What I like about a Wiki is that you can store all the information you want, the way you want them. Also I like the fact that I can create a project page and store in it all the necessary information about the project... including what needs to be done.
Anyone familiar with GTD knows that for any given project we need to identify what is the "Next Action" that need to be accomplished, and to determine what could be done "now" is determined by the current context. If I am close to a phone, that's the good time to make some phone calls... But which ones? If I am at the store, it's a good time to buy some of the things I need for my project.. How can I get the lists of all things I need to purchase from all the projects? If I am in front of my PC, I should be able to quickly identify all the task requiring a PC...
The success of GTD also pass by the possibility to quickly take note of any given idea, any given actions that need to be accomplish, any new information.
In order to build a good GTD system with my Wiki, I need to be able to:
- Quickly enter new actions, new ideas (Trunk: snippets, an IN page)
- Be able to identify what could be done in the current context (Trunk: action report)
- Be able to find things inside of the my notes (Trunk: Search)
The purpose of my post today is not to describes what GTD is and how it works, but to show how I have implemented it using the features of Trunk.
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The first thing I have setup in Trunk is to create an [[IN]] page, which is linked at the top of my HOME page. As simple as it appears, this is where I store any new idea, notes or things I need to do when I don't have the time to put the information in the proper page.
While reading a book I get an idea about something I would like to do? Add a new action in the IN page.
The phone rang and I need to take note of a phone number? Add the info into the IN page.
Just saw at the store a product that I want to check the price on the internet... Add a new action in the IN page (@PC, of course)...
Later, when I will have the time, I will move the things out of the IN page into the proper project or note page, if necessary...
To make my entry quicker, I have defined some "snipped" in Trunk. For example I have a snipped name "ac" defined as "@action (2) **. ", so, simply typing "acxx" inside of a trunk page will replace what I have typed with the definition, and will put my cursor where the "**" appear. Very fast to add a new action entry.
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OK. My IN page is ready, so I am ready to refer to it at anytime if I need to take some note...
The GTD system is based on context, where a context represent a place/situation where I can accomplish some specific kind of tasks. To track my context, I follow a lot of the suggested context that we can find in the book:
@Action : Something that must be done regardless of a context.
@Home: Something that must be done at home only.
@Call: Something that must be done when a phone is available
@Errands: Something that must be done while going to the store, being in the car...
@Date: Something that need to be done at a given date
@PC: Something I need to do in front of my PC.
@Wait : The next step is simply to "wait" for something external... i.e. I did what I have to do, and I need to wait for someone else to do the next action.
So the principle is very simple. Inside of your Trunk page, any page, whenever you want to add a new task that need to be performed you simply need to add it on a new line preceded by the proper context identifier.
For example:
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@Call Renovate the Kitchen NA: Call the store ABC at 123-123-1234
@Home Repair the Ipod. NA: Verify where is the receipt of the broken ipod still under warranty.
If you already had a project page for the kitchen renovation, isn't it natural to put there the tasks that need to be performed for the project, rather than in Outlook or something similar?
What happen when we did that Call to the store? May be we need to call someone else to inform him of the prices we got or the fact that the product is available in the store? Or may be we need to pass to that store? In any case, simply update the task entry or create a new one:
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@Errands Renovate the Kitchen NA: Go to the store ABC to buy the parts
Or, when the Ipod will be sent to Apple for repair, we simply need to wait for it:
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@Wait Repair the Ipod. NA: Wait for Ipod to return the machine. It has been ordered on 2009/08/10.
This is basically how I handle my tasks.
I also have special task tag name "@Date" which I use for maintenance things and to remember things regularly. I don't use it for appointment, just things that need to be remembered around a specific date.
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@Date 2009/10/01 Recharge the remote control battery. Every 3 months.
@Date 2009/11/01 Empty the cental vacuum system. Every 2 months
@Date 2010/02/01 Check if a new update of software XYZ is available. Every 6 months
Whenever a dated action is due, I do it and update the date value, which will change its appearance order in my report...
My report? Yes, that where the tasks from all the Trunk Note pages will get together in a meaningful way...
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There is a very powerful and easy functionality inside of Trunk Note that allow the possibility to generate a dynamic report of all the tasks that need to be accomplished, regrouped by context and sorted. The functionality is named "action" and allow the possibility to specify the action name that we want to list.
Here is a sample report, which you can copy/paste inside of your trunk report page for testing, and from there simply modify it to fulfill your needs:
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My Tasks
**Action list**
{{action @action}}
**Errands List**
{{action @errands}}
**Home List**
{{action @home}}
**Call List**
{{action @call}}
**Wait List**
{{action @wait}}
**PC List**
{{action @pc}}
**Date list**
{{action @date}}
After you will have created the page, Trunk Note will generate a report based on all the information it will find from all the pages of your wiki.
If you change any tasks, being its context or description, the next time you refer to this report page, a new report will be generated.
You are in front of you PC? Look at the PC List section..
You are at home? Look at the HOME list section...
If, for all your tasks you add an order value as prefix (ex: "@home (1) Do this") you will see that it will be sorted by such priority... But in the GTD book, it is mentioned to not prioritize things, so don't do it...
But that a different subject.And date values? They will all appear in the Dated List section. The ones that should grab your attention are the first ones only, specially if their due date is soon or past... Stay tune for a future feature in Trunk Note to handle "due" date value....
Also, check the Trunk Note documentation about other report possibility around tags and displaying recently updated pages.
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This is basically how I manage my tasks using Trunk Note, following the suggestions from GTD. The way I use it might not be suitable for your needs, but hopefully this post would help some building their own system. Since the trunk page could be updated directly from the Ipod (on the move) and from the PC, it make it easy to update any given task at any time.
Enjoy,
- Pierre