Dave Caolo

37signals’ fantastic web chat is has been optimized for the iPhone.

Many web workers and freelancers like to get out of the house once in a while and set up shop at Starbucks, Borders or the local coffee shop. I did this, too, until I realized that there’s a much better – and cheaper – option just down the road. My library. Here’s why I love it so.

No distractions

Starbucks is erupting with distractions. The first is the music. I like to listen to music when I work, but it’s got to be instrumental. If a song has lyrics, I’ll pay attention to them. Don’t get me wrong, the music at these places is great, but not while I’m concentrating. On the other hand, the library is as quiet as…well, a library.

There’s also several conversations within earshot, other people clacking away on their keyboards…one time a woman asked me to troubleshoot her connectivity issues. Sorry, lady, but I’m trying to work here.

Free

The library is free. Places like Starbucks and Borders charge for Wi-Fi access, not to mention the drinks and food. I don’t know about you, but I can’t sit in a coffee shop without ordering something. And then something else. And something else. If you’re doing life-sustaining work as you sit there, you’re eating and drinking some of your own profits.

Room to spread out

The coffee houses in my neighborhood have these tiny, round tables that seem barely larger than my MacBook Pro. Forget trying to add a mouse, a drink and some papers. The library offers huge, flat tables that beg, “Come, dump out all your stuff!”

Phone calls

I know what you’re going to say. “But I can make phone calls in the coffee shop. Not the library.” It’s true that cell phones are not allowed in most libraries. I’ve got to stand in the entrance way to use mine. However, it has been my experience that the coffee shop is so noisy, I end up going outside to take a call. So there’s really no difference.

I know that it’s the hip thing to be seen writing in public, but the library is the best place to do it. Give it a try.

Note: This is a re-publication of a post that I lost when my database bought it. It was my most popular by far, so I’ve re-written it. – Dave

I’m love David Allen’s Getting Things Done. I do nearly all of my capturing and organizing with pen and paper, as nothing is more useful, flexible or promising. It’s the ultimate tool.

However, I’d be foolish to ignore an electronic solution, as I receive electronic “stuff” all day. Some, like JPG’s and audio files, can’t be managed on paper.

I tried all of the GTD software I could find, including iGTD, Monkey GTD, Midnight Inbox, Tracks and Kinkless.

All were nice, but the common issue was this: Each solution offers the author’s interpretation of how a GTD system should work. I don’t want to learn software before I can begin managing my stuff. Nor do I want to be limited to the author’s ideas. Basically, I want an electronic version of my favorite tool – pen and paper.

Backpack is it.

In this article, I’ll describe how Backpack satisfies the steps of GTD. Let’s get started.

Setup

Before we begin, I’ll describe how I’ve set things up.

Backpack lists your pages alphabetically on the right sidebar. To keep things tidy, I’ve adopted a few naming conventions. I want my Inbox and Next Actions pages to appear at the top of the list. So, I’ve named them ” Inbox” and ” Next Actions,” using a space as the first character.

Context-specific page names start with the “@” symbol, so they’re grouped together. Likewise, project pages begin with “Proj – “, which keeps them together. The “Blogging” pages hold ideas for blog posts, and the “Ref – MIDAS Notes” page is reference material for a single aspect of my day job that is large enough to require its own page.

Now, let’s explore how Backpack accommodates GTD.

1. Collect

As every GTD nerd knows, the first step is to collect your stuff. For me, that means sending stuff to my Inbox page, which I do three ways:

1. Directly editing the page. As straight forward as it gets: I navigate to the Inbox page and start typing.
2. Email. Each page has a unique email address. Anything sent to it gets posted to its parent page. So, when I receive email, I forward it to my Inbox page’s unique address for later processing (unless I immediately identify it as trash). The setup is simple: I created a contact in my address book called “Backpack Inbox” with the appropriate address. Now, I simply click “Forward” and woosh! My message is sent to my Backpack Inbox page (I then delete the original email!). That’s great, but what about files?
3. Folder Actions. Let’s say I receive a PDF that I want to file in reference, or send to “In.” To accomplish this, I used Automator to create a very simple script that launches Mail and sends any file to my Backpack Inbox page. I then attached the script to a folder on my desktop called “To Inbox.” Now, I simply drop any file into that folder and it’s sent to Backpack for me.

2. Process

Once you’ve gathered your stuff, it’s time to decide what it is and what needs to be done (if anything). I navigate to my Inbox page, and go down the list of items. Some are actions that will complete an open project. If that’s the case, I simply drag them onto the appropriate project page in the sidebar. Reference files are moved the same way.

I put appointments on the Backpack calendar, which sends me SMS reminders. Delegated items are added to my “@Waiting” page. I create a list titled with the name of the person I’m waiting for, with the expected actions itemized below. Other items go to project pages. This is where Backpack hits a grand slam home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the game.

Projects

Here is a project page (click for a larger view). I received a request from a co-worker to locate some missing data. At the top of the page is the name of the project. Next, I used Backpack’s “Note” feature to display the text of the initial email inquiry. Below that is a List of the action steps I must complete to mark this project as done.

Just below that, I create a history of steps taken in this project. It’s a terrific way to monitor progress, and answer people who say, “You never did ___.” Oh, yes I did .

