TheSecretWeapon: Combining Evernote and GTD

BLUF: it works as advertised when applied as directed.

I have been using it for the last year or so in IT operations settings. It has the big advantage of being cross-platform, all of my devices run Evernote so I always have my task list with me.

Keep in mind that corporate IT policies may very well forbid its use for the following reasons: installation of a 3rd party program not in the approved software list, installation of a 3rd party extension to Outlook and use of a non-corporate storage for corporate information (which may breach regulations).

I am now trying to get my directs to use it as well, instead of the text/excel files or scraps of paper they currently use to keep track of tasks.

Regards,

Michael

Set this up this weekend after seeing this note and so far i am very happy.  less about the prioritization and categorization - more the feeling of 'lightness' know I don't have to worry that something is falling through the cracks. Once its in the system its in there.  It also helps the email discipline and focus.

There are also a couple of handy iphone apps that make it really easy to capture thoughts that would usually be lost.  

Thanks,

George

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 Hey - I have been playing with the Evernote Moleskine Smart Notebook -  The notebook itself is so-so - I wouldn't recommend spending $20 more than once. 

That said, I have been geeking-out a bit with the stickers, the iPhone app, and the MT O3 form and have a few hacks I thought I would share. Starting: http://www.cultofmac.com/187126/evernotes-amazing-moleskine-smart-notebo...

• In order for the iPhone to scan and process the forms and stickers, it looks for the dotted grid lines.  I found a PDF of grid lines: markrevans.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/evernote-grid-paper.pdf.
• I turned that into an image, and inserted as a watermark into my MT O3 word doc
• I then found an image of the stickers, cut them out into individual bitmaps, and put the stickers (who doesn't love stickers?) on the form.
• Put all that into the doc:  www.dropbox.com/s/9flsckbjj76d71s/MT_One_on_One_Basics_Fleece_Blank_EN_Stickers.docx
• The secret handshake is that the grid and the stickers need to be the same size - that seems to help the app find the stickers
• Use Settings in the iphone too assign the stickers to the TSW contexts and tags per The Secret Weapon. Work, feedback, fb+, fb-, !Followup, etc. If you don't want a sticky to process, just scribble on 
• This now enables the Evernote iPhone app to recognize and process the tags: photo:www.dropbox.com/s/j9fekokelrvl6br/Photo%20Mar%2005%2C%2017%2008%2059.png
• Which ends up in evernote like this: www.dropbox.com/s/dvbj0l2w5g6jlfd/en_tagged.PNG
• Now run the TSW process....

This makes me happy.

Thanks,

George

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Hi Mark -

I am still using this system and it it continues to be effective.  I have yet to go any long trips since starting TSW - so I don't have any real world WWW/TALA to share.  So far my main activities 'untethered' have been in capturing ideas and other tasks into the TSW 'in-basket'.  I use the 'FastEver' iphone app.  I am surprised at how many ideas I have through the day that pre-TSW would have been lost.  Not all are good ideas (a few "Squirrel!" moments) - and that's ok. Quantity over quality. The Evernote iphone app is so-so for actually running TSW - at least for me.  

I am usually not 'off the grid' on trips for more than a few hours - so I expect to be able to access Evernote with my laptop or ipad soon enough to keep things going.  I'll probably make a hard copy of the current state of my TSW in-basket (see the 'Travel EMP cast') before I leave on a trip, make any updates to the list by hand while enroute, then update once I am back on the ground and online. 

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Thanks,

George

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First of all, thanks to Bowenmj for bringing this to my attention.

I have been using this for just five work days, none involving travel, but I really like it over my prior software. I especially like the ability to easily send an email to the Action Pending folder in Evernote. (Gmail users beware, due to the extra steps involved in editing the sub line.)

Because I like to prioritize each task, I have customized the "1-Now" tag to include ".1, .2, .3," etc. This allows me to rank the task I plan to do today.

It took about 45 minutes for me to view the video and about another 45 or so to set it up.

I figured I would chime in as well. I started using it as well, and it's timely given the recent casts on email 3-times a day. Previously, I was using my inbox as a tickler file to remind me to complete or follow up on tasks and messages. An inbox is a terrible task list. I ended up reviewing a given email dozens and dozens of times, usually because it was something I was waiting for a response on. Instead. I put these in Evernote under waiting and put a date on them, and I don't review them again until the date.

I think it really helps accomplish the primary goal of GTD which is to get your tasks out of your head, so you can focus on the particular thing you need to be doing now.