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Using hPDA and Outlook GTD Add-In. Can it be done?
4ster | Mar 19 2006
Hi everyone: I have found that the GTD Outlook Add-In actually works for me. I love how quickly I can convert one e-mail to a next action and track another one via @Waiting. It is effortless and tie another e-mail to a Project. It works well and is part of my overall "Inbox Zero" strategy. I sync Outlook with my Treo, and that works fine. I love having only one thing to carry. However, I don't like how on the Palm shows my tasks. I also don't want to have to re-copy all of my NAs onto index cards. I guess I could just print out all my NAs onto one sheet of 8.5x11 paper each day and just carry that sheet with me and then drop it in the inbox to be processed in Outlook the next morning, adding new NAs (written on the back of the sheet) and making complete ones crossed off the front. Still, I like the minimalism of things like the hPDA. Has anyone found a way to combine the Outlook add-in with something lo-tech? I may have answered my own question by typing this, but I would love any thoughts on the subject. Peace, Doug 4 Comments
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 hPDA + GTD Outlook Add InSubmitted by edkraay on August 14, 2006 - 11:13pm.
Hi Doug, I struggled for 6 months with this exact problem. I loved the "cool" factor of the hipster pda. I felt like I could finally fit in with people with messenger bags and vespas. "Hey, it doesn't need batteries, and if I use it with a moleskin, I'll be like Picasso and Hemingway!" I thought to myself. What I found, though, is that I wasn't being my most productive. I re-read David Allen's GTD + Outlook pdf document. He talks about any subconcious resistance to entering data into your system killing the productivity gains you might realize. For me, this was my hPDA/gtdTiddlywiki/moleskin/Outlook motley crew organization system. I spent more time trying to figure out where I should lodge my next action then actually doing it. So I broke down this morning and bought a Palm Z22. It's extremely basic for a PDA -- no phone, camera, wifi, bluetooth, just a good calendar, to do list and that's all I care about. It took me two hours to enter all my disparate lists from paper to Outlook again. I feel dorkier now, like the Microsoft guy standing next to the mac guy in those commercials they're showing now. But I'm getting more done, and stop fussing around with my productivity porn. Granted, it's not perfect. I haven't figured out how to link projects in the GTD addin to the Palm, but it does 80% of what I need well. Sorry I don't have the system. I really looked around for a long time for an Outlook 3x5 printing Add in. That would have saved me from everlasting nerd-dom. Yours, Ed » POSTED IN:
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