ExPromQueen had asked about my GTD methods. I’ve been using the GTD Tiddly Wiki to keep track of my projects. It’s client side, not server side, so it’s physically located on my laptop. But I almost always have my laptop with me. There’s a GTD Tiddly Wiki Plus that’s easily transferred to USB, so that you can carry your wiki with you. A picture of what my wiki looks like is to the right there. I also keep a moleskein notebook with me and jot down ideas and things when I’m away from the computer. For me, there are two keys to the whole system. The first is to put in your wiki the next task for each project, not the next five tasks or ten, but just the very next one. You can keep a folder with a more extensive list of what needs to be done for any given project, but the wiki needs to have just next tasks. The second key (maybe the first as it’s so important) is the review process. Once a week, you should review all your projects and your lists and make sure you’re getting everything you need to get done done. This is also a time to put down new projects, to brainstorm for new projects and generally assess where you are. This is the part I fall down on the most, but I’m going to try to make it more of a habit. Some other things I do is keeping track of the Ph.D. stuff in my Blogical Construction blog. I also have lots of folders. I haven’t yet fully implemented the 43 folder system. Instead, I’ve been looking for a good online calendar. Two I like so far: Airset and Google Calendar. One thing I like about Airset is that it syncs with my Palm. Since my work calendar is on my Palm, it’s really useful to be able to sync that with an online calendar. I did this on a windows machine, but it might also work on a mac, haven’t tried it yet.

Anyway, I’m constantly tweaking what I do. I highly recommend the 43 Folders blog and wiki for lots of ideas about keeping organized. The great thing about this whole system is that everyone can use it as they see fit.