Getting my GTD on with Things.app

For the past four years I’ve been actively using David Allen’s GTD personal organization principles in my life. The system is spectacular if you employ it correctly and stick with it. There are literally a ton of resources detailing GTD so I’m not going to dive into that subject. If you’re unfamiliar with David Allen or his GTD principles feel free to read the informative Wikipedia entry on the subject. Instead, what I wanted to discuss is my continued habit of bouncing from one method of collecting tasks to another. Possibly it’s a byproduct of my ADD tendencies or it could be my infatuation with software applications and technology that leads me down this path. I’ve used just about everything you can think of to collect my tasks and ideas.

Here’s a small rundown:

iGTD, kGTD, Toodledo, Remember the Milk, OmniFocus, Vitalist, Ta-DaList, Nozbe, GTDTracks, Gubb, Jott, Moleskine notebooks

The reality is that each of these applications and tools offer their own unique benefits but for one reason or another, I get tired of using them and move onto something new. The process is rather painful as I have to figure out a way to port over hundreds of tasks and notes into a new system. Needless to say, not the best use of my time. About six months ago I transferred my information into Cultured Code’s Things.app for Mac OS X. The application (even in its beta form) was the easiest and most fluid for entering tasks which is a ‘must-have’ for me. The tagging process helps track down actions by context or project and the recent introduction of a global search function really makes this application resonate with me.

But there’s one catch. This is a desktop application and although I spend most of my day on my Macbook Pro, more often than not, new tasks arrive when I’m away from my desk. If there’s one thing that will destroy your GTD workflow, it’s not being able to capture your tasks as they come up. So what gives me hope that Things will be my ‘permanent’ GTD tool is the Things iPhone application, aptly named Things Touch. My iPhone stays with me virtually night and day so it makes the perfect GTD inbox and enables me to review my tasks anywhere. While there are still times when I fail to capture new tasks, I can honestly say it’s no longer the fault of my collection tools. Instead, this is simply a lack a discipline that I seek to improve every day.