Using an additional capture tool with my Filofax - by Anita

Before I started using a Filofax, I tended to have a number of notebooks on the go, which unsurprisingly didn't work very well for me. I forgot which notebook I'd previously used, or one of them got mislaid which resulted in me finding it weeks later and it just wasn't very efficient. David Allen's book 'Getting Things Done' talks about what he calls ubiquitous capture, so like many people in the community, I have an inbox section at the front of my Kensington with spare paper and notes and to-dos get written down there. 

However, I won't always have my Filofax with me, even when I'm at home, so I have a number of small capture tools that I often use alongside my organiser.

Left to right - PocketMod, leather jotter and tiny notebook (7cm by 10cm).

My favourite is the leather jotter that was an eBay bargain as no one else bid, so I got it for the price of postage! It's a lovely little thing made by a company called Fabriano, and takes record cards that measure 12.5cm by 7.5cm. And another stroke of luck was that my Mum-in-law had a stack of those cards that she was getting rid of, so I have lots to keep me going.

Currently, the leather jotter lives in a basket in the drawer of my bedside table, so that it's within easy reach. Once I've written anything, the idea is that any of these capture tools are small enough to just pop into my Filofax, so that I remember to process the notes. I tend to put the jotter behind the flyleaf, which keeps it in place and it's also the first thing that I see when I open it up.

In the past, when I used to work in an office, I'd also sometimes keep a spare lined insert (folded in half) in my wallet, so that worked well too for the times that I might leave my Filofax at home. I find that I benefit from more capture tools like this when I'm going through a busy time, as it helps ensure things don't fall through the cracks and also helps me feel less overwhelmed. 

Do you also do this, or does everything just go into your organiser straightaway?

Free For All Friday - No. 746 by Anita

As mentioned previously, I have returned to my GTD based setup for 2023 and will write another post once I've settled in a bit more. As part of this, I am also using these criteria (context, time available, resources and priorities) to help me choose what to next work on. As I solely work from home, context isn't as important as all I need is a computer and internet connection, but most of what I now do is balanced between my resources and priorities. For example, I need to file tax returns by a particular deadline, but my completely flexible hours mean that I can schedule this based on my current energy levels. Once I've finished my busiest quarter, I can then work less hours to recover. Whilst I do use Google calendar, I find that planning in my Kensington or notebook is the best way to ensure that I meet deadlines, but in the most sustainable way for me based on my current resources whilst I'm still recovering from burnout. 

Are you using your Filofax to help you work and/or meet your commitments in a more sustainable way?

And as always on Fridays, please feel free to discuss anything organiser related. I hope that you have a great weekend. 

Free For All Friday - No. 734 by Anita

As we're just into the last month of the year, I thought that I'd do a bit of an update about how things are going with my inventory, set up and productivity in general. 

Inventory update

1. Pocket (A7) Moterm - I was briefly tempted to try pocket as my main planner, but I know that the page size is too small for me. Keeper? No, to be rehomed next year
   
2. Lefax City slimline - such a beautiful binder, but personal size is what's best for me. It did work well for a short period, whilst I was clearing a backlog, but once that was reduced, it made sense to move back to the personal with any remaining old notes to process kept in my A to Z section. Keeper? No, gifted to Steve
3. Personal Kensington - yup, back in my old faithful friend again. Keeper? Haha, can't imagine letting this one get away again 
   
4. Custom Van der Spek - holding spare inserts. Keeper? No, to be rehomed next year, as I'm always in my Kensington and it's too beautiful a binder to be just used for spare paper
5. Vintage non-branded - I love the colour, but again, I find it hard to leave my Kensington. Keeper? Nope, to be rehomed
6. A5 Original for work - whilst it was great in many ways, I realised that a notebook is easier to write meeting notes in and I don't need to move pages around anyway. Keeper? No, returned to the previous owner
7. Filofax Billingham - a new (to me) purchase this year, which I need to write a post about.

Set up

As mentioned before, I have two set ups that I use and have been in the simplified version for a number of years now. However, as I'm planning on looking at more personal projects next year, I've decided that I will be changing back to my GTD based one from 1st January. At the most basic, I will have a list of current projects, which I will keep up to date, so that I can easily check if they all have a small next action ready to keep moving them forward. My main goal for my 2023 set up is that it will be consistent, current and context-driven (from Getting Things Done, as per this video). 

Time blocking and WIP list

After working for the same company for 13 years, I finally changed jobs in 2020, which was quite a difference, as I'd gone from working in an office on set hours to a fully flexible home-based role on a zero hours contract. Pretty much all of my work, apart from a tiny amount of admin, is done for individual clients, so it's all about time blocking, which I'm finding a very efficient way of working, plus it helps that there are generally less interruptions at home, compared with my previous office environment. Not only does blocking out time enable my boss to see what I'm up to in my shared Google calendar; it also helps me plan my work and keep track of any clients that I need to give more time to. It has also made me realise that I can get much done in quite a small amount of time, as long as I'm good at keeping track of my progress with a particular task or client. 

So, from this work experience, I have created a new list for my Filofax called Work In Progress, which is aimed at recording where I've gotten to with a task and I'm finding that it's working really well for me. I don't know about you, but I'm normally good at keeping on top of the important stuff, but sometimes the smaller things get a little waylaid when I run out of time and/or energy! I then have to figure out where I'd gotten to, or sometimes I just forget about it all together... The idea with the WIP list is that it's for less important or maintenance jobs that I want to keep momentum on, so that it's super easy to pick up where I left off. It's also working well for larger tasks that I want to break down and say to myself, "Just do five minutes, you can do that".

At the beginning, I write in capitals what the subject or context is, e.g. Philofaxy, Moneywiz (software that we use to track our finances) etc. and then I write what needs to be done after that. Some of the items below are part of a bigger project and could go on my normal next action lists, but I've put them here to remind me of my progress for now. If needed, I will also note what's been done, e.g. for Moneywiz, I've updated the Tesco interest rate, but all the others need doing still and I've done all the vacuuming, except for the lounge and bedroom.  

Well, that turned into a longer post than anticipated, but it's actually helped me to start thinking about 2023 and what I'm already doing that's working well.

Have you anything that you'd like to share about what's been working well for you this year?

And as always on Fridays, please feel free to discuss anything organiser related. I hope that you have a great weekend. 

