Filed under: Productivity
In search of a GTD solution
An application called Today was released recently by the developers of PocketTweets. It's a $15 application that integrates with iCal to display tasks and events, offering a complete interface for entering new tasks and events without opening iCal. It came at a time when I was furiously trying to make a homebrew task management system come to fruition using iCal and Mail, but ultimately left me in a not-much-better place than I started. I appreciate the simplicity of the app, but it doesn't provide much power beyond just using iCal to begin with.
Anxiety, which is free (and features a HUD interface which somehow always earns points in my book), provides similar integration -- at least for tasks -- as do several other great little applications. But none of them allow for the task sorting, flagging, etc. that would make them truly useful to me.
This round of solution-searching began with a post by Dennis Best titled Getting things done (simply) in Leopard. It outlined a system where iCal calendars are your contexts (or areas of responsibility), To-dos are created in Mail, Mail Notes become projects, and Smart Mailboxes were used to interesting ends. It even had a tagging system, allowing for great flexibility. This was highly appealing to me given its close integration with my primary source of tasks and information: email. Add things like automatic Jott integration, external links, a certain amount of AppleScript integration and the possibilities seemed pretty intoxicating.
I currently use OmniFocus for task management and I'm happy with it in most areas. In the end, though, I'm searching more for a project management system combined with a GTD application; one that can handle project notes and file attachments more fluidly. But the more I toyed with variations on Dennis' system, the more I ran into deal-killing problems which can be summed up fairly quickly: note editing in Mail stinks, linking external files is a pain, and sorting tasks and defining next actions scattered throughout Mail Notes is just too much work.
Like I said, OmniFocus is quite good. And I do have a lot of hope for Things. A recent post at the Things blog details the upcoming iCal integration, which looks spectacular and allows smaller apps like Today or Anxiety to act as interfaces. I'm hoping it catches up soon with features like Applescripting and Mail integration.
What I really want is a solution that wraps up the fun and power of Bento and the note-taking, link-handling greatness that is VoodooPad Pro or Mindjet MindManager into something as skilled at task management as OmniFocus or Things. Until I find it, I'm sticking with OmniFocus and a barrage of Applescripts. And when I do find it, I'm sure that -- as if by magic -- I'll become so productive that I can make up for all of the time lost searching for it.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Erik said 6:23PM on 4-29-2008
I can relate to your plight. I've been searching for a pseudo-GTD solution that allows an item to have multiple contexts (more like tagging). I'd also like something that's cross-platform and can sync easily across those platforms.
Right now I'm using the Evernote beta. It's got what other programs don't - a robust context system flexible enough to handle my personal task management style - but it's not really what the software was designed for. It's been rough-going so far.
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chris said 6:46PM on 4-29-2008
Good article Brent. You're right – it's good practice to keep task themselves separate from the reference information you need to complete those tasks.
I personally use iCal only for appointments. Going by GTD itself, the calendar should be a hard landscape only. I've finally settled on a system that works for me - Things for task management and Yojimbo for all reference information.
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matt said 7:37PM on 4-29-2008
Good article? It's just random thoughts. I expect more out of tuaw.
Here's the thing. David Allen says to use the simplest tools available. You're never going to find the perfect application. Doing all this searching, which you will continue to do, has nothing to do with gtd and everything to do with you.
It's kind of hard to find the right gtd application when you don't understand gtd.
smacklin said 7:01PM on 4-29-2008
I'm still a fan of iGTD. (even though the developer seems to have vanished) It integrates well with Mail (and even the Entourage I'm forced to use in the office.) It integrates with iCal though I have never bothered to play with that.
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bobics said 7:22AM on 4-30-2008
I second that iGTD is great.
fabsmartins said 8:07PM on 4-29-2008
Tracks GTD :: free, ruby on rails, works off of safari, fully scriptable... awesomeness.. www.rousette.org.uk/projects/
Fabs
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Megs said 8:39PM on 4-29-2008
You took the thoughts out of my head. ;) I downloaded Bento to try over the weekend, but it really isn't what I was looking for. I'm new to database systems and I tried to do a project centering around an upcoming trip, but it wasn't very intuitive at all. I couldn't just make new charts to meet my needs and it took me several hours, perusing help files and a nice headache before I began getting it to suit my needs - but none of that will sync with things like my iPhone. I would love a merger of a program like Bento to a task/project management program like the ones you cited above - or have Bento be a bit more flexible.
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Sam said 8:45PM on 4-29-2008
Excellent article. I could not agree more with every observation. I have no interest to become one of the fully initiated of Allen's GTD. Some of the ideas are great, some are useless unless you work in an office. I have been searching as well, and also hope Things will be the app that bridges the gap between GTDish mentality with better project management and integration. I also currently use OmniFocus while I wait for something less rigidly GTD.
