Call me obsessive. To all you patient readers who probably could care less about my own peculiar problems in implementing GTD, I'd like to share a discovery, insight.

I think I finally figured out what project support files mean. This may sound stupid, but in seeking to implement an analog GTD system, I've been enthralled by all-in-one implementations: hipster PDA, Moleskine, etc. Which meant trying to cram everything into my hipster PDA (lists, calendars, project plans, etc.)

Somehow, I thought that if I used index cards for GTD, then I needed to have everything on index cards (project plans, project notes, etc.) Other implementations held out this alluring possibility: see here. Similar ideas exist for Moleskines (or any bound notebook), including the so-call "Superbuch" (mentioned in an earlier thread here).

For me, however, whenever I've tried to force something into one-size-fits-all, I miss the sense of relaxed control that GTD is supposed to produce. And I've recently found (I could have discovered it all along) that the best way to get relaxed control on projects is to be able to pull out a manilla folder project file with brainstorming, printouts, a checklist, etc. This also means that I don't have to try to scribble all my project notes on index cards. Besides, it's a lot easier to collaborate if you can pull out a manilla folder and invite a colleague, friend, or spouse to look over your shoulder. (Try doing this with index cards!) Perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but I've always worried it seems a bit unprofessional to take out a pack of index card notes in front of colleagues. It's just not as elegant to shuffle through cards as it is to pull out a manilla folder.

The missing key to GTD, for me, was a conceptual distinction between "reminders" (lists) and "support materials" (files--either paper or digital). I know, I know--this distinction is front and center in the book, but somehow I missed it. I wanted my reminders to serve as full support material (for maximum portability)--but this didn't work for me.

This discovery eases the burden on my poor, overtaxed hipster PDA. If it only has to handle lists and collection, it can breathe a little bit easier. The hipster PDA can serve as temporary storage (a "data bus," to use Emory's apt phrase), rather than a be-all and end-all.