Free For All Friday - No. 702 by Anita

Whilst reading this article by David Allen, it started me thinking about where I am currently with regards to using my Filofaxes. 

Due to recovering from carer burnout, I haven't yet done my planned clear out of my Kensington and I'm also not using my A5 Original as much for work. 

So, I think that it's time for me to sit down and consider my current reality and the simplest way for me to move forward to where I want to be with how I use them both. I guess that this post is me starting to think about this process, so I will be writing a follow up post when I decide. The good news is that all the important stuff is getting done, so it's more about catching up on any backlog, fine-tuning and tidying up. 

What is your current reality with regards to your set up, and have you been thinking about what next step you need to take to make any changes?

And as always on Fridays, please feel free to discuss anything organiser related.

I hope that you have a good weekend.

Free For All Friday - No. 698 by Anita

Recently I've been catching up on some reading and podcasts, and as it often does, it's been making me think about how I can use my Filofax in different ways.

One podcast that I'd recommend is this compilation of David Allen's 'Two minute tips for turbulent times' GTD podcasts:
https://gettingthingsdone.com/2021/12/two-minute-tips-for-turbulent-times-with-david-allen/

I haven't finished listening to it yet, but once I'm done, I'm going to make a list of my favourite ones, as I think that it will be a great resource to help me get going on any days that I might be feeling a bit overwhelmed or stuck. 

I'm also thinking of writing separate 'toolkits' for different purposes that will be a brief list that will serve as reminders, e.g. how to get my email back up to date or do a Filofax review. I haven't started on them yet, but the idea is so that I don't need to do the thinking again and again. 

For example, I have a post-it note on the back of my dashboard that is a prompt for some self-care basics: 

• Drink?
• Snack?
• Have a break?
• Get outside?
• Move?
• Time alone?
• Company? 

Do you keep lists or reminders like these ones in your organiser?

And as always on Fridays, please feel free to discuss anything organiser related.

Flatability - What is that all about....

Flatability is a term invented by our friend Neil to describe how easily an organiser opens and stays flat without you having to hold it open. 

I know I've struggled in the past with organisers that struggle to stay open, 'training' them to lay flatter. 

I think the worst case of this was my Cuban Zip, it's a lovely Personal size organiser with large 30mm rings. Whilst I can get it to lay flat, as soon as I zipped it closed and then reopened it was back to as it was before, it needs flexing again to lay flat!

Neil has produced some excellent videos in which he reviews different Filofax models from the 'back catalogue', naturally he gives them all a 'Flatability' score. 

His videos also cover how he uses his organisers and his GTD set up. 

Very recently Neil has added his channel to Patreon and there is some exclusive content to be had on that platform. So take a look, the lowest tier costs less than a cup of coffee, please give Neil some support. 

• Flatability - You Tube - Recent videos
• Camera2888 - YouTube - Older Videos
• Flatability - Patreon

Enjoy. 

Silent Sunday

 

Black personal Kensington 

Throw-back Thursday - Guest Post - How I use my Personal Filofax for Getting Things Done - David

I'm repeating this guest post from 2014 because it was very popular back in 2014, and I'm sure some people might have missed it first time around. 

Once again thank you to David for sharing in his system in such detail. 

This is the follow-up to my previous post, which detailed my Filofax set-up for Getting Things Done (hereafter referred to by its usual acronym of GTD). I’m sorry this has taken so long to see the light of day despite reminders and requests from members of the community. The honest truth is that I‘ve been experimenting almost continuously for the last four months or so, with different variants of the set-up, different binder sizes, form formats, etc, and in each and every case I’ve found myself back with the set-up I first detailed in November of last year. The only differences are that I’ve since become the very happy owner of a Cavendish with 30mm rings (goodbye, ring capacity issues), and that I’ve altered the sequencing of the sections slightly to make them more intuitive to me. Otherwise, the system is exactly as it was nearly a year ago, and having ‘wandered far and wide’ in search of what are in reality minor improvements, and returned to the system basically unaltered, I’m pretty sure this is the set-up for me.

As promised, this post really isn’t about the set-up at all (you can get that from my November 2013 post), but about how I use it. For the record, however, the sequencing of the sections is now

1. Notes/In
2. Diary
3. Next Actions
4. Agendas
5. Projects
6. Waiting For
7. Someday/Maybe
8. Focus and Direction
9. Reference
10. Contacts

I’ve combined Project Plans in with Projects to make room for the Focus and Direction section following reading the new GTD Guide to GTD and Paper Planners. I like the GTD system a lot better with the Focus and Direction element included than I did before….. <A sample of the Guide>

So…..what principles do I employ for operating the system, and what routines do I have in place?

Basically there are only three principles which undergird everything I do:-

1. Capture ‘stuff’ instantly – don’t rely on your memory, it will let you down. Trust me – I’ve learned this the hard way, through everything from missed appointments to overdue tasks.
2. The right set-up is the one you’re going to use. If you don’t love it, you won’t use it.
3. Don’t try to make it perfect. The perfect system doesn’t exist.

1. Capture stuff instantly. This is vital for me. As I said in my previous post, everything (and I mean Everything) goes immediately into the system through Notes/In, with no exceptions allowed. If I come across a task, a project I’m about to take on, an item of information or anything else, it gets written in the Notes/In section straight away. I find even a minute’s delay (or less) means I’ve lost the thought I had in my mind. Once it’s recorded here, I know that I’m going to revisit it at the appropriate time (see below) and decide what has to be done, when, and by whom, and then make the decision about where it ‘fits’ within the system as a whole, either as a Project, an Action, a Someday/Maybe or whatever. Incidentally, this is the main reason why I’m still in the Personal format. Gents – can you really imagine yourself whipping out a Cuban zip binder, or something even bigger, in the pub, the gym or a restaurant. Good. Neither can I……ladies, I *know* you (mostly) carry bags for this purpose and others, but just make sure you can see yourself using that Filo in any and all circumstances……
2. The right set-up is the one you’re going to use. I’ve been through some great set-ups that were just too complex and time-consuming (including some GTD variants), some great binders that were just too bulky to carry, and had some great ideas which would really work well except that I’m never going to apply myself enough to ‘lift that weight’ (to quote David Gilmour). For me, this means I need a system that I can use (not over-complicated), will use (not ‘time-hungry’) and enjoy using. My Cavendish and my ‘reserve’ Hampstead (which I still sometimes move back into just for the fun of having it around) are both great binders I’d happily use all day every day (and do).  In terms of paper quality I’ve moved over almost entirely to Raymay Davinci because I can use any of my favourite pens with it. If you enjoy using your system, you’ll use it. If you don’t enjoy it, it will quickly become a chore to keep updated, and no-one likes a chore, do they?! The next stop is neglect and eventually (usually quite quickly) dis-use.
3. Don’t try to make it perfect. A long time ago I sat in a meeting where a wise person lectured us on the dangers of seeking perfection. I wish I’d listened (more). There is ‘perfect’ (which doesn’t exist, by the way) and there is ‘good enough’, which is, well………Good Enough. Real wisdom knows when Good Enough has been attained – and then stopping! (Can you tell I’m lecturing myself here?) I would have spent far less time trying and then abandoning slightly-altered set-ups than I have, and would have been far more productive, if I’d taken that advice earlier.

