Rhoneisms

This is for all you plain text addicts out there. Mike Mellor has a bundle for the excellent Textmate that turns it into a lean mean GTD machine. In an effort to make a good thing even better, he has implemented a text version of the metadata markup I use and define in my Productivity Whitepaper.
Here is how he describes it:
In a nutshell, this syntax works to provide “state” (my word, not Patrick’s) to a task. I have reversed two of the items, but here they are:
– (Dash): Undone Action Item.
+ (Plus): Done Action Item.
-> (Right Arrow): Delegated (with a note to whom and the date).
<- (Left Arrow): Waiting – (i.e. for another action).
^ (Triangle): Data Point.
The difference between this and what Patrick devised is I reversed “Delegated” and “Waiting.” To me, the right arrow gives me the impression that I have passed the task along, where the left arrow better fits my thinking for a task that I am waiting on. I also added one more item:
* (Asterisk): Project.
So that I don’t have to keep writing “Patrick Rhone’s ‘Metadata Markdown’ Syntax”, I’m going to call it “OrgFu”
Very, very cool. To say I am honored by the response I have received thus far would be an understatement. The word “humbled” might even be a more apt description.
GTD with “Metadata Markdown” Syntax @ Panageek

So, in the coming days you may notice some changes around here. Michael (Web-fu Sensi) and I are making some changes to the layout of the site. For instance, there is now a colophon link where the photos used to be. It includes a little bit about me and the tools we use to build patrickrhone.com. Photos will soon be found on the status page and updated much more frequently. There will be some other content and style changes coming, lots of stuff moving around, plus some back end stuff to keep things performing at their optimum level. The upshot of all of this is to say – pardon our dust while we improve your reading experience.

As regular readers know, I recently switched my “Moleskine of Choice” from the Pocket Ruled to the 18 Month Weekly Planner. One of the principal reasons I wanted this planner as soon as it was anounced and eagerly awaited it’s release was it’s layout.
On the left hand page is a week laid out in blocks starting on Monday and running through Sunday. A large header space at the top of that page offers lots of room for writing “soft landscape” items like conference dates and such. The right hand facing page is just a plain ruled page with no header. What this layout allows me to do is have one easy place to glance at my calendar items for the week and have an easy space for next actions and capture.
My use of it is not much different than it was before. Because the planner is organized weekly, I use the ruled page for my actions and capture for just that week using the same dash/plus system as before. With no header at the top of the ruled page there are a full 28 lines available. This is more than enougfh for me. I do not tend to have enough to fully fill the page on any given week. In fact, I rarely fill 3/4 of it (yes, I am really busy – seriously). At the end of the week, as part of my weekly review, I process the carryovers (i.e. unfinished or unprocessed items) to the next weeks ruled page. Also part of that weekly review process is “syncing” my calendar items for the upcoming week with my Backpack calendar. Also, just as before, action items get synced with Backpack as well so I always have those available and easily portable.
Therefore, some of the tools have changed but my system remains pretty much the same as it was. There is a deeper lesson to be learned in this. The goal of GTD is to create a trusted system. If you trust and stick to your system then the tools are chosen to best support the system and not the other way around. Therefore, it was an easy transition between one calendar program, capture device, etc. to another because my system remained the same.

One of the things I have always loved about the idea of GTD is one that a lot of folks have the hardest times committing to – that the priority of a task is only one factor in deciding if a task can actually get done. As a matter of fact, I would argue that it is one of the last classifications one should use for any task. Today, Merlin Mann explains on the ever excellent 43 Folders exactly why this is:
“Unless you can always satisfy the big red letter commitments you’ve created for yourself — as well as the ones that are constantly being generated for you by others — an obsession with priority alone is pointlessly stress-inducing, unhealthy, and unrealistic. The truth is that sometimes you have crap days, pencils need to be sharpened, or maybe you just don’t have the tools or energy to do what you want the second you want. That’s life, pal. Deal.”

