Having spoken a bit about GTD (Getting Things Done) in the past and being a fan of the personal productivity system, I seem to be making all the major productivity mistakes of late. So I made a mental note in the last few weeks to start taking steps to fix some of these problems, but as you all know, the mental note approach is not always the most reliable.
I have a problem with the paper based systems I’ve tried, including the hipster PDA which I found sometimes just went missing in my many pockets & bags or just got a little clumsy or messed up after a while.
GTDinbox with Firefox & Gmail – starting afresh.
No matter how much effort you put into staying organised, when you let things slip and don’t take corrective action, chaos “will” start to develop, and you “will” lose control. I found a really great solution to keeping track of tasks and TO-DO’s. I’ve already been using Gmail Labels to send myself important notes and resources and keep control of the many varied bits of info and reminders I need to quickly access, but the GTDinbox extension for firefox has just made this a whole lot simpler & cooler.
This cool extension was developed by productivefirefox.com. Because I use Gmail all the time and am pretty much permanently attached to my gmail account on any given day it makes sense for me to maximize my use of it.
The Firefox Extension adds a few crucial little bits to your gmail account which allows for better task & resource management. As you can see I’ve already got a few coloured labels for different types of messages. Now with GTDinbox I can assign messages as tasks, within projects and track them through the expandable panel at the top of my gmail window. It works with the gmail labelling system and adds GTD labels which are then organised in the top panel according to the GTD system.
In general Gmail is a great tool to use and it can be used in conjunction with other email accounts. I just wish Google would work on integrating it’s many services like docs, google notebook and others into a more jacked up online app which allows quick crossing over between the different apps.
It too me a while to get used to labels after using yahoo’s cool drag & drop folders for a while but slowly I’m seeing the light here.
Setting up filters which automatically label mails from specific clients, and other personal messages you send to yourself is a simple way you can start getting into the power of gmail if you don’t think you’re ready for something like GTDinbox quite yet.
If anyone needs an invite to Gmail I’ve got a few lying around, It’s free, powerful, accessible from anywhere with a connection and can be integrated into quite a growing number of online and offline apps. Post a comment if u need a gmail invite sent to you.