"Getting Things Done" with Openmoko

Hans L thehans at gmail.com
Sat Apr 19 20:00:16 CEST 2008


I've been reading a book lately called Getting Things Done(henceforth
abbreviated as GTD) which basically proposes a strategy for
organizing/managing your work and life to be more productive with less
stress.  Instead of me attempting to explain it any more, a summary of
the ideas behind GTD can be found on the author's website:
http://www.davidco.com/what_is_gtd.php
and a wikipedia entry for good measure ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done

I'm still working on fully implementing these ideas (been setting up
my filing/reference system lately), but it seems to me a device
running Openmoko would be the perfect place to do much of this
organizing/planning/management.  And while I'm certainly not holding
out for my Freerunner before trying these methods, I do think it could
make a great addition to this system.

So I've basically been thinking, what would the ideal("killer")
application for GTD look like?  Since I'm still a newbie to GTD, it's
not even completely clear to me what this app should be.  What
specific features would be required? Are there currently any
applications for Openmoko that come close?  Would it be good to start
a project for a GTD-specifc app?
I will explain some of the ideas I have in mind, but hopefully some
other people on this list have read the book and been using this
system for a while and they can chime in with some more input.

One thing that I think is emphasized in the book is that whatever
implementation you use for GTD, it should strive to be simple and even
fun to use, because you want to make a habit of using it and staying
organized, rather than finding yourself loathing and avoiding it.

I can think of at least two main things that could be useful for GTD
on Openmoko:
1) Calendar reminders (this is already available in Openmoko from what
I've read :-D )

2) Lists: specifically *Context Sensitive* Lists
It seems large part of GTD is simply about making lists:

One aspect is listing all projects you are committed to, and defining
the next action steps required to push each project towards
completion.

Another aspect of GTD is that you need to be reminded of things to do,
but only in the appropriate context.
Depending on the situation you are in, you need to be able to see a
list of relevant tasks that need to be completed:
At your phone, you might want to check a list of calls you need to
make(calls might also go on a calendar if they need to be at specific
times).
In your car, you might want to check a list of errands you need to run.
At home, you might want to check a list of things that can only be
accomplished at home.
At a computer, ...
etc.

What do you think?

-Hans Loeblich




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