Re: [NTLK] GTD and Omnifocus vs. Newton

This isn't to single out Omnifocus, because I really like their interfaces, and I appreciate and respect their efforts, but...

With the Newton, the To Do functionality built in is all I need. I really like how it orders your To Dos by priority, nothing else to it. The more "stuff" there is, the more "stuff" I have to consider, the more "stuff" I have to input and manipulate, the less I will want to do it. So with these feature rich GTD based programs, I don't find much utility in them because there is simply too much "stuff" to consider and too much to input.

The thing about it is, they almost become like accounting programs in comparison to simple spreadsheets, where there are many extraneous things that the user doesn't need, but they are present anyway: a simple spreadsheet solves the problem. What these GTD based software programs are trying to do is offer the user a more simple project management application that can be used to manage both small and large projects.

The way I see it is, when I have real projects, not something simple like washing a car, I will use a real project management application because I need that sophistication. But for day-to-day stuff, I would not want to confuse the two, which is what I think the whole GTD movement seems to be doing right now.

With the Newton, it takes me 5 minutes at night to stream my next days To Dos (5 minutes to COD - capture and organize... where the doing comes later), where I don't have to think about categories, contexts, etc. Additionally, the whole GTD based approach like some of the applications we are speaking of almost reduces life down to a powerpoint presentation, and people should not have to think in bullet points. Do you really need to sit down and create a project, along with actions and contexts in order to accomplish something as simple as cleaning your house? It is sort of ridiculous...

We have the ability to approach something like cleaning a house from a macro perspective, and know, logically, what we should start on first. We don't have to break everything up and move from one to the next, we just sort of know, like a stream of consciousness. Breaking things up is like a step back in evolution...

So these are the reasons why I am not jumping on the modern GTD train right now, and staying with the simple Newton that saved me this week more than once from forgetting about something.

Regards,

Ryan

----- Original Message ----
Fr

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Received on Sat Mar 14 17:38:22 2009