Ok, so those are the three principles by which I try to operate my system. In addition I’ve adopted a couple of routines which help keep me on track:-

1. The ‘daily tidy’
2. The Weekly Review

1. The ‘daily tidy’. Obviously if I’m constantly capturing ‘stuff’ in my Notes/In section, I’m going to have a bunch of loose ends by the time I’m getting towards the end of each day, so I make it a rule to spend 10-15 minutes before I finish the ‘work’ part of my day sorting these through, making decisions, and neatly logging them into the relevant lists within the system (GTD is really just a set of related lists). Anything captured after that goes into the following day’s Notes/In page(s) and gets dealt with the same way. There are no exceptions to this, no excuses, and I don’t consider 10-15 minutes every day too big a price to pay for the security of knowing that all the loose ends are dealt with. The other thing I do during my daily tidy is to set my MITs (Most Important Tasks) for the next day, so that I come to my desk knowing exactly what they are. For more information on the MIT concept, see Leo Babauta’s excellent book ‘Zen To Done. I set a *maximum* of two MITs  each day, and I make sure they get finished first, before I do the ‘small stuff’.
2. The Weekly Review. Obviously I can’t take any credit for the idea of the Weekly Review because it’s an integral part of the GTD system (see David Allen’s books if you need to know more), but I do my Review each week, for about 30-45 minutes, usually in the café three doors up from where I live, or another about four miles away (I live in a small village). Doing that gets me away from my desk and from all the things ‘shouting’ to be done, and gives me the time and space I need to concentrate solely on getting my system up to date (if needed) and to brainstorm anything else which needs to be ‘brought on board.

I think it’s really important to have routines and stick to them. If I’m away on business and can’t make my usual Friday Weekly Review for some reason, I either do it on the train (and I’ll admit that writing on a train isn’t easy), or make sure I make time to visit a coffee shop in London (or elsewhere) and get that review sorted. The great thing here is that I have my Cavendish with me all the time, and this is always my response to the standard and rather tired argument I get in favour of digital planning, namely that of ‘single data entry’ which then ‘pops up’ on different digital platforms.

I have Single Data Entry (OK, count the initial note and the ‘proper’ logging as two if you like) and once I enter it, it stays entered. And I don’t have to rely on it maybe/possibly/probably ‘popping up’ elsewhere, because my Filofax is always with me.

Over all I don’t think 15 minutes a day and 30-40 minutes once a week is too much time to spend to keep up-to-date, and I hope you don’t either. Mostly it’s a matter of discipline. Do I want to save the review time for something else and know I’m going to struggle all week to know what my ‘compass’ should be? Probably not. Do I want to know I’ve always got everything with me, all the time, and that I can’t be ‘ambushed’ by new ‘stuff’ because I have a tried and tested system for capturing it and dealing with it later? Probably. No, definitely.

I hope this brief overview is of help to those who have requested it. Once again, I have to stress that this is the system which works for me – yours may be different. I think the important thing is that each of us should not only have a system but should use it consistently. And remember:-

Happy planning!

David

Thank you David

Free For All Friday No. 435 by Anita

I admit that my Filofax is in a bit of a mess right now.
Instead of using my different sections, everything is lumped together in Notes/In and items on my lists are either done or low priority. I wouldn't say that I'm exactly in planner fail and I'm still getting stuff done, but I suppose I'm not working as efficiently as I normally do.

Thankfully I'm not working a full day on Friday, so will be sitting down in the afternoon to do a review:

1. Supplies required: chai tea, snacks and music (cat optional)
2. Remove all contents
3. Put essentials back in, e.g. flyleaf, dividers, spare paper
4. Process all items in Notes/In using the Getting Things Done workflow diagram 
5. Rewrite my lists from the above
6. Review all projects to ensure I have current actions for them. 

Do you have a similar review/overhaul process like this?

And as always as it's Friday, please feel free to discuss anything organiser related.

Have a great weekend.

To Do Lists?

How do you structure your To-Do lists.

Do you organise them by category?

Or do you organise them by when they have to be done by?

Or is there some other way?

Please share your ideas in the comments. Thank you

Guest Post - Getting Things Done by David Allen – a review of the second edition - David Popely

Thank you to David for this review, I've only just started reading this myself. I never got to read the original!

This a review I really didn’t expect to be writing, not because of the subject matter but because of my experience of GTD as ‘boiled down’ and encapsulated by the revised edition of the book, which as many of you will know, was published last month.

If you wanted to read a 100% and unreservedly positive review of the book, you can find one at
http://alifeofproductivity.com/david-allens-revised-getting-things-done-book-comes-out-today/
…and there are many others. This is both a review of the new (second) edition of the book, and also a review of GTD as well, written by someone who has used it for 2-3 years.

First, a word about the book itself. I downloaded a copy to my Kindle on the morning of publication (the paper copy not being available until some days later, for unknown reasons), immediately prior to departure for London by train, and looking forward to making a start on reading it during the 5 hours of train time these return trips give me.

Unfortunately, publishers Piatkus have done a really bad job on the book. The dreadful inset text boxes, which exist only to break up the flow of the main text and add nothing to the main message, are still in place from the first edition, but because the book has basically been ‘dumped’ into ebook format, they often extend off the bottom of the Kindle screen, while the main text continues to do so as well, making comprehension difficult at best, and mostly just impossible. I gave up on the Kindle edition after about half an hour and decided to go looking for the (at that stage non-existent) paper edition.

