Does you brain feel empty with all that stuff out of there? I always feel refreshed when I get a list of projects down, since I know I'm not devoting my (precious/limited) brain capacity on maintaining the same.

Personally, I'd go for a tickler file here. You obviously can't tackle all the projects at once, so take the top three or four of set in terms of priority -- or easiness, or desirability, whatever -- and file the rest in the future, say a month down the road. Give yourself permission to forget the other stuff for some amount of time, then revisit your list when it comes up again, take the next project, lather, rinse, repeat.

You don't need to have an actually tickler setup -- just putting your master mind-map somewhere memorable and putting "project review" on your calendar would be enough. The trick here is not to let yourself get distracted by all the many, many projects on your plate, but just to get some traction on a few of them.

My two cents, anyhow.

Hi.

The real question is, which of the two items is going to be your primary planner? If it's the mind map, then skip the paper (or print out a copy of the map). If it's the planner, then transfer the projects and actions to the planner (GTD method seems to apply here) and don't continue to update the map.

It's a question of which one feels more comfortable and 'native' to your mode of thinking.

Some map tools will allow you to export lists you can easily print and stick in your paper planner. Freemind doesn't have as many export capabilities, unfortunately. Some of the more expensive map tools have fancier features for exporting, formatting, setting deadlines and due dates, adding notes etc.

Personally, I wouldn't think a mind map would be that handy for planning your entire life on an ongoing basis. It'd be great for the initial setup, but less cool for maintenance. I tried it for one project using one of the expensive tools, just because I thought that project needed more flexibility than MS Project. It worked OK, but eventually I decided that there were other ways to see such things as deadlines and notes easier. I'm using EssentialPim now to track notes and to-dos, and it's much easier to share the contents with other folks or print what I need.

Anyway, it's a generally accepted best practice to pick ONE tool that you're going to keep up-to-date on a daily basis. Sometimes people are forced to use a second one (like Outlook at work), but one is much easier. Some folks like to segregate personal and business, but they often overlap (have to call the doc during business hours, for example). One handy tool that's always near you and current is easier all around.

On the subject of actions, lots of folks use a code in the name of the action to identify the project. That way, when the actions are all mixed up together in their own list, you still have a clue what "Pick it up and take it home" means. If the project is "DryClean" you're all set, or maybe the project would be "PostOfficePkg" etc.

I tried GTD methodology for my stuff, but it really wasn't worth all the overhead to me. I'm not a high-powered executive, so my information flow and expected output are generally *not* more than I can handle. That's not to say I don't write things down, I just don't keep all the fancy lists the same way Allen does.

shris

You both have provided me with many helpful thoughts and ideas, thank you very much. I’ve done some musing and the question of what will be the primary planner is a good one. From fiddling around I think that the mind map is extraordinarily good for brainstorming, organizing and presenting information for me. For the actual “getting things done” I want it simple, on paper, I don’t want to be on the computer having to look up things or record anything as an every day way of doing things. Fortunately with this program I can print any section or sub section directly to paper. I’ve had to do a bit of tinkering with how I laid things out so formatted best on paper but not really any work. I may use the grid paper. On paper I can just scribble away and then go back to the mind map when things need tidying up and assessment of where I am at and where going. I did try many of the other programs including EssentialPim I think, but they stalled me, and I never did learn any of the Microsoft programs like Outlook or even Word or IE!

It may be that with experience I will want to group a bunch of actions from different projects together with tags or codes on the actions to tell them apart, a good idea, maybe little icons like “these all need to be photographed first.” Everything is just alphabetical as gtd suggests, I like that, but as ‘pens suggests, I will have to spend some time figuring boundaries as to current important and “tickler” so I won’t become roadkill. That will be difficult I think; and I keep thinking of new Projects to add ... but it does feel good to have so much set out.
I do use a separate book for date related calendar matters.
Thanks.

I could have sworn I replied to this earlier but it’s not here so guess I did something wrong. :)