GTD Humor

Posted on November 19, 2007 by ken

While reading feeds today, I was led to The Ultimate Getting Things Done Index. I haven’t had a chance to look at many of the links therein contained; I was distracted by this Google ad that appeared on the site:

Though I may not be really GTD, I got a lot of chuckling done at yet another humorous Google ad placement. It’s the first such that I have personally observed in the wild, made all the better because I understood the association.

-k-
[stags]GTD,David Allan Coe[/stags]
[tags]GTD, davidallancoe[/tags]

GTD – Electronic Cleanup

Posted on September 4, 2007 by ken

I spent today at home, tending to a tender left foot. and decided to clean out my Delicious bookmarks. I dropped the bookmark count from 941 to around 645, and painstakingly retagged the balance of them into at least a semblance of order.

Here’s an example of my new tag structure : RedHat.SysAdmin.Tools.ssh. This is more directory-like than tag-like, and I hope I haven’t painted myself into some big delicious unusability corner, but I how have far fewer tags, and my delicious page is ever so tidy.

I only hope I can find the stuff I need.

-k-
[tags] GTD, del.icio.us[/tags]

GND

Posted on August 12, 2007 by ken

Well, they say if you’re blogging about Getting Things Done, you are not in fact Getting Things Done. And that’s the truth. I have 3×5 cards out the wazoo, a Fisher Space Pen, and all the trappings and tools that I need. There is also a myriad of things I need to accomplish.

My problem is lack of follow-through, and a lack of discipline in reviewing the status of things. So, I lurch from perceived crisis to perceived crisis, never sure if my efforts have been applied in the proper spot and with the proper amplitude. And it’s not the fault of any tool; I see the weak link in the system every time I look into a mirror.

Hence, even though I’ve checked off lots of miniscule and mundane items, overall, I’m Getting Nothing Done. It’s therefore time to get on the GTD horse yet again, and try to regain some semblance of control.

Wish me luck.

-k-
[tags]GTD[/tags]

No Puffin’ Day 2

Posted on February 1, 2007 by ken

Almost 48 hours. I continue to be amazed at how much extra time I seem to have. SWMBO and I stored our ashtrays out of sight last night; I thought seeing the crummy things for a day after Q-Day might inspire us a bit. I still like having less stuff in my pockets; smoking accessories took more space than I realized.

I do miss my 9:30AM and 12:30PM smoke breaks; I used those to free myself from the cubicle for a while, and mull over things I’m working on. Kind of an intra-day GTD review. I guess I can still take those breaks from the cube, but I’m not sure where to go or what to do. I’ll look for options tomorrow.

On to day 3.

-k-

Full Court Press Squeezes Me Yet Again

Posted on December 19, 2006 by ken

I had a schedule which erroneously listed the Kansas vs. Winston-Salem State mens basketball game as being scheduled for last night. OK, the schedule was free, downloaded from an iCal sharing place, and imported into iCal, synced to the Palm, and noted during yesterday’s pre-work GTD daily review. I’m not upset, this was doubtless an honest mistake on the calendar creator’s part.

I couldn’t find the game last night, checked the KU Athletics website, and found the game is on tonight. No problem. A keyword search for “Kansas” on the TiVo reveals nothing. I’m still OK; pre-season games are sometimes not broadcast; I don’t like that, but such is life.

So tonight, after Emeril Live, I’m trolling through the ESPN Pay Channels, only to find the game early in the start of the second half, the fact that the guide for that channel failed to show the game at all to the contrary notwithstanding.

Now, I don’t mind the hundred bucks we pay for this, but I’d think for that, I wouldn’t have to scour every channel where it might be just to find what I paid for. And, I also don’t know whom to blame, ESPN for not providing schedule data, or DirecTV/TiVo for failing to get the schedule updated. I do know that it’s not worth my time to find out. I also know I’ll remember this incident when the ESPN’s Full Court Press comes up for renewal next year. It could then be time to vote … with the remote. And listen to the games on the internets.

-k-

Technorati Tags: directv, espn, GTD, kansasjayhawks, espnfullcourtpress, tivo

Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be

Posted on December 12, 2006 by ken

Remember the signs that used to be posted in service stations, when they actually worked on cars, rather than selling warm Pepsi and 5 year old beef jerky? The ones that said something like “Please don’t ask to borrow our tools”? Aside from it taking more nerve than a bad tooth to make such a request, I understand the signage.

