I’ve thought for a while, that we should try and have some level of geek content on TealArt, because while I’m no where near as articulate as I’d like to be and there are a lot of geek things that I either don’t have a clue or care very much about. In that direction, while I hope that we have a series of geek wines at TealArt, it is my hope that I’m not the one writing them. I had time today, and what you read below is just a short snippet of a train of thought. Enjoy, and as always, if you have a whine that you’d like to share, just get in touch!
I have a confession to make: I thought about trying GTD again. With the release of iGTD, which I think is superb software and really has all the features that anyone would want in a productivity app, I was tempted to give the whole bandwagon another spin. Thankfully it was short lived. I have to say that this program is mighty pretty, but my attempt fell flat really quickly: I still don’t have contexts, and most of the “brain dump” and “processing” methods that Allen pontificates about I basically already do.
My latest productivity arrangement is to have a working text file that’s hooked up to a quicksilver trigger and to maintain a to-do list there, and then to do more project-level planning in the little black book that I carry around with me. I also use the book to take notes in meetings and other situations where it doesn’t make sense to pull the computer out of my bag.
This is the thing about being a one-computer, power-mobile computer user: the computer is (basically) always with you, and (basically) everything you do is on the computer. There exceptions, like the paper-books I read, but they also tend to live in my book-bag. I clearly can’t keep a (digital or paper) library with me, but in day to day practice, it works pretty well.
I’ve occasionally thought about adding another computer to the workflow, because I don’t think that in a day to day sort of setting I need any more power or space, but there are a number of (growing) “special” projects that I could benefit from a little extra push. Video re-encoding, iTunes synching, data analysis, image editing, and document creation (so like formating papers and what not). Everything else I do is in a collection of plain standard format files, which neither take up that much room or use processing power.
Because I really am only using one computer, though, it means that I can keep everything working on this computer without needing to worry about synching it to anything, because its always already there. While this means that taking part in the nifty web 2.0 is pointless because I’m more likely to be without a connection to the internet than I am to be without this computer, it works for me.
So GTD remains a bust, and I like the mobility option…
Anyway, I think that’s enough for today. I’m certainly feeling better, I hope that you are too. Be in touch!
--tycho 12 April 2007 Wisconsin