To be able to use GTD[1] universally on all devices, iOS[2] devices, Android[3], Windows PC’s and Mac’s, I had to switch GTD system from the great Omnifocus to a combination of Evernote and Calendar.
And it works great. I wish I’ve done it earlier.
Evernote takes care of all the next actions, someday/maybe and projects tasks. And the calendar takes care of all tasks with due dates. I often moves a Evernote next action or project task to the calendar when I feel ready to do it. And of course I have an “Inbox” in Evernote that takes care of all my ideas, thoughts and tasks that I need to get out of my head so I don’t forget them. I move these notes from the Inbox to it’s specific place (Next Actions, Projects or Someday/Maybe) later when I have the time. In fact, I do an Inbox review at least once a day. I think it’s important to do reviews often.
Here is a vlog where I talk about this in detail:
This system works great for me, and that’s what counts when it comes to GTD. You need to have a trusted system.
One good thing with using the calendar for due tasks is that it doesn’t matter which calendar app you use. You can even change app when you feel to. As long as it syncs with Google calendar you will find your tasks in the new app anyway.
At home on my Mac I use iCal that syncs with Google calendar, and at work I use Google calendar directly in the web browser Chrome.
On my iPhone I use the excellent calendar app “Calendar” from the company Readdle. It’s awesome and supports drag and drop of tasks, and that feature is necessary for easy planning and GTD.
On my android phone I use a combination of a calendar widget and an app. The calendar app I use is the best one for android called Pocket Informant. It’s expensive but worth the money. One reason is that it’s very easy to move a task by minutes or days. It doesn’t support drag and drop though (no good android calendar do that), but the method it uses by clicking a plus or minus button for minutes or days is very effective and works well. Pocket Informant doesn’t have any good widgets though (actually the whole app is really ugly), so I need to use another Calendar Widget.
The widget I use is Pure calendar, and one feature that makes it better than most is that it supports any calendar app and not just the standard calendar, so it supports open tasks in my Pocket Informant calendar so I can easily change an event.
So this is the way I do GTD now, and It works great. I can’t really say that I miss OmniFocus actually. I almost feel even more productive and creative with this system. And the system is universal, it works on all my devices, from anywhere in the world. And another huge plus is that it’s very easy to switch to another Calendar app if I find one that looks better or more interesting. The only requirement is that it must sync with Google Calendar. Evernote is harder to switch from though, because I have all my notes stored in it from many years back, but I don’t think Evernote will go away anytime soon anyways.
This is part of "The Svartling Method".
- GTD is the shorthand brand for “Getting Things Done,” the groundbreaking work-life management system by David Allen that provides concrete solutions for transforming overwhelm and uncertainty into an integrated system of stress-free productivity. Search for more info. ↩
- iOS (previously iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system developed and distributed by Apple Inc. Search for more info. ↩
- Android is a Linux-based mobile operating system developed and distributed by Google in conjunction with the Open Handset Alliance. Search for more info. ↩
For Evernote GTD look here: http://www.thesecretweapon.org/
ReplyDeleteYes I know about that. My system works as good. No need to change it
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