Peter's PDA

Looks like September is my month for working on my system. I've recently upgraded to an Android device (oh, the joy of no longer being tied to Windows Mobile) and am now trying to figure out how to get GTD working on it. As you know if you've read any of my other posts on this topic, I'm a nut for PocketInformant on the WM platform, so it was the first app I purchased on Android. Now these are 2 different platforms and so I expected differences, but I was still a bit surprised by how far apart they were. PI on WM is an amazingly mature app with all kinds of configurability and amazing capability and functionality. PI on Android is ... well, let's say it's still young. Hopefully there will be lots of upgrades coming down the pike. I'm not looking for a replacement, but that's only because I'm already a great fan of WebIS and know that they will really get it right as they move forward. But the great thing about PI on Android is that there is built-i...

I haven't actually tried this, but here's another possibility that looks like it might do what I want: SprinxCRM has a sync tool between RTM and Outlook. Clearly the Outlook/WinMo sync is pretty straightforward (I won't say problem-free after using it for years, often in great frustration, but it does work). So I could theoretically use Outlook as my "middle-man" in my sync. My frustration then is that I am no longer "in the cloud" -- I am tied to my home computer... I won't try it right now for that reason (the priorities solution is largely working for me) but I'll keep this in the back of my mind for now...

Here's my latest attempt which seems to be working technically so far. Whether it is an effective way for me to work is a different question (I am losing some capabilities I would have liked to have in order to make it work). I have created real lists (in addition to smart lists) for each of my major projects. This means no more overall grouping of projects (by client, personal vs work, etc.) unless I include that information in the name of my project -- which unfortunately makes the project names pretty long and unsightly. Then I am using the priority field in RTM which syncs to the Importance field in PI as follows: 1=NA for today 2=NA for this week 3=Someday/maybe NO=all else (i.e., fodder for my weekly review) Unfortunately 3 and NO priority don't do well on the WinMo database, but I think I can survive not having that differentiation on my phone. I have not yet figured out a way to map contexts to my phone. :-(

Nope, RTM doesn't transmit the names of the smart lists to the phone as categories like I thought it would. So now either I change products to some other tech solution that doesn't quite match how my sytem works or else I change my system... Why did I think technology was supposed to enable you to get things done instead of changing how you do them? What was I thinking?

After a dismally unproductive summer I've decided it's time to Get Things Done again. This time I'd really like to be able to do it technologically rather than plain-paper... My current hardware is a Windows 7 notebook and a Tilt 2 (Windows Mobile 6.5) phone. I'm doing my best to do everything "in the cloud" as I often don't take my computer to the office and want to have an equivalent office there without hassling with sync. Via gmail, google docs, google calendar, google sync, etc. I've got just about everything working as I like it -- including sync'ing to my phone. The missing piece is my to-do list. And this is not because nothing works, but because I'm fussy and have pretty specific requirements for what I'm looking for. It must be based "in the cloud" -- I want to sit down at another computer, log on, and see just what I see at home. It must have off-line access (my ISP is notorious for outages at the most inconvenient...