Secondly, a well-known publisher like Piatkus really ought to have had the book properly proof-read before publication. There are important changes to the GTD process stage names in the second edition which just aren’t reflected in the accompanying diagrams and graphics, which are retained in their first edition form.

So far, so bad. 2/10 and ‘must try harder’ for the publishers.

Eventually I managed to get hold of a hard copy of the book via Amazon, all attempts to get one from a bookshop, local or otherwise, having failed.

Turning to the text of the book itself, it has billed as a complete rewrite of the original, yet it’s more of a re-type than a rewrite, which is how David Allen describes the process he used to produce the second edition. Yes, there are changes to the core process terms used (although the core process remains unchanged), and the book has if anything, been revised to make it even more what David Allen refers to as ‘platform agnostic’, reinforcing the central idea that GTD is more a set of organising processes than advocating a specific set of software, apps or organising equipment. This is probably a very canny idea as technology continues to drive change in practice, but Filofax fans will take heart from this, as did I.

Yes, you can run GTD using anything from a tablet/phone/laptop or any combination of the three, down to a notepad and pen. Allen is very generous towards paper system users, and freely admits (in the book and elsewhere) that many of the most committed GTD users are also paper users – this despite the fact that GTD forums everywhere have been almost entirely commandeered and taken over by the ‘which app is best?’ brigade.

There are two brand new chapters at the end of the book, one on GTD and neuroscience, which I found fascinating (although it rather reads as a justification for using any system of planning rather than none, as opposed to a compliment to GTD itself), and another pointing towards potential ‘higher levels’ of expertise in the GTD methodology….pointer to a new book to come, maybe?

So why, having been a GTD user for a few years, am I left feeling that I now want to move away, back towards other ‘organisational methods’?

From the very beginning of my GTD experience I’ve been convinced that GTD is a great system – possibly the best ever system yet, for capturing and dealing with ‘stuff’ as it comes towards us in our daily lives. However, I’ve always been dissatisfied with the lack of emphasis on proactive planning as opposed to reactive coping. I have always suspected that Allen’s later book, Making it All Work, is on some ways a tacit attempt to address this, and there is far more in the later book about what Allen refers to as ‘Horizons of Focus’. Personally I find the whole ‘Horizons of Focus’ concept too ethereal and ‘hard to pin done’ to be of much use.

Also, the GTD ‘method’ of keeping tasks off daily plans is something which just doesn’t work for me. Like many people I have spoken to, I found that I have to be able ‘see’ my whole day at a view (appointments, calls, tasks, ticklers), otherwise things don’t get done. If tasks are hidden on lists at the ‘back’ of the system, they don’t come to mind.

GTD presents itself as a deliberately ‘bottom’ up’ system, and the rationale Allen presents for that is that it’s impossible to focus on our own agendas when we are still being chaotically bombarded by ‘stuff’ coming from outside. However, as someone who has always thought that planning is the art and science of capturing time, in advance, for our own goals and priorities, I don’t find the approach of deciding what to do ‘in the moment’ very helpful….it leads to my time being away by others, in the direction of *their* agendas, rather than being used first for my priorities and secondly for those of people around me. I’m all for having a list of ‘small tasks’ which can be done in odd moments of time (the sort of odd moments I often find myself with between meetings when I’m travelling), but most of my tasks need to be allocated to specific days, some (following James Noon’s excellent system) to specific time slots, way in advance of their due date, if last minute panic is going to be avoided. To me, GTD is a great way of organising, but as a method of planning it doesn’t work.
I was really hoping this would be addressed in the second edition of the book, but not only is any balance lacking, there is yet more justification for the ‘bottom up’ approach.

Many people find GTD a very helpful approach, and I think they will enjoy this updated, modernised re-issue greatly. However, GTD isn’t for everyone, and on further reflection I feel that it probably isn’t for me – at least not in its unmodified, ‘out of the box’ state. Despite the obvious neglect shown by the publishers in the actual publishing process, I don’t think this is a bad book. Rather, I think it’s a good book about a world-renowned system of organisation (I now hesitate to use the word ‘planning’), which many will find helpful. If you enjoyed the first edition of the book, the second edition is well worth reading to update yourself. If you didn’t read the first edition, the second edition is still worth reading, but please – read the book, not just the reviews! If, like me, you had reservations about the system expounded in the first edition, I’m afraid the second edition isn’t going to offer you any encouragement that they have been, or even are likely to be, addressed any time soon.

My set up (based on Getting Things Done) - by Anita

I am a fan of Getting Things Done and had already read the book before I purchased my first Filofax. A portable leather binder seemed the perfect solution to keeping everything all in one place, and I have been using a GTD based set up since day one. I very rarely change anything in my system as I know it works so well, and any problems tend to come from me not keeping it up to date.

My current sections are as follows:

• Notes/In - this is regularly processed to zero, with some blank paper at the back
• Next actions - my to-do lists with everything broken down into an action that is ready to be done, rather than something like 'file my tax return' (which would go into Projects)
• Projects - a list of current projects at the front with details about each project 
• Reference/Miscellaneous. 

I haven't used a Filofax as a diary for some years now and use Google calendar on my iPod Touch instead.

I am on a bit of a simplifying mission in general right now, so it isn't surprising that my Filofaxes have come under some recent scrutiny! I love these dividers that I have been using, but they just feel a bit too cute for me right now. These Franklin Covey multi-colour Pagefinders are just what I wanted to add a bit of colour without any patterns or adding too much bulk. 

This is what the front of my Kensington looks like, but since taking the photo I have processed the notes into the appropriate place or done the action.   

I used to have a divider for Notes/In at the front, but it occurred to me that I just didn't need it as it's always the first thing that I come to. The plastic pencil case is very handy for holding receipts etc. and for sticking post-its on. 

My to-dos (called next actions in GTD) are sorted by context to break them down into where I need to be, or what to use to do them. I can easily feel overwhelmed, so just focusing on one list really helps me. I currently have:

• @ Mac (renamed as I finally moved from PC to one)
• @ home
• @ errands
• @ phone
• @ waiting for
• @ someday/maybe - regularly reviewed so that it doesn't become a dumping ground, and future projects go here. 

I used to use alphabet stamps to write the context on the top, but I gave them away as just writing in a different colour helps it stand out. I've also used Filofax to-do inserts and the Philofaxy ones, but unlined paper seems to be suiting me the best right now. I only use lined or plain inserts, and don't print any forms. Once again, I'm just trying to keep it simple.   

