GTD implementation angst
It’s not so much that I have angst about actually using the GTD methodology. No, that’s actually pretty solid in my head as being a proverbial “good thing.” Rather, I’m experiencing a bit of angst wrt to the software that I will use to make my implementation useful & functional. So, in order to try and work through some of that angst, I’m going to write this post as a way of hopefully collecting & focusing my thoughts, along with soliciting some input from any GTD-using folks that happen by to read this.
Angsty Issue #1: Hosted or Local?
By “hosted,” I simply mean using an externally hosted service like Vitalist, Backpack, etc, and by “local” I mean both solutions that I host myself (e.g., gtd-php or Tracks) as well as those that don’t require hosting of any sort (e.g., EasyTask, MonkeyGTD, d3, etc…). The gear-head in me wants very much to avoid hosted solutions, in favor of local solutions. Control is a part of the equation, as are cost & online/offline access factors.
I like the idea of hosting it myself, both for the aforementioned control, as well as for value/cost issues related to the fact that I’m already paying for hosting, so why not leverage that sunk cost? Even so, there’s something quite appealing to an offline solution, where I don’t need to worry about not being online to input & review my “stuff”. But, there’s something that worries me about the data security of something that’s, say, flash drive based (like MonkeyGTD) & portable — I could easily destroy the single file and/or lose the flash drive. To get a hosted solution in place, there’s almost certainly going to be extra cost involved, at least if I want to limit the usage restrictions that most hosted plans have. Hosted plans also have a limitation in terms of functionality and/or feature sets. Though, to be fair, that’s pretty much true of any of the GTD apps/solutions out there…
Angsty Issue #2: Level of GTD Canonicity?
Simply put, how much do I want to be tied to (real or perceived) canonical constructs of David Allen’s GTD (as laid out in his book)? I’ve been struggling with implementing the theoretically appealing notion of ‘context’. ‘Projects’ and ‘Actions’ make more intuitive sense to me, although I certainly understand the proposed benefit of using harder-edged spacial ‘contexts.’ I’m just not sure that I need to slavishly force myself into their use at this point. I’m leaning towards letting myself learn a potentially hard lesson, by using the system as makes most intuitive sense to me right now, and then changing later on should the writing on the wall become so clear as to be unavoidable.
Angsty Issue #3: What features are deal-killers?
Fortunately, I’ve learned a few things over the past few weeks of (slowly) getting started with GTD. One feature that’s very important, just because of how my brain works, is the ability to easily reorder tasks. Vitalist & Backpack have this, and the others I’ve looked at don’t. For me, this is more important than the canonical GTD practice of only worrying about your ‘Next Action’. Another feature that’s important is the ability to have repeating/recurring actions. EasyTask & gtd-php do this nicely, while Vitalist’s implementation seems buggy at the moment (either that or I’m just stupid…), and Backpack doesn’t seem to have this working yet. I also think I’d like to have calendar integration, which only Backpack seems to offer part & parcel with the rest of the GTD functionality.
So, I’m left with a mixed bag. And a brain that’s churning big time to try an make sense of it. After spending the last week or so in Vitalist, I’m now wondering if it is still the right/best tool for me. I have an instance of gtd-php installed & running, and there’s a lot to like about that app, although I’m feeling some hesitancy about it (it just doesn’t *feel* quite right, for whatever reason). I think that I might give Backpack a more serious try, as it has some very interesting features that well could make up for the fact that it’s not a GTD app, per se.
-ghp
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