Getting Things Done with Google Notebook
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Fans and followers of the Getting Things Done personal productivity system have hacked all sorts of ways to GTD in different applications, from Microsoft Outlook to plain text to Gmail. But one of Google Labs' less-hyped applications, Notebook, is very well-suited to instant capture and easy processing of your GTD lists.
Today I've got the scoop on how to manage your inbox, projects, next actions and someday/maybe lists with Google Notebook.
First things first: if you haven't read Getting Things Done,
you're missing out. The fast read is well worth the 9 bucks, and even
if it doesn't turn you into a full-on disciple of The David, it will at
least install the seeds of some new good habits into your cluttered,
distracted mind. For the reader's digest version, check out the Getting Things Done Wikipedia page.
Second:
why Google Notebook? While there are dozens of online list makers,
Google Notebook is flexible enough (ie, not just a list) for you to
work and tweak your GTD system to your liking. It can capture
information anywhere on the web with a mature browser extension and it
comes with Google's signature killer search capabilities. Plus, using
Notebook's collaboration features, you could allow your spouse or
co-worker drop things into your Inbox for you to process later. Sure,
desktop apps like Thinking Rock and iGTD
are cool, but for people who live in a web browser, Notebook
automatically includes links in notes (including individual Gmail
messages) and its contents are available from any computer where you're
logged into your Google Account.
Set up your GTD Notebooks
Ready to give this a try? Log into your Google Account and head over to Notebook.
To get started you want to create 5 new notebooks, representing the
classic GTD silos: Inbox, Next Actions, Projects, Someday/Maybe and
Reference. I like to prepend "GTD" to the beginning of each notebook
title so that I can sort them alphabetically and separate them from
other notebooks I might have set up.
A quick refresher of the purpose of these buckets for those who've fallen off the GTD wagon:
- Inbox.
Here's where unprocessed thoughts - "open loops" as David Allen calls
them - get dropped off for dealing with later. Pop-up thoughts,
half-baked notions and "Oh! I should..." go here. - Next Actions. This is your immediate, actionable to-do list, a few specific items you've decided to carry out in the next few days.
- Someday/Maybe. Here's where the things you might like to do someday - but you're not committed to right now - get shuttled.
- Projects.
Big jobs that are made up of a collection of subtasks are not next
actions, they're projects. For example, the "Clean out the office" job
is made up of several next actions (ie, "Take out the garbage,"
"Rearrange the book shelves," "Purge filing cabinet.") - Reference.
Research into a topic that you'll need to carry out a next action or
refer back to for a particular project goes here. For example, this is
where you'd store links to the hotel, flight information and maps of a
travel destination.
Once you've got the 5 GTD areas set up,
it's time to move your info in. To add to a notebook (say, "Next
Actions"), click on it and hit the "New Note" button. From there you
can type your item (like "Deposit checks") or add a section header.
Headers are useful for separating information into different categories
in a notebook. For example, in my Next Actions notebook, I separate
items under Context headers (like @Phone, @Desk, @Shopping Center.)
In my Projects notebook, each header represents a single project, and so on.
Quick Capture with the GNotebook Firefox extension
Now
that you've got a simple GTD framework set up with Notebook, you want
to quickly capture items you come across on the web, or that arrive in
your email inbox for processing later. Here's where the amazing Google Notebook browser extension (available for both Firefox and IE6) comes in extremely handy. Download and install it in your browser to give it a try.
With
the extension installed, if you come across something on a web page you
want to add to your system, you can highlight text on the page, and
click the Notebook icon in your browser chrome. Using the "Clip"
button, the extension will instantaneously enter the selected text with
a link back to the source.
Gmail
users will love this for incoming requests via email; Notebook will add
a link back to the individual message you've quoted and clipped.
Inbox processing and Weekly Review
Once
you're in the habit of capturing your information in your GTD
notebooks, it's a matter of processing your stuff. Each day, review
unprocessed items in your inbox and like a good GTD'er, decide whether
to Do, Delegate or Defer it.
To move an item from your Inbox
notebook into its right place in the system, from the drop down menu on
the far right side of it, choose "Move." From there you'll be able to
choose another notebook and section, as pictured.
Let others drop things into your inbox
In
a physical office space, anyone can come by and drop a piece of paper
into your inbox. Using Google Notebook to GTD, you can share your Inbox
notebook with your spouse, boss, partner or co-worker virtually. To do
so, click the "Sharing Options" link on the far right top side of the
notebook.
Word of advice: just share your Inbox, not your
Projects or Next Actions list. In theory the Inbox is the single entry
point into your GTD system, so it's the only one others should access.
Finally, to automate GNotebook backup to your local machine for piece of mind and offline access, see how to schedule local backups of your notebook with wget.
While
Google Notebook is great at simply being a web clipping and annotation
tool, it's flexible enough to help you organize your tasks and
projects, too. Got any questions or thoughts about GTD'ing with
Notebook? Give us a holler in the comments.
About the Author
Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, digs Google Notebook. Her weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Wednesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.
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