At the start of my project section, I keep a copy of some GTD guidelines on how to plan a project. 

I'm considering adding an A-Z index to my final reference/miscellaneous section as it could do with a bit of tidying up.

At the back of my binder, I keep a laminated copy of the GTD workflow diagram, which I find invaluable in helping me figure what to do with all my stuff.

GTD workflow diagram

As you can see from my photographs, I'm not really one for decorating my filo. Whilst I enjoy looking at other people's washi tape and stickers etc., I know that I would personally find it too busy to look at. As well as the coloured Pagefinders, I do have some other bits and pieces that help brighten it up.

Sushi notepaper for ad-hoc notes

An envelope from my wedding used as an extra bookmark

I also have my red A5 Ascot which currently houses some study notes, more project support info and reading materials.

If you are interested in reading more about GTD and Filofaxes, you can find other posts on the subject here.

Guest Post - How I use my Personal Filofax for Getting Things Done - David

This is the follow-up to my previous post, which detailed my Filofax set-up for Getting Things Done (hereafter referred to by its usual acronym of GTD). I’m sorry this has taken so long to see the light of day despite reminders and requests from members of the community. The honest truth is that I‘ve been experimenting almost continuously for the last four months or so, with different variants of the set-up, different binder sizes, form formats, etc, and in each and every case I’ve found myself back with the set-up I first detailed in November of last year. The only differences are that I’ve since become the very happy owner of a Cavendish with 30mm rings (goodbye, ring capacity issues), and that I’ve altered the sequencing of the sections slightly to make them more intuitive to me. Otherwise, the system is exactly as it was nearly a year ago, and having ‘wandered far and wide’ in search of what are in reality minor improvements, and returned to the system basically unaltered, I’m pretty sure this is the set-up for me.

As promised, this post really isn’t about the set-up at all (you can get that from my November 2013 post), but about how I use it. For the record, however, the sequencing of the sections is now

1. Notes/In
2. Diary
3. Next Actions
4. Agendas
5. Projects
6. Waiting For
7. Someday/Maybe
8. Focus and Direction
9. Reference
10. Contacts

I’ve combined Project Plans in with Projects to make room for the Focus and Direction section following reading the new GTD Guide to GTD and Paper Planners. I like the GTD system a lot better with the Focus and Direction element included than I did before….. <A sample of the Guide>

So…..what principles do I employ for operating the system, and what routines do I have in place?

Basically there are only three principles which undergird everything I do:-

1. Capture ‘stuff’ instantly – don’t rely on your memory, it will let you down. Trust me – I’ve learned this the hard way, through everything from missed appointments to overdue tasks.
2. The right set-up is the one you’re going to use. If you don’t love it, you won’t use it.
3. Don’t try to make it perfect. The perfect system doesn’t exist.

1. Capture stuff instantly. This is vital for me. As I said in my previous post, everything (and I mean Everything) goes immediately into the system through Notes/In, with no exceptions allowed. If I come across a task, a project I’m about to take on, an item of information or anything else, it gets written in the Notes/In section straight away. I find even a minute’s delay (or less) means I’ve lost the thought I had in my mind. Once it’s recorded here, I know that I’m going to revisit it at the appropriate time (see below) and decide what has to be done, when, and by whom, and then make the decision about where it ‘fits’ within the system as a whole, either as a Project, an Action, a Someday/Maybe or whatever. Incidentally, this is the main reason why I’m still in the Personal format. Gents – can you really imagine yourself whipping out a Cuban zip binder, or something even bigger, in the pub, the gym or a restaurant. Good. Neither can I……ladies, I *know* you (mostly) carry bags for this purpose and others, but just make sure you can see yourself using that Filo in any and all circumstances……
2. The right set-up is the one you’re going to use. I’ve been through some great set-ups that were just too complex and time-consuming (including some GTD variants), some great binders that were just too bulky to carry, and had some great ideas which would really work well except that I’m never going to apply myself enough to ‘lift that weight’ (to quote David Gilmour). For me, this means I need a system that I can use (not over-complicated), will use (not ‘time-hungry’) and enjoy using. My Cavendish and my ‘reserve’ Hampstead (which I still sometimes move back into just for the fun of having it around) are both great binders I’d happily use all day every day (and do).  In terms of paper quality I’ve moved over almost entirely to Raymay Davinci because I can use any of my favourite pens with it. If you enjoy using your system, you’ll use it. If you don’t enjoy it, it will quickly become a chore to keep updated, and no-one likes a chore, do they?! The next stop is neglect and eventually (usually quite quickly) dis-use.
3. Don’t try to make it perfect. A long time ago I sat in a meeting where a wise person lectured us on the dangers of seeking perfection. I wish I’d listened (more). There is ‘perfect’ (which doesn’t exist, by the way) and there is ‘good enough’, which is, well………Good Enough. Real wisdom knows when Good Enough has been attained – and then stopping! (Can you tell I’m lecturing myself here?) I would have spent far less time trying and then abandoning slightly-altered set-ups than I have, and would have been far more productive, if I’d taken that advice earlier.

Ok, so those are the three principles by which I try to operate my system. In addition I’ve adopted a couple of routines which help keep me on track:-

1. The ‘daily tidy’
2. The Weekly Review

1. The ‘daily tidy’. Obviously if I’m constantly capturing ‘stuff’ in my Notes/In section, I’m going to have a bunch of loose ends by the time I’m getting towards the end of each day, so I make it a rule to spend 10-15 minutes before I finish the ‘work’ part of my day sorting these through, making decisions, and neatly logging them into the relevant lists within the system (GTD is really just a set of related lists). Anything captured after that goes into the following day’s Notes/In page(s) and gets dealt with the same way. There are no exceptions to this, no excuses, and I don’t consider 10-15 minutes every day too big a price to pay for the security of knowing that all the loose ends are dealt with. The other thing I do during my daily tidy is to set my MITs (Most Important Tasks) for the next day, so that I come to my desk knowing exactly what they are. For more information on the MIT concept, see Leo Babauta’s excellent book ‘Zen To Done. I set a *maximum* of two MITs  each day, and I make sure they get finished first, before I do the ‘small stuff’.
2. The Weekly Review. Obviously I can’t take any credit for the idea of the Weekly Review because it’s an integral part of the GTD system (see David Allen’s books if you need to know more), but I do my Review each week, for about 30-45 minutes, usually in the café three doors up from where I live, or another about four miles away (I live in a small village). Doing that gets me away from my desk and from all the things ‘shouting’ to be done, and gives me the time and space I need to concentrate solely on getting my system up to date (if needed) and to brainstorm anything else which needs to be ‘brought on board.

