The project list in Nozbe can get a bit long for some of us, especially in Nozbe 2.0.  I’m waiting for them to compress the size of it a little bit more.  In the meantime, this will help.  I often have to scroll down pretty far to find a specific project.  When I click on it, the project data would load in the center panel, but then I’d have to scroll all the way back up to the top to see it.  Now, when you choose a project on the left, the view automatically scrolls back up to the top.  Like I said, it’s a very small change, but very useful.

If you’re still confused about what I mean, check out the video below or read the full post on the Nozbe blog.

Post from: GTD Help

The little things count too; Nozbe adds automatic scrolling when switching projects

The result? I have no need for an administrative person of any kind.  By keeping my email inbox at zero and my task list up to date, I can easily find the information I need and get to work.  Having another person in the mix would only serve to complicate things.

I’m sure there are many jobs that require an assistant of some kind.  Anyone that deals with a large volume of incoming calls and meetings would do well to have someone sift that information for them and keep their schedule up to date.  However, I’m finding that simply dealing with email and tasks is best managed by myself.

It’s hard to calculate the exact savings, but let’s go with this: $10/hour, 20 hours/week = $200/week or about $800/month. That’s some nice savings!  Factor in the small costs to get GTD in place (buy the book, get a filing cabinet, perhaps pay a little bit for some software), and you’re still saving a ton of money.  Not bad.

Post from: GTD Help

A real cost saver due to GTD — fewer administrative needs

• Staff
  • Bill
  • Jane
  • Steve
• Website
  • GoDaddy
  • Hosting
  • Problems
• Programs
  • Adults
  • Children
  • Mission
• …

And on, and on, and on.  Probably about 150 folders in all.  I was very proud of myself.

The problem was trying to keep myself at inbox zero.  Gmail makes it easy with their “archive” feature (and with cool things like “Send & Archive” in the labs section), but Outlook doesn’t do that.  Instead of quickly archiving an e-mail and moving on, I had to think about where it goes.  Does the one from Steve about the Missions part of the website go in “Steve”, “website” or “missions”?  I’d probably spend 10-15 seconds deciding where to file an e-mail, then drilling down to file it.  I get maybe 25 emails/day on this account, so that’s 25 emails x 15 seconds/each x 260 workdays in a year = 27 hours/year I spend just filing e-mails.  Brutal!

If you handle your inbox properly, you don’t need to fish for past e-mails very often — you just deal with them and move on.  I have Xobni installed, which makes the search process much faster when I need it, so that solves the search issue.

My solution? Treat it like gmail.  I now have a single folder called “archive” under my inbox.  When I’m done with an e-mail, I “archive” it.  Much faster and much easier.

How do you handle your folders in Outlook?

Post from: GTD Help

Get rid of your email folders

As always, Scoble has documented his time with Michael Dolan (a David Allen Co. coach) via video.  Here is a glimpse of what they did:

Scoble is running everything through Outlook, which is a popular way to manage GTD.  If he posts more videos on how he’s getting things running again, I’ll be sure to post them here.

Post from: GTD Help

Scoble is learning how to Get Things Done

In trying to keep my inbox at zero, archive is gold. As a general rule, whenever I send an e-mail to someone and require action back on it, I archive it.  When they reply, it’ll pull the entire conversation back into the inbox.  Perfect!

Now Google has saved me a step.  My old method of sending and archiving was:

• Send the e-mail.
• I’m returned to the inbox.
• Select that conversation.
• Archive it.
• Move on to the next one.

Thanks to Google Labs (go to [Settings] –> [Labs] in Gmail), you can enable a button called “Send & Archive”.

Now my method looks like this:

• “Send & Archive” the e-mail.
• I’m returned to the inbox.
• Move on to the next one.

It’s just a small thing, but those small things add up.  I send maybe 50 e-mails per day.  Suppose this new button saves me 5 seconds each.  That’s about 4 minutes per day, or nearly 24 hours per year.  I can save an entire day just because of this little button.

I’m a big believer in streamlining my most frequent tasks to shave precious seconds that can add up.

What tips do you have to help people shave off a little more time?

Post from: GTD Help

The little things can add up: Gmails “Send & Archive” is great!