Finally, a horizontal divider marks off the reference section. Here, I store all support documents for this project. In this case, the original email (as a PDF), and the requested file I pulled from the backup.

The truth is, this is a basic project page. I could add web links, a photo gallery, tags and additional notes and files. The fact that I have everything in once place – correspondence, support files, a project history, action steps – is huge. All I need to do is visit a single web page to get up to speed on a project, no matter how big or small. Awesome.

Once I’ve determined the steps required to complete a project, they’re added to the appropriate context pages. For example, I put “Restore file from backup” on my @Computer page.

3. Do

Here’s the heart of GTD – actually doing something! Cranking widgets! When I’m at my computer, I click the “@Comptuter” page and tick items off. The same goes for “@Phone” and so on. I “sync” my hPDA with Backpack at the end of each day, so I’m ready for the next one.*

4. Review

The weekly review is the most important step. With Backpack, it’s as easy as clicking through all of my project pages, seeing what’s done, what isn’t and adding the latter to my context pages. And nothing feels better than clicking that check box next to a completed action. Woo!

That’s my solution. With Backpack, I can collect all of my stuff into one place, decide what it is, organize it accordingly, identify and perform action steps and finally assess progress during my weekly review. Plus, since it’s hosted on the web, I can access my stuff from nearly any computer anywhere (or at least forward an email).

As someone who has tried a slew of GTD software, I’ll never abandon Backpack. It’s the definitive solution.

*I know what you’re thinking: “Get a real PDA, man! Let your computer do the synchronization.” I had a “real” PDA. A nice Palm Tungsten. I used it to keep lists. A $200 piece of hardware to store lists.

Try a $3 notebook to do the exact same thing. Case closed.

Here is the music from that MacBook Air TV ad [iTunes link]

Because even the guy who writes on his hand wants to do it neatly.

You’re sitting at your desk feeling motivated and enthusiastic. You’ve identified your tasks for the day, the tools are in place and your Productivity Music is playing quietly in the background. Just then, someone walks into your office and issues a request (I don’t know about your office, but in mine people just walk in and start talking).

“I need this,” they say. “I need that.” Then the phone rings. Next, you’ve been summoned to another office (or building) and asked to remember a dozen requests unrelated to what you’re doing. It’s easy to feel like you’ll never make any progress on that big project.

It’s possible to capture these requests, reassure the people who can’t stop bothering you and not lose focus on what you’re doing. Here are three things I do to manage these interruptions without getting derailed from the task at hand.

1. Capture and continue.

I keep a stack of white, 3×5 index cards in a drawer and a manila envelope on my desk. When someone enters my office or calls to make a request, I put any papers related to what I’m doing into the envelope and push it aside. Next, I grab an index card and write down the new request, as well as the date and time.

The card then goes into my plastic inbox and I resume what I was doing. That way, I’ve captured the request, so I needn’t burden my mind with the task of remembering it, and I can pick up where I left off. When I process my inbox at the end of the day, I’ll see the request and act on it accordingly.

2. The “But I need it now” guy.

You know this guy. He’s the one whose request is so urgent that you must drop what you’re doing attend to it. He’s usually trying to do something very important, like buy a fish tank off of Craigslist. You could succumb to his demand and resentfully fix the issue, or try this.

I say, “I understand that this is important, and I want to get it right. I’m busy right now, so why don’t we schedule 10 minutes later in the day when we can quickly talk about it?” It works like a charm; I get to continue what I was doing, and Captain Patience is assured that I’ll give his concern my full attention.

3. Close your door and keep it closed.

This one might seem harsh, but it’s certainly the most effective. A couple of years ago, I was working on a big project in Filemaker Pro. I had to create lots of complicated scripts from scratch, and that required a lot of thought. In short, I couldn’t afford to be derailed by anything short of an emergency. So, I took to closing my door.

This certainly sends a signal: Don’t bother me. It’s not anti-social behavior, but a request to your co-workers that says, “I need to work in solitude right now.” Most of them will respect your wishes. However, some will not, thinking, “Oh, he won’t mind if I just go in.” To this person I say, “Thanks for telling me about this, but I really need to concentrate on what I’m doing right now. Please leave a note in my box or send me and email, and I’ll take a look later in the day.”

Again, I get to continue my work, my co-worker is reassured and I’ve demonstrated that I “mean what I say.” When the door is closed, I’m unavailable.

I hope you found this useful. Now, go and be productive! And tell Captain Patience no, you will not drive him to pick up his fish tank.

George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames and Jens Risom, all pictured together with one of their creations. An awesome photo.

12 ways to upgrade your weekly review. A nice article on the crux of GTD.

There’s a great interview with Dan Gallagher of OpenCape at atBar. Definitely worth your attention.

It’s Monday, and my latest post is up at The Parenting Post.

“If you’re one of my nine regular readers, you may have noticed my absence. For the three of you who missed me, I’ll offer an explanation.

As for the remaining six of you, I know what you’re thinking. Oh, Dave was just sitting around that new Starbucks they put in the supermarket, drinking four dollar lattes, listening to music meant for 20 year olds and touching his iPhone. That’s because I’ve been sitting around that new Starbucks they put in the supermarket, drinking four dollar lattes, listening to music meant for 20 year olds and touching my iPhone.

I’ve also been thinking about work, family, priorities, the kids and my place in all of it. Let’s start at the beginning…”

Read the rest here.