I think it’s really important to have routines and stick to them. If I’m away on business and can’t make my usual Friday Weekly Review for some reason, I either do it on the train (and I’ll admit that writing on a train isn’t easy), or make sure I make time to visit a coffee shop in London (or elsewhere) and get that review sorted. The great thing here is that I have my Cavendish with me all the time, and this is always my response to the standard and rather tired argument I get in favour of digital planning, namely that of ‘single data entry’ which then ‘pops up’ on different digital platforms.

I have Single Data Entry (OK, count the initial note and the ‘proper’ logging as two if you like) and once I enter it, it stays entered. And I don’t have to rely on it maybe/possibly/probably ‘popping up’ elsewhere, because my Filofax is always with me.

Over all I don’t think 15 minutes a day and 30-40 minutes once a week is too much time to spend to keep up-to-date, and I hope you don’t either. Mostly it’s a matter of discipline. Do I want to save the review time for something else and know I’m going to struggle all week to know what my ‘compass’ should be? Probably not. Do I want to know I’ve always got everything with me, all the time, and that I can’t be ‘ambushed’ by new ‘stuff’ because I have a tried and tested system for capturing it and dealing with it later? Probably. No, definitely.

I hope this brief overview is of help to those who have requested it. Once again, I have to stress that this is the system which works for me – yours may be different. I think the important thing is that each of us should not only have a system but should use it consistently. And remember:-

Happy planning!

David

Thank you David

Guest Post - My current (GTD based) Filofax setup - David Popely

Some time ago (in late 2011) I did a guest post for Philofaxy detailing what was then my current set-up. At the time I was still using my ochre Malden, now happily sent to a new home, and my set-up has changed a bit in the meantime.

I asked Steve if he would like an update on the previous post, now (unbelievably) nearly two years old, and here it is. Of course, once again, I have to add that this is only my setup….what works for me may not work for you, but maybe will provide some ideas, particularly if you’re looking to turn your Filofax into productivity tool. I run my own business straight out of this set-up, and it works just fine.

For the record, I’m using my personal vintage Hampstead binder, which I love. After much huffing and puffing, I finally admitted that A5 was never going to be portable enough for my needs, and sent both the A5s I had at the time of writing the previous, off to new homes. That led to some rationalising and careful thinking as I tried to get everything between the covers of my Personal, but I can honestly say it’s been more than worth it.

As you can see, the Hampstead has two ‘proper’ pen loops, the bulky old-fashioned kind, in which I keep my Waterman ballpoint and pencil. The pencil is getting on, and so is the mechanism…. I’m really not looking forward to the day when it will really no longer grip the lead properly…. The only other binder I now own is a chestnut Cuban personal, which is beautiful, but will never replace the Hampstead, although I sometimes take it to London on business (it seems like a ‘London binder’….).

Inside the binder I‘m using a set of 1-10 tabbed dividers. A friend in the US sent me my first set of these, and the wonderful Paul B recently sent me two more (I get through them!).

Inside the front cover, as you can see, I have my two most frequently used debit cards, plus my Tesco Clubcard. In the flap behind these are my train tickets for upcoming trips, my business cards and postage stamps. Also as you can see, I’ve written the section headers directly onto the dividers top sheet.

Tab 1 is my Notes/In section. Basically, anything which ‘comes to me’ during the day, either from others or from my own head, goes in here, and I then sort through the stuff on a daily basis, usually first thing the next morning, laptop off, phone off and before anyone else is up to disturb me. That way I can make the right choices about what actions I’m about to need to take, and where they ‘belong’ in the system.

Tab 2 is my Projects section. Everything I’m working on, committed to, or which is a personal goal, goes in here. The fact that I treat goals as Projects is very important.

Until I’m committed to them, they’re just pipe-dreams, so they ‘live’ in the Someday/Maybe section (see below). Once they are a Project, I then have to assign a next (first) action, which makes a lot of sense to me. I’ve currently got 32 Projects on my list.

Tab 3 is my Project Plans section. Anything from Tab 2 which needs a multi-step written plan which I need to refer to goes in here, along with any project support material.

Tab 4 is my diary. I like to have the diary at the centre of the binder, because it gives me a nice firm base to lean on when I’m writing on the left side of the rings. I only ever use pencil in my diary…. things change a lot in terms of meetings getting cancelled and rearranged, and I hate crossings-out. In fact, increasingly, I use pencil for quite a lot of my system. Currently I’m using a Danish Wo2P cream diary layout with appointments, next year I have the Swedish equivalent. The paper quality is better than the UK versions, and I like the layout a lot. I’ve tried DPP layouts from the same range, but I’m pretty happy seeing my whole week at a glance, as it’s my basic unit of planning.

Tab 5 is my next Actions. One discrete action for each of the projects I’m committed to. No exceptions, no excuses. This makes me do the hard thinking, which lies at the heart of GTD. It’s not about the lists – it’s about properly thinking through what is the single discrete Next Action I can take to move that Project forward to completion, listing it, doing it, then thinking through the Next Action after that. I commonly have 30-40 of these at any given time.

Tab 6 is my Waiting For list. If I’m dependent upon someone else to supply data for a project, rather than detailing a Next Action, it goes on here. I have 10-15 of these at any given time.

Tab 7 is my Agendas section. Lists of subjects for discussion with specific individuals, errands to run when I’m next in London (or wherever), present lists, even shopping lists, all live in here.

Tab 8 is my Someday/Maybe list. Anything I’d like to do which I’m not yet ready to commit to, lives in here.

Tab 9 is for Information and Reference. Fixed information like postage rates, login details for various sites, my London tube map, and anything else which doesn’t change from day to day lives here.

Tab 10 is for Contacts. Like most people these days, I keep my contacts in my smartphone, so this section isn’t really used at the moment. However, the OCD-completist side of me still hanker to have a complete set of contacts right there in my Filofax! Maybe one day…

At the back of Tab 10 I keep a small number of blank sheets (plain, lined, To Do, which are all the layouts I now use apart from diary), then, in three credit card holders, all my other plastic, including driver’s licence.

