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Personal Productivity: An Interim Report

I mentioned in my last post that I was doing something about getting organized. To help me, I’ve used two Firefox extensions, GTDInbox and Remember The Milk for Gmail. I’ve reviewed these elsewhere (links are to the reviews), but here’s how they help.

Achieving Inbox Zero

GTD Inbox makes it a snap to deal with your email (in Gmail). You have five email statuses (next action, action, waiting on, some day and finished) that you apply to your email when it comes in. The theory is that if you can do something immediately, you should, otherwise you apply a priority label and archive it. Then you deal with items in order of priority.

This has worked well for me. My inbox is almost always empty (the famed ‘inbox zero’) and I know exactly which emails are most important. So, what if you don’t use Gmail? The system will work with any email program that allows you to use tags, labels or smart folders. My friend Mitchell Allen has outlined a similar system which he uses with Thunderbird. (These labels also work for processing real mail. I instituted a six-tray system under the influence of my DH some time ago. Labels are now, soon, file, read, info and pass on.)

Making Lists And Getting Organised

Once I had the email sorted, I turned my attention to task lists. I’ve made several attempts to get organised when it comes to tasks. I’ve used Google Calendar, with a separate calendar for writing deadlines. I’ve used a paper diary, which is still on my desk. And now I’m using Remember The Milk for Gmail.

I’ve flirted with RTM in the past, but gave up because it just added one more thing for me to do. Now that I can add tasks from the inbox, assign priorities and see a handy list of what I’ve got coming up, it’s perfect. The task list only appears in the inbox list view, which works for me. When you click on an email it disappears. But here’s the beauty of the system.

Working Together: GTDInbox And RTM

Now, when an email comes in, I either deal with it or assign it a GTD priority and archive it, which takes me back to the inbox. I can immediately input a task related to that email, along with a due date. It should mean that I never forget anything important and am always on top of what has to be done. Marking tasks complete is also satisfying, though postponing them is less so.

So that’s how I’m getting organised at the moment. I’m not even using all the features yet, but I’ll let you know when I find out more. I’ve always met my deadlines, sometimes with time to spare, but using these extensions makes me feel more control over the process.

(Photo: arundo)

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