I’ve been working on a bunch of (non-43 Folders-related) stuff lately, but I started feeling that hankering to come back and write something new here. To get the engine started, I went through some old posts and turned up a few (oddly self-inspiring) ideas that I want to re-share. The topic? “Getting unstuck.”

• Hack your way out of writer’s block - “Literally. Put five completley random words on a piece of paper. Write five more words. Try a sentence. Could be about anything. A block ends when you start making words on a page.”
• Solve problems by writing a note to yourself - “Seriously, open up your email program, type in your own email address, then choose a brilliant subject line that perfectly encapsulates your particular problem.”
• Do a fast “mind-sweep” - “And as long as you let that stuff accumulate as chunky deposits on the edges of your perception, it’s very unlikely it’ll get done since — well — they won’t get done until they’re been captured and properly started, right?”
• Cringe-Busting your TODO list - “Per cringe item, think honestly about why you’re freaked out about it. Seriously. What’s the hang-up? (Fear of failure? Dreading bad news? Angry you’re already way overdue?)”
• Patching your personal suck - “Every patch that fails teaches you a little something that might come in handy some day. Mistakes, as they say, can be a buddhist gift.”

I guess all I’d add — since it’s on my mind today — is that I’m learning how much it pays to listen whenever you hear yourself mentally whining.  read more »

NPR: Tech Junkies Crazy About ‘Getting Things Done’

As an insufferably huge public broadcasting nerd, I was happy to hear (via our pal, Ryan) that 43 Folders was mentioned in tonight’s All Things Considered story about Getting Things Done.

Since this may be the first time some folks have visited the site, I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite GTD posts from the past four years. We talk about lots more than GTD here, but it’s definitely a lot of my readers’ favorite topic.

Thanks for stopping by. Ton of links after the jump…  read more »

Hey All- I just started working through GTD and tried to implement it this past weekend. So far, it’s been largely a success, but there are a few areas that are a little fuzzy. The book instructs you to buy 3 paper holding bins. I did, and now use one for my “in” basket, one for blank sheets of paper and the last is sitting on the ground collecting dust. (Cleaning my office is in “In”, don’t worry).

So, my first question is: What the heck are the other two bins for?

Thanks for your help.

Does anyone know of any software/freeware that can be used to manages lists for GTD on a Windows Mobile 6 Standard aka smartphone device?

Hi!

I was wondering if there were a good recommendation for a multiplatform GTD application. I'd like to be able to have my system span both home and work, be mostly digital, and at the same time not be network-dependant.

My situation is thus:

My hardware at work is a Windows laptop. My home system is a MacBook. Bridging the two is an iPhone and a USB drive.  read more »

Hog Bay Software’s TaskPaper was recently released in a completed 1.0 version (previously), and if you’re the sort of person who casts about for a simple way to manage projects and tasks from a Mac, this just may be your app.

But, even more significantly, if you’re not looking for a simple action management system — if you’re that particularly pathetic sort of character who’s convinced that features like tagging, syncing, collaboration, graph paper generation, and the introduction of an onboard artisanal breadmaker are all that stands between you and getting your stuff done — well, you may need TaskPaper more than anybody. Because, friends, TaskPaper is just about fiddle-proof, and, frankly, I know a lot of people who could benefit from that today.

Here’s what a simple document looks like in TaskPaper:  read more »

I had an ‘aha’ moment while listening to the podcasts about ‘leaks in the system’ today.

I’d thought, until now, of GTD in terms of organizing my online work - the emails and jobs I need to do for my website - and then realized that I could incorporate my writing work and personal administration things - home finance and suchlike. After looking at a mom’s organizer with a ‘what’s for dinner’ section on it, I realized that I could include menu planning - it’s part of my job, after all!  read more »