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Denny Henke said 9:33PM on 4-29-2008
For anyone interested in a FileMaker based solution I created Action Tracker which is a freebie/donationware:
http://macproductive.com/actiontracker.html
The downside is that it does not really integrate with iCal or the Address Book the way Bento does. The upside is that it is fairly simple and straight forward in use and can be used on a network or by any Mac or PC with FileMaker installed.
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Kramer said 10:57PM on 4-29-2008
I am using HiTask http://hitask.com
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Kevin said 11:15PM on 4-29-2008
This should help: 102+ apps researched/verified for GTD.
http://www.priacta.com/Articles/Comparison_of_GTD_Software.php
Erik: This shows which software supports multiple contexts and other features.
Apps that don't really do basic GTD are listed at the bottom, with the reason. Could save a lot of search time.
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Preston Holmes said 12:38AM on 4-30-2008
I had the same issue with needing notes and files associated with my task and found my answer in Journler. I created an OmniFocus toolbar script that creates a Journler entry for your current OmniFocus task. It then uses links to link the two. So you can jump back and forth between them easily. If you already have a note for a task in OmniFocus, it moves it to Journler.
http://www.journler.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3457
Then, because I used to use OmniOutliner for note taking, I have another script that creates an embedded OmniOutliner document in a Journler entry.
http://www.journler.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3461
Between these two apps, I'm pretty happy.
-P
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Toon Lenaerts said 2:39AM on 4-30-2008
Why is everyone overlooking 'Remember The Milk', http://www.rememberthemilk.com/ ? It's free, web-based (iPod/iPhone too), tags, smart lists, iCal feeds, several integration/sync possibilities, ...
You can find a short overview on: http://www.rememberthemilk.com/help/guide/
I'm only waiting for someone to develop a RTM desktop application that uses the RTM API and integrates with Mail and iCal...
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Sinned Sevorg said 6:19AM on 4-30-2008
I was a big, big fan of Anxiety and then I discovered "Things"; if your looking for OSX GTD it is the cream of the crop.
I however, needed a cross platforum solution - so I settled upon emacs org-mode and a plain text file on a USB keychain; and while not as graphical - it is so amazingly powerful, I wish I had done this much, much sooner.
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brett Ellis said 9:50AM on 4-30-2008
Someone please give me an iTunes version of a GTD & Project Management solution. Let me drag in links to files, emails, events (sync with ical), and tasks (sync with ical). Throw in quickview, finder comments, and smartfolders. And most importantly let me add a couple of additional fields of my own such as contexts and projects. Apple you can even call it iProject or iWhatever_you_like.
The closest and clunkiest alternative I have found has been daylite, and don't get me started on how much I loathe this software but am stuck with it for the time being.
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MiGrant said 10:20AM on 4-30-2008
I hate to wax enthusiastic about a Microsoft product, but the solution (if you don't mind dropping a few bucks) is Entourage. Yes, I'm aware of all the negatives -- the less-than-inspiring esthetics, the one-big-database factor, etc. -- but I've been trying unsuccessfully for years to cobble together a system with the power and flexibility I have after a few days of configuring E'rage 2008 to my way of working. Unlimited categories and saved searches make compiling lists (GTD context lists, a DIT "will do" list, priorities, life areas, or whatever) a snap, everything can be linked.... Best of all, E'rage just may have the most extensive AppleScript support of any application. Among other things, that means I can rapidly create a linked task from an e-mail, I can integrate with FileMaker and other scriptable apps, and using FastScripts or Quicksilver or Butler I can set up a systemwide keyboard shortcut for quick entry of new tasks (or events, notes, contacts, etc.).
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Vinod said 10:28AM on 4-30-2008
A new project is in the making.
http://karmatodo.com/
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hans said 4:56PM on 4-30-2008
What about making a Bento based application? Or is that not possible?
Or perhaps a filemaker based applications?
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Maddog said 5:43PM on 4-30-2008
Currently, I use the preview build of Things, and I find it's pretty fantastic.
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hliljegren said 1:45PM on 5-01-2008
I've used several GTD apps but more and more find myself returning to simpler solutions (as suggested by the GTD book). Currently I'm using Notebook from circusponies which is not a true GTD app at all but is really flexible, and easily links to everything else.
But in the end I also find that the search for the ultimate GTD-solution is mostly an excuse for not doing the things I need to do. As long as I don't have the super-duper ultra special GTD app I can blame the system for not working properly...
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