I have the utmost respect for anyone who creates a tool or product for the greater good of man or beast so when someone asks me to review or comment on a new product, I do so gladly but only on the proviso that I will say it as I see it.
On this occasion I have been asked by Dan Baluta to comment on a project and task management application that is based on David Allen's book 'Getting Things Done' called gtdAgenda that you can access at www.gtdagenda.com. Before commenting about it on this blog however, I wanted to use the system for a while and see if it indeed made my life easier, or as some of these new systems have a tendency to do - make my life more complicated; I wanted to see how easy it was to switch over from my current management system but importantly, I wanted to see if I could customize it to suit my needs. The timing was excellent as I had a number of projects on the go and I was being swamped with tasks that needed to be done and prioritized. If ever an application was to be put to the test - this was it.
At the outset though, I must warn you that I am a bit of a goal freak. I have goals for every aspect of my life be it career, physical, family, spiritual, mental etc., and I am constantly monitoring progress towards those goals; adding activities or 'crossing them off', working on new projects or reshaping existing projects etc. so working with a project and task management system was not particularly new to me. What was new to me however (and I am ashamed to admit it in this day-and-age) was using a web-based application. I have used a paper-based system for years. Nevertheless, Dan set me up with an account (as this is a paid service application) and I jumped right in. Big mistake!
As with all new applications, it always helps to read the instructions before jumping right in, not that gtdagenda is all that complicated; but it is worth spending at least 5-10 minutes 'Taking the Tour' and reading the section entitled 'Use gtdagenda to implement Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen'.
I found it easy to set up my goals just as it was easy to link projects to each of those goals. Then adding tasks to each of those projects was simple enough. The process flow in setting up goals, projects and tasks is very easy to follow. A list of all your projects is displayed to the right of the page which enables you to switch from one project to another with ease which is a feature that I found extremely useful.
Another aspect of the application that is a tremendous help is the 'Next Actions' list which is the first thing that is displayed when you sign in to your account in www.gtdagenda.com. In addition, your goals are always displayed at the top of each page that you are using. Keeping your goals in front of you at all times is for me crucial, as I do believe it keeps you honest and focused on what is important and prevents you from straying too far off the beaten track.
The application allows you to develop checklists which can be weekly, monthly or yearly and I do like the way the checklist is configured. I would however have liked to have been able to develop separate checklists for each of my goal categories (i.e., one for physical and one for spiritual etc) as I found the application lumps all activities into the same checklist. In hindsight though, this isn't necessarily a bad thing as it did enable me to see on one page everything that I routinely do (or wanted to do) during the week. It did make me realize that I was being a little unreasonable in my expectations of what needed to be done.
There is a 'Context' section that informs you whether tasks are to be done at home, via the computer or any other means that you may wish to include. How useful this feature is I haven't quite determined yet and the jury is still out for me. There is also an e-mail address at the bottom of the task list page the purpose of which is not clear to me. I assume it is there if you need to contact gtdagenda should you have a problem. I could not find any mention of it in any of the readings. One feature I would have liked is for all my 'Next Actions' to be e-mailed to me when I log in to my e-mails every morning. Always good to have such timely reminders.
In short, the gtdagenda application has kept me honest. Critically, it has forced me to prioritize my projects and tasks and to clearly define those activities that I need to do next. By forcing me to prioritize, I have been able to focus on those projects and tasks that are important to the achievement of my goals.
The application did indeed make my life easier; I found it easy to switch from my current management system to the gtdagenda application and I was able to customize it to suit my needs. I would certainly recommend it for anyone struggling to manage their time and for those dealing with a myriad of projects both at work or in their personal lives.
ian
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