In the back zipped pocket I keep Tesco vouchers only.

That’s it for the setup. I’ve got a separate piece about the importance of doing a Weekly Review (a GTD staple), planning habits and the ‘how I use this’ in more detail, if enough people want to read it. Meanwhile I hope this will give you some food for thought concerning your own set-up, particularly if you want to run GTD, ZTD or something similar out of a Personal binder which you can carry everywhere.

That’s what I’ve been doing for the last couple of years, and so far it works just fine!
Thanks for reading.

Thank you David for the update on your set up. I really need to review my own personal set up before the end of this year, it has grown a bit in the last few months!

Using my Filofax M2 as a capture device

As you might recall I introduced you to my Filofax M2 organiser a quite few weeks ago now. It was sat on my desk after the review, when along came a blog post and video by Neil on his blog Filofax Filosophy.


His blog post and video about his M2 grabbed my attention by my lapels and made me want to use it everyday... all day, any time of the day, always in reach, always there to jot down a note to remember the hundreds of thoughts and ideas I get in the day of things to look at, write about, talk about or whatever.

Neil mentioned using a Rhodia number 12 pad, these measure up at 8.5 x 12 cm a bit bigger than the M2. When I went to my local supermarket I found the Rhodia number 11 pad, which is in fact A7 size (10.5 x 7.4 cm) this is 10mm taller than M2 paper.

However, I found that by punching it slightly off centre, it fits in just right in the M2 and I can still keep my Filofax Mini Pen in the pen loop which is horizontal at the bottom of the right hand inside cover.

So I punched a handful of sheets and started carrying it around with me in my pocket, leaving it on my bedside table at night and I started jotting down things. It was quite a change to my routine but it worked.

If I didn't do something straight away whilst I was wandering around the house or if it was something I had to remember for later on I transfer my notes to my A5 Filofax that sits on my desk. I can get a reasonable number of notes on each sheet, but once full, crossed off or moved to the master A5, I just tear out the page and start a fresh page, I don't even bother to open the rings!

I've been using this for about 3-4 weeks now, and I have far less forgotten thoughts and ideas, far less frustration because I had an idea and then a few hours later I can't remember it.

Oh and you will like this.... I discovered my Kindle clip on light fits on to the top of the M2 a treat, so I can get to jot things in the middle of the night even without putting on the main lights and risk waking up 'the hand of Philofaxy' !

So a great success and it's now part of my tools that I carry around, the M2 goes in my pocket where ever I happen to be. But please don't go rushing off to Ebay to look for an M2 for yourself... yes they do appear on there from time to time.

The Filofax Mini is virtually the same paper size but the traditional portrait format as opposed to the M2's landscape format... but there's nothing to stop you using a Mini around the other way? With the rings at the top of the page holding it with the paper in landscape format. 

So I tried some of the A7 size paper in the Mini and it fits in there very nicely too. Although I have found that with the A7 paper the pen doesn't quite fit, so I have trimmed it down width wise by about 8mm or to the nearest line which was easiest to line up each time..

Remember if you have a punch that will punch Filofax Pocket size... it will also punch for Filofax Mini size too... Mini is the same but one ring less.

Comparison of paper sizes.
A7 10.5 x 7.4 cm
Mini 10.5 x 6.7 cm
M2 6.4 x 10.3 cm

So with M2 and the Malden Mini I have two very nice organisers I can use as capture notebooks.

Do you use a separate notebook or organiser to capture your thoughts and ideas during the day? 

GTD with your Filofax

I discovered these video's on You Tube created by Neil. Take a look I quite like his approach. Here is an introduction by Neil himself. 

I'm a fifty year old ex squaddie, living in the UK, enjoying life as a grandfather, and I've been a Filofax fan since the late eighties. And of course, I'm now a Philofaxy fan too.

I think my fascination with "getting things done" must have started when I was very young, because I distinctly remember cutting down a school exercise book to fit in my blazer pocket and writing out the timetable with my newly acquired fountain pen, in addition to games of "battleships", football league tables and my feelings of true love for our French exchange teacher. And since those early years I've been using some sort of paper based system almost on a continuous basis although, alas, "Mademoiselle Talbot" no longer appears on my "some day maybe" list. Anyway, here are some brief thoughts to accompany the videos of my simple GTD system, which I like to describe as "GTD Lite".

In my humble opinion, in order for a GTD system to work, it must be easy to understand, be able to cope with "projects" of varying size and not be so complex that I spend more time running my system than actually getting things done in the first place! It's so easy to fall off the GTD wagon, isn't it?

So, not withstanding the fact that using a Filofax is an undoubtedly tactile experience, my GTD set up is deliberately basic and designed keep the number distinct procedures (and that includes hand and foot movements), to an absolute minimum. And of course, lower cost (no expensive filing cabinets and dividers), improved portability (your whole "office" compact enough to fit into a rucksack) and reduced paper usage, may have some appeal too.

Briefly, my system encompasses:

• Storing multiple documents together, referenced via a Filofax based master index, which also records things I have done and information I have obtained.
• Using a separate filofax as both a diary and a binder for a series of simple, contextualised or project specific "to do" lists.
• An A4 zipped Lyndhurst, for use as an in box.
• A small Moleskine that fits inside my diary filofax, but can be removed and carried on Britain's mean streets where Filofaxes fear to tread.

Steve has featured my four main Filofax based videos here(3-6), but Philofaxy fans may be interested in a series of further videos that look at aspects of this fascinating subject (how to eliminate the ubiquitous "someday maybe" list, for example), which will appear regularly on my You Tube channel. I use the term "Filofax Filosophy" (note the spelling) in the title, followed by a sequential number, so it is easy to separate my Filofax videos from others on my channel.

Anyway, that's enough from me - thanks in advance if you watch my videos.

















Thank you Neil, look forward to future videos.

My GTD Set Up - David Popely - Guest Post

Well, the passing comments on Philofaxy about GTD setups seem to have generated a great deal of interest, so I asked Steve if he would like me to come forward with some detail of my own....so here it is.

Please be aware, though, that this is only ‘my’ setup – and, in fact, is only my setup at the moment – I can and do change setups quite regularly, as those who know me and/or follow my comments on the site will know!

If anyone is interested in starting with the ‘received version’ of how to set up a paper planner for GTD, there is a very good white paper available from David Allen himself via his website. It’s a free download, although you have to register to get it, but that’s not likely to be a problem to anyone who has more than a passing interest in implementing GTD.

