I’ve developed a notation for capturing Next Actions. Projects and Someday/Maybes in an analog/digital GTD implementation. I call this notation nano: Next Action NOtation. In nano the trusted system is primarily analog, relying on a digital implementation to support notification such as ticklers and alarms for scheduled items on the Hard Landscape.

There are many well documented analog notations that are in the public domain. Matthew Cornell, in an article written for www.diyplanner.com entitled “Four Planner Hacks for Paper-Based Productivity” has outlined one. In a previous article on speakhead.com I offered “13
powerful precepts for an analog GTD notation.” These were based on an iterative development of nano.

Well, it has been about two months since I started my Analog Deep Dive experiment, and so I have accumulated a fair amount of mileage with an analog GTD implementation to begin to comment about my personal experiences.

An ideal analog notation for managing GTD lists ought to embody the following design precepts:

1. Succinct Notation

A notation should be succinct enough that it not command a premium on the real-estate of your planning system.

2. Ease of entry into trusted system

A notation should enable the user to quickly jot down the pertinent details of an item and come back later to annotate the entry.

3. State Transition Model

A notation should have a supporting state transition model with visual cues.

4. Upstream and Downstream traceability

I’m slowly weaning myself off Outlook as I develop a GTD trusted system in the Analog domain. The Levenger Circa system investment is really paying off: I purchased a set of dividers and when they arrived I installed them in my folio. These are heavy duty plastic dividers that have a solid heft to them. Five to a pack. If you are using small Levenger or Rollabind rings you will find that the thickness of the dividers does take up some of the space you’d normally use for paper. I also bought a few lined Levenger notepads. These have a margin on the left hand side. I’m developing a notation to clearly identify the state of an item on my lists using that margin. It is in the early prototyping stage. When it is ready for primetime I’ll share it with the loyal readers of speakhead.com.

So I started the Analog Deep Dive experiment using @Home, @Calls, @Waiting For and @Errand contexts. I’ve been reading up on a number of interesting, pure analog implementations to develop a feel for what kind of information I’m going to need so that I can design my page layout to manage each of the context lists. I felt really energized when I put pen to paper to perform a MindSweep of my personal open loops. Got a few Projects and a large number of Next Actions jotted down in no particular order. At first, it felt that the act of putting ink to paper was limiting, confining, less flexible: much harder to tweak, align and order items. But then as I thought more about it, there is a fair amount of wasted effort doing these manipulations digitally - I’ve never been satisfied with any digital list, subconsciously maybe I feel I’m making progress on an NA by bit twiddling. Furthermore, the act of writing encourages an internal dialog before committing pen to paper. Typing on a keyboard is akin to thinking out aloud. You tend to see what is on the screen and then word smith (continuously ) until it sounds right. Once I overcame my hangups around having the list “just so”, I began to focus my energies and attention on the more important parts of deciding outcomes and placing the time-sensitive or date-sensitive NAs on the hard landscape. Completion of a Next Action in the analog domain is more satisfying to me: a checkbox indicates completion and it is there right in front of me as a badge of accomplishment. Juxtapose this with the default behavior of Outlook which transfers the NA into the digital bit bucket in the sky.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be moving my trusted system to a Levenger Circa host: a letter sized Circa Notebook with tab dividers protected by a Circa Leather Jacket and supplemented with a Circa Slideout. Primary writing instrument is a Lamy Vista with a Fine nib and Levenger Cobalt Blue ink. I’ve also got the Waterman Phileas Fine nib. I want to explore an analog GTD implementation this Summer to see how it stacks up to other implementations that I have tried.

I’ve been using this following analog/digital, lofi/hifi combination as my GTD setup:

• Outlook for email, next actions and the hard landscape
• Freemind to capture Projects and Someday/Maybes as well as to do some brainstorming
• File folders for analog information
• DIY Levenger Circa / Rollabind notebook for must-have hardcopies
• Cornell Notes template from D*I*Y Planner that are filed in the notebook using the Circa punch
• 3×5 cards using the D*I*Y Planner templates that are filed in the notebook using the Circa punch

And now for the latest entry… EverNote Plus.

Here is a prototype 3×5 Note with Rollabind bindings. I used the 3×5 grid template from D*I*Y Planner which is 4-up, and then used a paper cutter to produce each note card (you can see I need to improve my technique!). Finally, the note card was punched with a Rollabind punch. I’m using the travel punch, and I needed to align each card at the top. If you are using the travel punch with stiff cardpaper, you are limited to using one card at a time. I might spring for the desk punch if the volume and frequency of binding punches warrants the price. I use these cards to jot down notes relevant to a specific topic or event. These will typically get processed for Next Actions or filed in an 8.5×11 Rollabind notebook.

This week I had the opportunity to complete a lofi GTD Weekly Review in the analog domain. I’ve never thought of the terms “LoFi” and “Analog” as perjoratives - I have great respect for people who invent and use these techniques and technologies. Anyway, my new laptop had a defective power supply that took out the mainboard, battery and a bit of my hard disk so I’ve been without a computer for a couple of days. Everything important could be retrieved from servers and backups, and I had my recently synced my PocketPC PDA to guide me through the day. If you’ve been following my personal journey with GTD you’d already know that I use FreeMind to capture my Projects and Someday/Maybes. I had a hardcopy available, so that was not an issue either.

Recently, I had the opportunity to thank a group of people. I decided to do it the old-fashioned way: I purchased a box of thank you cards. Each of the twelve notes were handwritten with my trusty fountain pen with a personalized message, and each note was hand delivered to the recipient with reinforcing verbal appreciation.

I can’t tell you how much better it felt to do it this way. Sure, it took a little longer and cost a little more than sending an impersonal email but it was well worth it. Many recipients were quite surprised to receive a handwritten note, and a few said that it made their day! When I read John Jantsch’s perspective on the power of hand-written notes, via Brad Isaac’s Achieve-IT! blog I made a commitment to myself to do this more often.