I’m no mechanic, but I get asked to loan out items in my job; it could be the latest set of Solaris CDs, the latest Red Hat CDs, books, DB25 or DB9-RJ45 adapters, and such. Most of the books and adapters I’ve provided for myself, on my own dime. All the CD images are staged and shared via NFS on easily accessible servers. So I fail to see why people are compelled to borrow things. I still don’t want to be a total dick about lending to coworkers, being a team player and all.

So, if you want to borrow something that I’ve provided out of my pocket, I’ll probably politely indicate that this is my personal item, and please return it by end of day. If it’s company property, I’ll probably enter the item you borrowed, and a due-back date, in my new GTD list, @Loaned_Items. To be fair, I’ve established another list, @Borrowed_Items, for those rare occasions when I’m forced to borrow something myself.

-k-

Technorati Tags: GTD

Slimming Hipsters

Posted on December 5, 2006 by ken

I was gonna be clever and try to get in something about trans fat banning in this post; instead, I’ll cut to the chase, and say that after a few mercifully short processing sessions, the Hipster PAA is down to a svelte 5 cards, and the Palm has a few more properly categorized reference items.

There’s a vendor coming to work tomorrow to help out with some new software; I can get the the remainder processed before he arrives. I tried reviewing stuff 15-20 minutes before leaving work tonight; that worked like a champ, and in fact will work out better for me than the AM processing I wrote about earlier.

I don’t know about trans fats, but at least the Hipster doesn’t make my ass look fat anymore.

-k-

Technorati Tags: GTD, hipsterpaa

GTD – GID¹

Posted on December 3, 2006 by ken

Dave Slusher writes of his struggles with GTD. He provides pointage to a David Allen/Merlin Mann podcast that said:

it takes two years to really get the GTD system internalized.

After reading Dave’s post, I see that he and I are in approximately the same GTD status: we both have Hipster PAA cards out the wazoo, an we’ve both been dutifully adding more day by day. In both our cases, we’ve not progressed steadily on the processing of that information.

I’m using the PAA as input into my Palm PDA, and to do information has been flowing smoothly. I look through the balance of my cards, and find that what needs to be handled is the reference type information (the command to initiate a Linux kickstart from an Open Firmware prompt, stuff like that). The plan is to transfer this info from cards, to properly categorized Palm memos. The Missing Synch for Palm OS does a wonderful job in synching everything from the Palm to a Mac-based desktop. Contact info goes to the Mac’s address book, calendar info to the calendar, etc. Plus, and this is a big plus, categories are created on the fly; for example, if you see a need for another to-do category, create it on the Palm, add the to-do, and Missing Sync will create the item and the category on the desktop at the next sync. Prior versions had a catchall category to lump items, and it was a real pain to have to edit items after a sync, just to get them properly categorized.

So, I’ve got all the tools, I know what needs to be done, and like Dave, I just need to do it. Once caught up, I think the daily portion will be easily maintained. And Dave has it right; pick a time for daily review (with the AM java is a great time), and weekly review (weekends are a great time), and then just do it, dammit.

If it takes two years to get this process internalized, there’s no time like the present to start.

-k-

1 – GID = Get It Done, not the gid in the Unix sense. And not GED, in the Larry the Cable Guy Sense.

Technorati Tags: GTD, markspace

Missed Hipster PAA Opportunity

Posted on October 23, 2006 by ken

On arriving in Raleigh last night, I checked MapQuest for directions from the hotel to Red Hat World Headquarters. Just to cover all the bases, I checked the return route. I copied and pasted both sets of directions into my Missing Sync for Palm OS, and dutifully synced them to the PDA.

This morning, I kept the PDA on the passenger seat, referring to it as needed. I had to hit the brakes a little suddenly at one intersection, and the PDA slid off the seat to the farthest corner of the passenger floorboards. I was probably a sight to see trying to retrieve it. I then thought how easy it would have been to transcribe the 7 or 8 step directions to the Hipster PAA, one set per side of one card, then put the card in the car’s cupholder, where it could be handy when needed.

It’s kind of a moot point now. Having tools is one thing; timely use of them is quite another. Oh, yeah, and the damn PDA slipped off the seat again on the trip back to the hotel.

-k-

Technorati Tags: GTD, paa

New GTD Entry

Posted on September 7, 2006 by ken

With morning temperatures in the mid 50s to lower 60s and getting to upper 70s/low 80s during the day, it’s time to add the following to @WORK-LeavingForHome:

Bring home the jacket you wore to work this morning.

Not that my office has ever resembled a cloakroom or anything.

-k-