TOPIC: Ten Ideas for TRGTD

Back into GTD and TR thanks to you guys. Great results, eg. my long term goal of 10 new ideas a day, every day, now occurs :-). (www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/04/how-to-have-great-ideas/)

To celebrate, my inaugural brainstorm was about Thinking Rock. Pretty sure many or most of these are on your to do list. And pretty sure that others have had the same ideas. And lastly, pretty sure some of these I have not yet figured out how to do in the software.

Still I wanted to share the joy you guys are bringing :-).

Topic: Improving TR
1.IOS: Topic and context-Different people use them differently. In thoughts screen they should be options to use either or both.

2. Goals matter to me, if something does not tie to my goals then I need to question the "why more." Make it available in thought capture and throughout the program. (I may have turned this off somehow in Dt version.)

2a. Vision matters to me and I want a way to easily capture it in the thought capture phase on IOS and Dt while it is still fresh.

3. Enable multiple topic, context and goals per item. Sometime things cross boundaries.

4.Syncing only allowed when my pc is turned on. My pc is a laptop which travels with me -this is the case for most people nowadays.

5.make device version fully functioned and across more then 1 device (I have not tried android, mac and iPad as capture mechanisms, perhaps this works now.)

6. Faster access to thoughts mode in IOS. If I did a sync, and I come back into TR later, it's two clicks to get to thought capture. My hope is that a default be added that it always opens there (unless a sync in process?)

7. Pull thoughts from docs dropped in Dropbox? EG when I drop a reference there.

8. I have more states then the default. I want a way to add to the list of states. (sorry if I have not found it yet.)

9. Broader import/export. We GTDers are "loose" and tend to float between tools (i know, this is why we all NEED GTD tools in the first place). I found a bunch of tools to pull things out of TRGTD into other competitors. It was harder coming back - eg. I was using toodledo for 2 years and just came back.

10. Please give us a non-linear way to process thoughts. Some of them require great thought during processing and I may want to delay. Oh #@$% - that is probably why I need GTD in the first place- my procrastinating ways :-).

Michael Daitzman
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Seek Truth, Not Validation

Here are some comments and responses. I've been doing GTD for 4years+ and using TR as long (and yes despite my criticisms of it, I still think that functionally (if not aesthetically), it's the best GTD app in existence - and yes I've tried most of the GTD apps there are)

mdaitzman wrote:
In true GTD style, we shouldn't even have 'Topic' - so that we can truly separate the Capturing of thoughts Processing them into next actions. In my opinion, allocating context to a thought at the time you capture it is mixing the Processing. What you are requesting belongs to 'Processing' and is already there in the TR Process Thoughts screen

Agree about need for goals, but again not on the Add Thoughts screen. If such functionality is required it should be in the 'Process Thoughts' screen.

Again from a productivity perspective, do you really need a Goal for a single action? Perhaps you could use the 'Successful Outcome' field for that purpose.

However having the option to select from Goals for Projects will be nice and more intuitive.

I see the point - I sometimes only process after 2 days and by then I might have forgotten aspects of the thought. I deal with that today by writing as much in the notes field of the thought as possible. It would be great to have Audio here in the future.

plus 1

I agree. I've been irritated by this when just arriving at or on my way to the airport, I want to update my mobile TR but alas can't because my laptop is in my bag. I usually try to make the habit of syncing before I step out but ....

I'll say TR the functionality that best suits the device e.g.

- Processing thoughts and organising is best done on desktop version - the heart of the GTD system. That's why I like that fact that desktop doesn't sync unprocessed thoughts to mobile versions.

- Mobile devices are best for capturing thoughts as the come to you because you always have your mobile. As such I'd say the functionalities to add thoughts via Audio or picture of your phone camera are best here.

- Tablets are just great for Reviewing and so I'd make the ability to review in table mode. Although I must say 'Review' is still TR's weakest spot. I like the way Midnight Inbox does Review.

Makes sense, and I'll add Evernote to that. Since Evernote is Ubiquitous, I believe TR can get better fast for free by using some of its functions - e.g. capture a thought by audio, video etc as well as for Reference (I already use Evernote as my digital Reference system)

That would be great.

Again that wouldn't be pure GTD. The power of GTD lies in the fact that you separate Capturing ideas from Processing and Organising them into Next Actions.

The ability to have captured stand in a queue in front of you while you DECIDE (no procrastinating) on what each one means is it's power. I've face a the same challenges as you but each time, it's because I either didn't capture a thought in full that it's meaning has become hazy or I wasn't sure. I that case I put in in 'Someday/Maybe' and tickle.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us Michael. Happy GTDing with TR.

Mukom Akong T.
(perfexcellence.org | @perfexcellent)

Dear Mukom,

Thanks so much for the thoughtful and detailed note.

By the way, your blog is beautiful!

For items 1, 2 and 2a. Like you, I don't always process every day and so any context (non GTD context in this case) I can gather at the Collect step is a huge help.

I like your idea of using notes to capture as much of that as possible but drop downs are SO MUCH faster.

An example, at coffee this morning a friend said "read The Black Swan." I open my IOS based TR app and type in Black Swan and add Topic Books. Without that when I Processed I would have no idea what Black Swan is.

This ties to item 5. You mentioned breaking up functionality based on the device. I think this distinction goes away as devices become larger. I also believe that your perspective may be based on what you are used to. Mine is shaped by having used LifeBalance on a Palm Treo with Bob "Ratz" Pankratz GTD templates (G-d bless Bob wherever he is for that labor of love :-)).

Using that system I could, and frequently did, all my processing on my Treo. Using pulldowns I could assign topics, contexts etc. very quickly and for the 2 minute or less items I could mark them done as I completed them between meetings, usually before my processing had occurred. This had the additional benefit of capturing information that was useful to evaluate - eg. I did this and it was tied to this goal therefore I could evaluate my process based on the goal.

Item 7 - Evernote tie - I like this, but I hate using cloud based systems for personal info unless I control the encryption. Paranoid, I know :-).

Item 10 - there is so much wisdom in what you say. Not sure I will ever have the necessary discipline :-/.

Warm Regards,

Michael Daitzman