Filed under: Software
GTD with the Mac and a cool custom setup
Leo Babauta at Zen Habits has posted a nice overview of Getting Things Done on the Mac, including many of the applications you'd expect, likeWe've written about all of these applications before. What's interesting is the custom solution that Leo describes. He's created four simple text files -- today, ideas, errands and todo -- which he updates with Quicksilver's "append text" command. Finally, he uses GeekTool to display his files on the desktop.
That's pretty nice; simple and effective (I use Backpack myself). Part of the fun of being a geek is learning how other geeks do things.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
christophercjensen said 9:19AM on 3-07-2008
I read his post a few hours ago, and now I am all set up with geektools ssh'ing in to my server and updating me on how it is running!
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Vinod Ponmanadiyil said 9:38AM on 3-07-2008
Now that, Evernote is coming up with a Mac Client too in addition to the existing Web and Windows clients, I am not going to look anywhere else to have my notes,thoughts and tasks collected.
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gil said 11:48AM on 3-07-2008
I've been playing around with Things and love it even in Beta. I just can't get into OmniFocus, though Outliner is a winner.
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Dennis said 12:04PM on 3-07-2008
I tried Things, but found it to be less intuitive and cumbersome compared to OmniFocus. The only feature I really enjoyed in Things was the tagging system, but even that started to break down as I added more and more stuff.
OmniFocus, on the other hand, seems much better at organizing and working with large amounts of data. The editing interface is also much more efficient, probably due to its OmniOutliner heritage. It feels almost like a text editor: single click to place the cursor and edit text (instead of having to double click an entry), hit Return to create a new line/row, use arrow keys to move the text cursor to other rows, etc. And that's not to mention all the GTD features it has to offer.
For me, OmniFocus is the clear winner, especially now that they've committed to an iPhone version.
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SubGenius said 1:06PM on 3-07-2008
I also use Backpack. I love it's flexibility and intuitive UI.
Since it is web based, I can use it on my iPhone - anywhere.
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SubGenius said 1:28PM on 3-07-2008
I forgot to mention that I use Backpack with Fluid to make it more like a desktop app on my Mac.
http://fluidapp.com/
I also use iBackpack to make it more iPhone friendly.
http://violetpixel.com/ibp/
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FoundInTheFlood said 7:05PM on 3-07-2008
TaskPaper which was in the MacHeist Deal is missing in that list
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airfang said 8:42PM on 3-07-2008
Anybody has heard Anxiety? It's free and simple and does its job well, IMHO
http://www.anxietyapp.com/
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samu said 7:32AM on 3-09-2008
Taskpaper works better for me than the more generously-featured apps. It's worth noting that it just uses text files, so you can easily grep lists out of it to be displayed on your desktop with GeekTool (though you may have to change the file extension from .taskpaper to .txt).
Anxiety is nice, if you use the Mail/iCal route.
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Damien Guard said 4:25PM on 3-10-2008
I tried GTD but found the interface made the process less enjoyable and switched over to Midnight Inbox.
The UI of Midnight Inbox was enjoyable but a little convoluted and the application buggy.
I've been living with OmniFocus for a couple of months now. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the others but it's rock solid and a joy to use.
[)amien
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John B. Kendrick said 10:14PM on 3-10-2008
I've been using Nozbe for a short time, but already it has proven to be my most important app for GTD. I recently posted my experiences using it for GTD on the desktop and on the go at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com
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