of using. But that is the key,to make it a habit. Once you get in the habit of keeping appointments with yourself, you will have much more trust in your system, and it will become invisible. And when your system is invisible, it will be able to work on autopilot and you can get things done without any stress. I check my Tickler every morning, and because I know that I will not miss anything I am not afraid to put anything in there. Likewise the Weekly Review - that appointment is inviolate, and allows me to keep track of where I am going, to stay on course.

Now it’s my turn to tag:

Ellesse at Goal Setting College

The Pantheress at Confluey

Mike at the Daily Saint

Bombadee at Bombadee’s Garden

Let’s see where it goes… Have fun!!

UPDATE:

Here are some of the folks who have joined in, it has been running a while now and the Instigator has compiled over 100 submissions. I can’t wait for the e-book!

1. Challenge Your Brain for Productivity - 5 MITA Steps by Robyn McMaster
2. My Ultimate Productivity Tip: Unplug! by Hugh Hollowell
3. 10 Ways Communicators Can Stay Productive by Nonprofit Communications
4. One Is A Productive Number by Carolyn Manning
5. Ultimate Guide to Productivity: To-Do Lists by Tonya
6. The art of getting things done by Vernon Lun
7. The Greatest Productivity Secret Of Them All by Roger Carr
8. Productivity Tips for Writers by Yvonne Russell
9. A Housewife on Steroids by GP
10. Single Best Productivity Tip by Susan Sabo
11. How To Organize Your Desktop to Boost Productivity by Anthony
12. Productivity Group Writing Project by Vickie Turley
13. What’s Your Greatest Productivity Secret? by World Wanting Peace
14. Get More by Doing Nothing by Lyman Reed
15. Productivity Group Writing Project by Karen Del’Marmol
16. Ultimate Guide to Productivity by Jeff Simon
17. Ultimate Guide to Productivity: My Tip by Gillian Hood-Gabrielson
18. What is my secret to being productive? by Sunny Days
19. What’s my top productivity tip? by Tracey Lawton
20. The Greatest Productivity Tip in the World by Alex Brie

Ben says, “Feel free to contribute your own productivity tips, even if you weren’t tagged by someone to do so. You can start a new thread of this group writing project meme and share it with others.” So jump in!

There is a long discussion thread at the Davidco forums on the care and feeding of Paper-based calendars, which is a subject near and dear to my heart. I love my paper calendar!

Here are some of the thoughts:

I guess that at first I was some kind of snob when it came to paper tools, I also was much too lazy to do the rewriting that I thought I had to do… I now use a paper binder set up the way that DA sets his up and for the most part I really enjoy the speed and portability that I didn’t get in my Palm (yes I said that…) Perhaps its just the physical pages and quickly tabbing over to my calender or to my projects page… the binder has become second nature so that I am really used to it.

Note the perceived weakness: re-writing.

…this retro binder is by far the best for me. I do have Addresses on my TREO and iCal and also reminders—Molly owes me $50 for new tire–stuff like that, but it’s paper for me for lists. I really love the day pages for jotting down things and also planning out my week. I can really get into the reality of the week when I see it day by day with the hours all laid out. I slot in project work and don’t freak because I know that on thursday, I am going to be working on Board Meeting agenda, or my students final summaries, whatever. It’s captured and it has a time.

Note the perceived strength: the reality of the week.

I’ve been back and forth on this one. I love paper (my F-C 2-page per day with 2-page per month calendars) but also have to change my schedule so much that my binder was filled with too many white blobs of white out. So, I use the F-C clasic binder for the right hand page and the docs I wish to see visually and use my Treo 700wx for all else.

Note the perceived weakness: too many blobs of white out.

My ideas/notes eventually get filed in a 3 X 5 repository. In fact, as an academic, I’ve switched to index cards for note taking–so my hipster is also my main notetaking tool. In less than a year, I have collected over 1,500 notecards, organized alphabetically by subject.

This paper system has immensely clarified my thinking–forcing me to focus on one idea, one list at a time. I like how paper forces you to work through the steps of GTD deliberately: collection, processing, review, and action.

Note the perceived strength: clarified my thinking.

Now here is the tip, that no one mentioned: use a pencil for your time-specific events in the paper planner. Bonus tip: write recurring events on a small sticky-note, this way it can be moved from page to page as needed.

Using a pencil to write in appointments, meetings, or other events that may be subject to re-scheduling eliminates the need for white-out, and increases the speed with which you can make changes. Time specific events that are not subject to change can (and should) be written in pen, preferably a color. I use red and green and blue pens in my calendar for assorted events such as birthdays, “hard” due dates, telephone numbers, and any “Big Rock” items that must get done that day. The final example above shows the usefulness of a separate capture device, in order to “focus on one idea, one list at a time.” This clear thinking is the essence of Getting Things Done, working through the Workflow Process, and achieving stress-free productivity.

There is a discussion raging at the DavidCo forums regarding the use of the Tickler File. The gist of the thread is pretty simple:

• Do you use a Tickler?
• No, I use a Mac.
• I love the Tickler.
• I can’t get in the habit.
• Yada, yada…

There were no real explanations of how people were systematically using their Ticker Files, which I admit would have been helpful to me a couple of months ago. Once I got in the habit of using the folders, they became indispensable.

In the interest of saving my readers the time of going through all of those posts, here is my GTD Tickler File methodology:

At home, where I do have things that are date-specific but will not physically fit into my calendar (which I refuse to stuff with notes and errata). this is a full-on 43 folder system (12 months + 31 days).

Now that I work from home, I will schedule a trip to the Post Office to get the mail a few times per week (it’s 7 miles to the PO!). I zip through the mail as so:

• Tickle the bills for the date of the next Weekly Review,
• Leave the mail for my wife on the kitchen table,
• Open and handle any other mail,
• Toss the junk,
• and Defer the rest to an appropriate time (usually WR day again).

Simple.

Then, each morning, while the coffee is brewing, I check the contents of “today’s” folder, sync with my paper calendar, and get on with my routine. Again, simple.

I have found the 43 folders to be invaluable. There is a complete description of my GTD hardware here, and my method for the Weekly Review here (including downloads of Review Checklists).

How do you use your Tickler File, and how did you make it a habit?