And so, to my own set-up, which is really a modified form of GTD, both in setup and in underlying principle. I’ve made these changes because they suit me temperamentally, and I think we tend to underestimate the role of temperament in what will work best for us. You, dear reader, may like a lot of structure (as I do), or you may prefer a freewheeling system which just captures everything you need to do and then leaves it to you to regularly review those tasks and make choices out of the whole range of available to-dos. That doesn’t work for me – I’m an accountant (CPA if you’re in the US) and time management consultant and have anything up to 120 ‘live’ deadlines for filing stuff with various Government agencies (or just delivering to the client) at any given moment, and each of those deadlines has sanctions, usually fines and penalties, attached, so it’s important that I keep on top of all of them, all the time.

Firstly, my go-to binder. As regular readers will know, my first choice is a Personal Malden in Ochre. I love this binder, for the combination of weight, style and accessibility. I’ve tried using my A5 Finsbury, but it weighs enough to make it undesirable as a travelling companion, most especially when I’m in London on business, as I am quite often. I have enough papers, files and overnight stuff to carry without 6-8 pounds’ weight of organiser to add to the load. One of my underlying principles is, ‘One life, one organiser’, so I don’t split my stuff between binders, or use different binders for different aspects of my life. I want it ALL together in ONE place – which also happens to be one of the underlying principles of GTD. I know that when I pick up that binder I’m going to have everything I need, all together, in one place.

Firstly, inside the front cover I have my most used plastic cards (the rest live in card-holder inserts at the back of the binder, plus my own business cards, plus postage stamps, train tickets if I’m travelling to/from London, etc. What I really like about the Malden (apart from everything else about it!) is the way the pockets are arranged here. This setup means that I can flip the binder open in the supermarket, at the cash machine, etc, and have all the plastic cards I need, right there. There is a larger pocket behind the card slots, and I use that to capture the receipts I’m picking up through the day as I move around. Because I’m self employed, I just capture everything, and then decide later, on a daily basis, what needs to be kept and what can be thrown. The ones I’m keeping them get entered into my accounting software and ‘cold filed’ away, again on a daily basis. If anyone who is self employed wants to know more about this they can get in touch and I’ll elaborate.

Now into the main Filofax areas. As you will see from the accompanying photos, at the moment I’m using a basic 1-6 divider set, but I’ve added the diary tab from a standard set of dividers at the front. I’ve cribbed this idea from Gerard (many thanks), and it works really well for me. This is my first real departure from the ‘received wisdom’ of GTD, which has the notes/capture section in first place – however, as I say, this work for me.

Diary-wise, my current plan for 2012 is to use a Day on 2 Pages diary/to do list setup, which I’ve bought from the French Filofax website, backed with a standard 2012 year planner. I can only get 3 months’ worth of daily sheets in the binder, but it’s a compromise I’m prepared to make. The year planner will give me perspective on the rest of the year (as well as on the 3 months I’ve got in as daily inserts), and pretty soon I plan to have a 2013 year planner as well, behind that, for anything truly long-term which needs noting. Generally the year planner only tells me geographically where I’m going to be at any given point – there isn’t much room for detail, but the place reminder is usually enough to prompt me.

After the diary section, I’ve currently got a makeshift index page to the other six sections. I plan to replace this with a printed sheet pretty soon, once the whole thing has bedded in for 2012.

Section 1 is my notes/capture section. This is my one concession to colour (once the index sheet has been replaced)....I’m currently using yellow lined here, it gives me the ‘feel’ of a yellow legal pad, which is what I used before I decided to unify everything into the Filofax. These notes are sorted daily, and the resulting next actions, projects, etc are transferred to the relevant sections. This is really the most important section I use daily.....the GTD ‘system’ of capturing everything in one place and sorting it later enables me to keep a clear head and to stay focused in a way which would be impossible otherwise.

Section 2 is my Next Actions, divided into home, work, personal. If the ‘work’ list in particular starts to get out of hand I create separate lists for London (when I’m there, so this is in part an ‘errands’ list), phone, email, etc. I also have my ‘waiting for’ list in here, so that i can always be ahead of the game when it comes to keeping tabs on slow-responding clients.

Section 3 is my Agendas section. I don’t use this a great deal (I no longer have that many face to face meetings, and I don’t have staff), but what do use it for is notes for my client meetings with those whom I see on a regular basis when I’m in London. That way I don’t forget anything I mean to raise when I’m in the meeting.

Section 4 is my Project Lists. These are divided into work, home and personal. These, together with the Next Actions lists, form the core of my weekly review, which I try to carry out on a Friday afternoon, last thing, so that I can start the weekend knowing I have everything ‘nailed down’ for the coming week. I don’t like using my weekend time for this, even though some of it is personal stuff. As an adjunct to this, I also confirm any appointments for the following week, by email.

Section 5 is my Project Plans section. I try to have a plan for everything which is in the Project List. Also in here are my 2012 goals, and a summary list of my Areas of Focus – again, all concepts taken from Getting Things Done and Making It All Work (which deals more with perspective than with just getting control). These also get reviewed in with the weekly review.

I reckon I can do the weekly review adequately in around an hour....not much time invested, given the payoff.

Finally, section 6 is my information section. In here I have various bits and pieces of often-accessed information. If I find I’m not accessing something on at least a monthly basis, it gets thrown, provided I have the information electronically somewhere, or I know how to find it easily.

I don’t have a contacts section. All my contacts live on my mobile phone, and are far easier to access that way. Also, I have an Outlook-based address file as backup (which in turn gets backed up in my thrice-weekly overall data backup).

I used to keep notes of my expenses in the ‘Financial’ tab of the standard dividers when I was using them, but since I dropped them (and the note-taking with it) I find that capturing the receipts and processing them into my accounting system (where they would end up anyway) is good enough.

So that’s my system. You’ll see that I mostly use plain white ruled paper (or plain for printing) and I really don’t need a lot of different forms. Presently I’m using ‘To Do’ forms for Next Actions, but these could equally well be kept on plain white. I just happen to have them lying around so I’m using them. I think this entire system can be run using shop-bought plain white ruled paper, with some unlined for printing the odd sheet.

Good luck with your planning for 2012, and have fun!


David

Thank you David for an excellent article and insight on your GTD set up. 
Steve