Re: To-do or not to-do/PC or Paper?

< Next Message | Back to archived message list | Previous Message >

Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 3276

Posted by jackcrawford
2005-05-15 18:37:36

Hi Daly

I think we would all agree with you that paper based systems have plenty of life left in them yet. Two reasons spring to my mind, their convenience and the opportunity for personal expression (the whole filofax industry seems to be based around groovy covers rather than what’s inside).

I’ve recently gone back to a paper diary too. While it requires a little extra effort to keep my PC PIM and the diary in sync I’ve found if you find the right “system” it is worth it. This year I bought something that is probably the best diary I’ve ever had. I wanted something that I could take to meetings and take notes (on a small scale) but not the massive 2 days to a page tomes.

Well it does exist - it’s called a daily & weekly diary. Its quarto/A4 size but slim because it contains half pages (cut horizontally for notes) as well as a week to a view. The whole thing is quite elegant as only the Italians can design and its inexpensive. It’s hard to explain but you can see one at http://www.opendesign.it/home_eng.html. Warning: the site is very arty and not easy to negotiate!

My other paper move has been to rationalise my desk paperwork using the tried and true 43 folder system. There seems to be a whole cottage industry around this GTD concept. See http://www.43folders.com for details.

Having said all that, computer based systems are unsurpassed in many areas - to-do management being one of them IMHO. Some years ago I tried out the paperbased Priority Management system. If you didn’t complete items on your to-do list on one day, you had to manually re-enter the outstanding items on the next day and so on. Automating such drudgery is one thing at which PCs excel and is a good reason why I (and I presume many others) need a good software based to-do management system.

Jack

Back to archived message list