Getting Things Done

As a system administrator, there are always way more tasks than time and priorities change hourly if I'm lucky. At some point a fellow techie recommended David Allen's "Getting Things Done" and initially I didn't recognize the value of the book. Earlier this year I re-read the book, then I bought it on Audible and listened to it again, then I read it again; slowly David Allen has taken over my brain. In fits and starts I tried to implement his ideas and now I really feel like I'm getting the hang of it.

It's all about the tools, as a geek I wanted a fully electronic, preferrably web-based system for implementing GTD. However experience has driven me to a more blended approach using Outlook and a set of tickler folders for the paper; plus a few web tools like Zoho Notebook. But the sense of control you get from GTD is worth every second spend on implementation and now I'm becoming an organization snob with others. Of course I have to temper my critcism because I've misplaced one of my tickler folders in transit and misfiled several in haste, created a few moments of panic.

If you look at Getting Things Done, here's a few tips from my experience:
-Buy the labeler, it's really worth it. In fact my wife and kids keep stealing mine so we may have to invest in a second one.
-Take the time to do the initial collection "blitz", I've found things I missed and had to attack those areas piecemeal and wasted a bit of time doing it.
-Don't be afraid to change your system, I went from 100% Outlook, to a spreadsheet, to a Outlook/paper hybrid and I'm sure I'll change again.
-Read the book, listen to the book, re-read the book, seek out GTD articles on the web. Lots of different types of people are using GTD and there are tons of folks blogging on it as well. Start with 43Folders.com.