Read the whole thing. You wont regret it. Do it. Now!
GTD: Priorities don’t exist in a vacuum

Starbury is a new line of clothing from NBA Basketball star Stephon Marbury. The twist is that he is striving to prove that, unlike some of his peers, you can make shoes just as good as the ones that cost 100.00 at prices that regular kids can afford. The rationale being that most kids who grow up in “da hood” like he did could never afford a pair of decent shoes to play the game and will often resort to crime in order to get them. He plans on wearing the shoes from his new line in every game he plays from now on just to prove their equality with the other brands. The price for the shoes: .99. Most of the clothing items are similarly priced or less. Quite amazing when you think about it. They are available exclusively from Steve and Barry’s stores. Although not officially available online you can find them on eBay (at slightly higher prices) if you don’t have a store in your area.

I received a couple of comments on my post about Yojimbo putting forth Journler as a more feature rich and free alternative. I can’t argue against either of those points – It is a great app with an amazing feature set for the price (did I mention it was free). In any case, OK Scarfone has a great write up of how she has implemented GTD using Journler. I am pretty happy with my system but it might help others who are searching.

Do you ever have the need to create a quick little list or have a note, quote or piece of text that does not yet have a home? For instance, there are little text clippings that I like to keep in Yojimbo but, because I am on my Unbuntu box or otherwise at a computer but away from my main system, have to park them somewhere. Then there are the weekends when Bethany and I need to pound out a quick list of things we want to accomplish for that time – I just want to type it up, arrange it, print it out and take it with us. I think I have come up with a useful little Backpack hack that will solve these situations – The “Scratch” Page.
Here is the idea, create a page called “Scratch” and then give yourself permission to throw anything on there that wont fit anywhere else. This is not a place to keep these items. It is just a temporary parking space for those quick lists, text snippets and random files and images. And, just like a real scratch page, I delete them when I am done with them.

If you are one that finds yourself taking a lot of written notes, there are some pretty good tips at The Potential Blog. Although geared towards students, there are some real gems there for anyone. Here is my favorite:
“One of my favourite tricks is the use of square brackets ([ ]). If you get lost, bored or come up with an idea which could win you a Nobel Prize then stick it in square brackets. This works for stuff like “[I’m lost], “[NOTE: reread chapter 4]”, “[See lecture notes for quote]”, “[I don’t get this bit]”. This way your lecture notes will make more sense when you re-read them.“
The rest of the blog is worth checking out as well especially for students.
[via: Lifehacker]

Recently, I have found myself in the market for a new way to manage all the little info bits that come ones way in this great big digital world of ours. For years I have been using Notetaker for this purpose. It has basically functioned as a “digital commonplace” for me and I have written about my use of it before. In recent months, I have found myself growing away from it. I have begun to outgrow it’s “notebook” metaphor as it is not as flexible as I would like. In addition, it’s outlining capabilities are far outshined by OmniOutliner Pro so using it in this way feels redundant and is often confusing when switching between the two. Don’t get me wrong, it is a wonderful program and has served it’s purpose well for a long time. I think I have just grown away from it.
I think I have found what I have been looking for in Yojimbo. First off, this app is just plain beautiful. The very Apple like interface makes it a joy to use with very little learning curve. Everything just plain make sense. It allows me to quickly and easily dump information into it in a iety of ways. It allows me to search that information very quickly – even via Spotlight and Quicksilver. Notes default to plain text but invisibly and intuitively become rich text if you apply formatting. It can store URLs or archive whole web sites for offline viewing. Organize it all by grouping items into iApp style “Collections”. There are even some predefined “Smart Collections” that will auto sort your data based upon predetermined criteria. You can even encrypt individual items in your database. As for now, I have taken everything I had in Notetaker and several other places and dumped it all into Yojimbo and have been very happy in the few days since.
There is not much more I can say about this app that has not been said better already elsewhere. Check here, here, here and here for some excellent reviews. These reviews also mention several of Yojimbo’s shortcomings which, while a little frustrating, I can live with for now. Especially because the developers, Bare Bones Software, seem so committed to making it better. I mean, it is a young application (currently at version 1.2) that needs a little time to grow. I am willing to give it that time and hope that it will grow with me.

Leon Ho of Lifehack.org has honored me with being the first interview of a new series they are starting posing four short questions to productive people. I guess they are starting with the least productive and working their way up ;-).
Productive Interview Series: Patrick Rhone