Productivity Practices

I practice my own flavor of GTD and have gotten more consistent over the last few years. I've used text files, wikis, TaDaList, and am currently testing OmniFocus. Here's a summary.

Collection

A (hopefully) comprehensive list of my various inboxes and what I accumulate in each:

  • email inbox (email)
  • mailbox (mail)
  • physical inbox (mail, notes, brochures, etc)
  • RSS aggregator (blog posts to read)
  • wallet (receipts, business cards)
  • camera (photos)
  • iTunes (podcasts)
  • iPhone (text messages, voicemail, tasks typed in manually)
  • AIM (instant messages)
  • Twitter (tweets)
  • refrigerator (CSA produce)
  • OmniFocus (tasks typed manually)

Optimization strategies

  • Reduce the number of inboxes (prime candidates: RSS aggregator, iTunes)
  • Reduce the amount of email I receive (see Tantek on email reduction)
  • Reduce the number of email accounts i currently have (4 standard, 2 gmail)
  • reduce the amount of junk mail I receive (see strategies from Obviously and New American Dream)
  • Reduce the number of RSS feeds I subscribe to or eliminate them altogether
  • adopt the habit of logging expenses directly (iPhone app?) to avoid receipts and ensure better capture (i.e. of expenses for which I don't get receipts and need to remember until they are logged)
  • leave people on Twitter for whom the signal/noise ratio is too low

Processing

How I empty each inbox:

  • email inbox: for each item, decide if it requires any action/appointment/response on my part, and if not, delete it immediately. If it requires an action, capture that action in OmniFocus and either (a) delete it or (b) move it to the Reference folder if I'll need to refer to it to complete the action. If it requires an appointment, add an event to iCal and delete/archive it. If it requires a response, leave it in the inbox until a response is written.
  • mailbox: collect mail daily and move to physical inbox
  • physical inbox: for each item, determine if it requires any action/appointment/response as for email. If I'll need to refer to the item for a response or to complete the action, add it to the Reference box on my desk. Otherwise, add to the recycling box. If the item should be used for reference later or fits into one of my pre-determined project folders, add it to the "to-file" box.
  • RSS aggregator: check for new posts throughout the day. Scan all feeds for interesting posts and open new posts in a browser window behind the aggregator until all posts are scanned. In the browser, read posts as time/energy permit; if they don't permit and the post is interesting enough to read later, click the Instapaper bookmarklet to save for later.
  • wallet: at the end of each day, remove receipts and business cards. Record receipts (and other expenses) in Finance spreadsheet and move to recycling box. For significant business cards, add information to Address Book. Move cards to business card archive box.
  • camera: upload photos to laptop. Delete worthless photos. If there are share-worthy photos, mark a task in OmniFocus to upload to Flickr/Facebook.
  • iTunes: sync podcasts to iPhone. Listen to podcasts on the walk to & from work and other walking opportunities.
  • iPhone: for each text message, consider if it requires action/appointment/response. If not, delete. If response is required, respond immediately. If an action is required, capture it on iPhone or Omnifocus as applicable. If an appointment is required, add it to iCal or iPhone Calendar as applicable. For each voicemail, listen and determine if action/appointment/response is required. Capture actions/appointments as usual. If response is required, add an action in @phone context with any necessary notes and archive message. Save important phone numbers. Tasks sync automatically to OmniFocus
  • AIM: response to messages immediately. Capture actions/appointments as usual.
  • Twitter: check tweets throughout the day and respond occasionally as appropriate.
  • refrigerator: cook with CSA produce each morning and evening as scheduling permits, using most perishable produce first. If additional ingredients are required to make a dish with a given item, capture ingredients in "Groceries to buy" project.
  • OmniFocus: categorize tasks in the inbox each day before the end of the day

Optimization strategies

  • Create a "to respond" email folder instead of leaving messages that require a response in the inbox
  • Move physical inbox, recycling, and "to-file" to my desk
  • Only check RSS feeds once per day
  • Check email less often (once every 2 hours?)
  • Aim to get iTunes podcasts empty on a weekly basis. Go on weekend walks to facilitate this (and get exercise/explore the city!)
  • Be more aggressive about putting up "Do Not Disturb" messages in AIM when working

Each inbox should be empty at the end of each day, with the exception of the refrigerator and iTunes, which should be empty on Thursday morning (before weekly CSA box arrives) and Sunday evening, respectively

Organizing

After processing, each item that needs to be done is represented as a task in one of the following sets:

  • Tasks and projects in OmniFocus
  • Appointments on iCal
  • Articles to read on Instapaper
  • Podcasts to listen to on my iPhone
  • Items to cook in my refrigerator

These five sets should represent the totality of the things I have to do. The system is successful to the extent that I can trust that there are no surprise tasks that I need to think about elsewhere.

Review

I try to review tasks each morning and flag the tasks that I want to get done that day in OmniFocus.

I also try to review all projects, tasks, appointments, someday/maybe items, on an approximately weekly basis to eliminate anything that's no longer a priority, refactor stalled projects, and stimulate any additional capture.

Do

I work primarily from my flagged items in OmniFocus. If I can complete that list on a daily basis, I'm happy with my productivity.

changed December 19, 2008