Wilder Office Approach

Part of my blog is dedicated to books that have had impact on my life.  This post details some the progress I’ve made with the help of the book, ” Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen.

GTD Update: BB app Viira 2 really helps – I have accomplished so much this week!

This afternoon, as I was updating Viira2 on my Blackberry, I realized I made a few to-dos as tasks when they were really projects. OK, this isn’t the worst thing imaginable but it was then I realized that I was looking at my day’s work a lot differently.

Since I’ve hunkered down and gave GTD a try, I’ve noticed that  I know what my next move should be when I’m working. My day progresses smoothly – I don’t feel stressed and over-scheduled with appointments and disorganized lists. I’m starting to see “projects” and “tasks” rather than the dreaded “too much to do so why bother with any of it” feeling. Whether my energy is high or low I know what projects to tackle. Interruptions aren’t as interrupting as they were just a couple of weeks ago.

I take the day as it goes, calm but focused – one task at a time.

It’s simple – whether I have 5 minutes or an hour to kill,  Viira2  makes it easy to pick out what I can do to fill the time.

Part of my blog is dedicated to books that have had impact on my life.  This post details some the progress I’ve made with the help of the book, ” Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen.

This past weekend I got a bit further with setting up GTD for myself. It’s strange how in control I feel now. Or is it how I don’t feel overwhelmed and completely powerless over things I haven’t done yet?

I’m getting a better understanding and appreciation for what Allen is getting at in his GTD book. For instance, anything that does NOT have a date does NOT belong on my calendar. If I make random due dates for my tasks it clutters up my calendar, I know that that task doesn’t really have to be done and I get stressed out whenever I look at calendar because of all the things I see that aren’t getting done. The dateless tasks belong on my “Contexts” lists. I call it my @ list. I gotta be me.

A few forums suggested that Outlook or Google calendar is a great place to store my GTD lists so I tried it. A huge red flag flashed before my eyes when I was in my car and had time to run some errands. Where is my list? Yes, of course! It’s on Outlook on my laptop AT HOME! #fail

My Blackberry Bold, however, was with me. It’s always with me! I knew I needed to integrate my projects on my Blackberry.

After a couple days of trying to use the native task list on my Blackberry I realized it is too cumbersome to use for the GTD system. I searched for a Blackberry GTD based to do list application. Instead of doing tireless research like I am known to do *smirk*, I kept it simple. After finding 3 apps with positive reviews, I chose the one with a free trial and OTA (Over the Air) installation: Viira 2. The installation was straightforward and the application itself seems easy to use.

Viira 2 breaks my to-do list into a workable format on my Blackberry – Projects, Contexts or Tasks. If I’m in front of the computer with 15 minutes to kill – I can look at my @computer list on my phone and – !BAM! – a few to-dos are done before I know it! If I’m in my car my @errand list tells me what I need to do while I’m out. That rocks.

Viira2: so far so good. It’s a buy.