Posts

This is a great gmail hack I am trying to implement.  I have it set up, I just need to remember to use it when I email myself notes. (from http://www.hyperionreactor.net/node/176 - it's not where I originally found the hack, but it's the first place I found it referenced when I Googled for it.)

This is a quick and dirty way to store notes with Google. Most email providers provide a feature to create aliases using the + sign. So if your email address is john.doe@gmail.com all mail sent to john.doe+office@gmail.com will also land in your mail box. This is not a new feature, but some providers have issues with it for some reason.

1. Create a new contact. Enter the following information. Name: Notes Primary Email: john.doe+notes@gmail.com
2. Create a new label called "Notes"
3. Create a new filter. Enter the following information. From: john.doe+notes@gmail.com
4. Click on the "next step button" 5. Select "Skip the Inbox (Archive it)" and "Apply the label Notes.

Now when ever you send a email to Notes, it will be archived and stored. You can access it using the Notes label. You can search for notes by doing the following: Your Search Terms label:Notes If you are using POP to access your mail, a copy is download to your computer. You can then just create a normal mail filter to place any mails that have "To: john.doe+notes@gmail.com" moved to the Notes folder on your local system. The only down side is that you can not edit a note. But you can create follow up notes using the reply field.

Lately I have been drawn more and more in the direction of actually getting around to reading Getting Things Done.  Because, well, I want to get things done.  I have a fairly organized system at work, but even after reading the first chapter of David Allen's book, I can see that it could be much more efficient.  And my system at home consists of no system.  It consists of disorganized piles, putting things off, and thus keeping them on my mind.  This leads to occasional panics where the number of "open loops" I have hits me all at once, and I panic about how I can never do them all.  Now I can see that the reason I can't "do" these things is because I'm trying to "do" the end goal, not the actionable steps that lead to that finished project.

Reading GTD is reminding me just how scattered my system is, how many inboxes I'm trying to manage.  At work I use my Outlook inbox, my Outlook calendar, my Outlook taskpad, my QuickBooks reminders, my Google calendar, and an elaborate system of physical folders, filing cabinets and inboxes.  It works to the extent where I'm rarely late with my work and can find almost any information given one to ten minutes.  But I have a pile of papers growing in my inbox that I've deferred to later, and nothing is getting done about them.  And despite all my careful filing of things, there is still "stuff" on my mind because I have to remember to check all the places where i'm filing pending work.

My solution to this: set up a GTD system in the one place I almost always have access to: the internet.  To start, I have found a cool little open-source app called Tracks that I can install on the space I have hosted at Dreamhost.  I will need to explore some technological territory I'm only vaguely familiar with: ssh, bash, Ruby, Rails.... I'm not a programmer and thus I will be augmenting my limited knowledge with wiki instructions that I hope are correct....

When I'm done, I should be able to start implementing GTD (after I read more of the book).  Then the only problem is finding a way to access this information when I don't have internet access.  So far the best solution I've come up with is some sort of organized notebook (ie my beloved Moleskine) where I move relevant information back and forth as neededd.  It's not ideal, but short of buying a wireless-capable Pocket PC (something I'm not willing to shell out the bucks for when I'm trying to save pennies and dimes for a Macbook Pro) it's the best I can come up with at the moment.