My way of working with RTM
skonovalov says:
Hi, my name is Sergey. I'm an entrepreneur from St. Petersburg in Russia.
I've been using RTM for several years, and through that time I've built a handy system of organization of actions. Would like to share with you the way I plan and process my actions.
INBOX
Since I read "Getting Things Done" by David Allen, I store nearly nothing in my memory, leaving all incoming notes, reminder, comments, ideas into my lists. RTM mobile app inbox is a perfect place for that. If you get a habit to process your inbox every day, this will make your life a lot happier and easier, as you will never forget. Later you can edit each task or move it to other locations like Evernote or some documents.
Just give it a try and you'd probably never turn down.
WHEEL OF LIFE
Traditional model of "Wheel of Life" has 6-7 spheres of your life that you have to pay attention to. I found it too complicated and reduced them to just four:
ME - personal development, health;
BUSINESS - finance, professional development, projects;
MILIEU - family, friends, society;
LIFE - fun, hobbies, traveling;
I have created a list for each sphere and put my actions accordingly. When you see that you have too much actions in just one sphere and nothing in others it is a clear sign to balance your life and add more from other spheres. This way I made myself more committed to my family and photography as a hobby, when I saw my list was full of business and personal actions only.
CONTEXT
Grouping actions into batches really saves time and reduces multitasking. Contexts help to do that with ease. For example, for every phone call I have to make I put a tag "c-phone". When I'm in a car I just filter these tasks and talk through loudspeaker, calling several people in a row. It also reduces stress, when you cant get through and have to switch to other task meanwhile. When you have a list, you do calls one by one. Even if some contact is not available, you just get to the next and then in the end can return.
My context tags include "c-computer" for work and emails that I cannot do on my mobile device (for example, that requires editing large tables or use of some special software), "c-outdoors" for actions when I'm outside in the city.
I assign context tags when adding tasks to RTM.
LOCATIONS
Locations made my life really easier. When I plan to take something to my parents or take from them, discuss with partners in the office I use locations. If geo-tracking is switched on on you device (it is on by default), you will get push notifications about tasks nearby.
OBLIGATIONS
As I always forget to track when I give or get something, I faced several times with a problem of risk with my relationships with other people because of that. Now I use an extremely simple way to keep that. In a separate list I make records what I've received and what I've given.
John Appleseed > "Atlas Shruggled" book
Jack Smith < 30 USD
The arrow shows direction: from person means I need to get that, to person means I need to give.
In these two samples I need to take back my book from John and get 30 bucks to Jack.
You can also add notes or deadlines to these obligations which makes you an extremely organized and respected person. It is that simple.
SHOPPING LIST
RTM turned out to be very handy tool to manage shopping list. As my phone is always nearby, I always put an item into shopping list once I notice I really need to buy it next time in the supermarket. My girlfriend always amazed how I do remember all these small things. But I don't, I just put them into a list called "Store" and check it once I'm there. Sometimes I just add an item, sometimes I put the section before, for example "GROCERIES - Sugar" or "CHEMICALS - Cleaning agent for kitchen".
When I sort items by name I get hem listed in order of sections, so every section of store I visit just once and save plenty of time.
BACKLOG
This list called "Someday-Maybe" earlier, but I decided to rename it to be shorter. Here I put all actions that I probably will do, but not yet sure when and where. To be honest, I rarely check this list, but it just makes me feeling really good that for every idea that I have to postpone there is a special place and I can go there anytime for inspiration. Think of this list as of a "Like" button for your ideas and thoughts.
I highly recommend you NOT to prioritize this list and avoid setting due dates for actions inside of it.
Please note that your items should be actions, not a complicated goals with lots of subtasks. When you have a simple action to do, it is easier for you to start and easier to complete it. We all procrastinate when it is not clear what exactly to do with a given task. However when it is decomposed into simple actions we can easily execute all of them.
Hopefully you enjoyed the post and found at least one useful idea to make your life better and more organized. Feel free to share your own experience with me and make suggestions.
I've been using RTM for several years, and through that time I've built a handy system of organization of actions. Would like to share with you the way I plan and process my actions.
INBOX
Since I read "Getting Things Done" by David Allen, I store nearly nothing in my memory, leaving all incoming notes, reminder, comments, ideas into my lists. RTM mobile app inbox is a perfect place for that. If you get a habit to process your inbox every day, this will make your life a lot happier and easier, as you will never forget. Later you can edit each task or move it to other locations like Evernote or some documents.
Just give it a try and you'd probably never turn down.
WHEEL OF LIFE
Traditional model of "Wheel of Life" has 6-7 spheres of your life that you have to pay attention to. I found it too complicated and reduced them to just four:
ME - personal development, health;
BUSINESS - finance, professional development, projects;
MILIEU - family, friends, society;
LIFE - fun, hobbies, traveling;
I have created a list for each sphere and put my actions accordingly. When you see that you have too much actions in just one sphere and nothing in others it is a clear sign to balance your life and add more from other spheres. This way I made myself more committed to my family and photography as a hobby, when I saw my list was full of business and personal actions only.
CONTEXT
Grouping actions into batches really saves time and reduces multitasking. Contexts help to do that with ease. For example, for every phone call I have to make I put a tag "c-phone". When I'm in a car I just filter these tasks and talk through loudspeaker, calling several people in a row. It also reduces stress, when you cant get through and have to switch to other task meanwhile. When you have a list, you do calls one by one. Even if some contact is not available, you just get to the next and then in the end can return.
My context tags include "c-computer" for work and emails that I cannot do on my mobile device (for example, that requires editing large tables or use of some special software), "c-outdoors" for actions when I'm outside in the city.
I assign context tags when adding tasks to RTM.
LOCATIONS
Locations made my life really easier. When I plan to take something to my parents or take from them, discuss with partners in the office I use locations. If geo-tracking is switched on on you device (it is on by default), you will get push notifications about tasks nearby.
OBLIGATIONS
As I always forget to track when I give or get something, I faced several times with a problem of risk with my relationships with other people because of that. Now I use an extremely simple way to keep that. In a separate list I make records what I've received and what I've given.
John Appleseed > "Atlas Shruggled" book
Jack Smith < 30 USD
The arrow shows direction: from person means I need to get that, to person means I need to give.
In these two samples I need to take back my book from John and get 30 bucks to Jack.
You can also add notes or deadlines to these obligations which makes you an extremely organized and respected person. It is that simple.
SHOPPING LIST
RTM turned out to be very handy tool to manage shopping list. As my phone is always nearby, I always put an item into shopping list once I notice I really need to buy it next time in the supermarket. My girlfriend always amazed how I do remember all these small things. But I don't, I just put them into a list called "Store" and check it once I'm there. Sometimes I just add an item, sometimes I put the section before, for example "GROCERIES - Sugar" or "CHEMICALS - Cleaning agent for kitchen".
When I sort items by name I get hem listed in order of sections, so every section of store I visit just once and save plenty of time.
BACKLOG
This list called "Someday-Maybe" earlier, but I decided to rename it to be shorter. Here I put all actions that I probably will do, but not yet sure when and where. To be honest, I rarely check this list, but it just makes me feeling really good that for every idea that I have to postpone there is a special place and I can go there anytime for inspiration. Think of this list as of a "Like" button for your ideas and thoughts.
I highly recommend you NOT to prioritize this list and avoid setting due dates for actions inside of it.
Please note that your items should be actions, not a complicated goals with lots of subtasks. When you have a simple action to do, it is easier for you to start and easier to complete it. We all procrastinate when it is not clear what exactly to do with a given task. However when it is decomposed into simple actions we can easily execute all of them.
Hopefully you enjoyed the post and found at least one useful idea to make your life better and more organized. Feel free to share your own experience with me and make suggestions.
nico4000 says:
Hi, thanks for description.
It is interesting but lack screenshosts or linking to RTM terms/interface
For instance - didn't understand how you're managing OBLIGATIONS:
) is it list?
) or is it tagged task?
confused
It is interesting but lack screenshosts or linking to RTM terms/interface
For instance - didn't understand how you're managing OBLIGATIONS:
) is it list?
) or is it tagged task?
confused
brulilac says:
@nico4000
It's a list:
"In a separate list I make records what I've received and what I've given"
It's a list:
"In a separate list I make records what I've received and what I've given"
skonovalov says:
I manage obligations as a separate list. There are no special tags for this. The trick here is in the way you record the obligations. I use just "<" or ">" to indicate direction. Therefore my records are easy to read and understand. When record shows direction *to* a person, this is my obligation to person, when *from*, then it is person's obligation to me. Name of person goes first, then direction, then the subject.
For example:
Friend Name > Book — means my friend should return a book to me.
Some Person < Send something — means I should send something to the person.
Hopefully now it is clear.
As for screenshots, I've not found a way to add them to forum posts.
For example:
Friend Name > Book — means my friend should return a book to me.
Some Person < Send something — means I should send something to the person.
Hopefully now it is clear.
As for screenshots, I've not found a way to add them to forum posts.
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