Day 1: Getting Things Done (For Real) – Tracks – Avenue Q
November 1st, 2007 | Published in Personal MBA | 2 Comments
Getting Things Done (For Real)
Chances are you’ve probably read David Allen’s Getting Things Done - The Art of Stress Free Productivity. I recently re-read GTD again as part of The Personal MBA Program. I think it’s an amazing system - but what I love most about GTD is the idea of getting everything that is blocking your creativity - out of your head - and into a trusted system. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to determine what that system should be for me. With my Clients at Peanut Butter Media I use BaseCamp and it’s great - but at the end of the day - as great as it is - it’s not the perfect “trusted system”. Enter Tracks.
Tracks
Tracks is a web-based application built in Ruby on Rails to help implement the GTD methodology. If you’re looking for the perfect online companion to GTD I couldn’t recommend anything more. The only real draw back to using Tracks is that it’s fairly complicated to install. I like to install it locally on my laptop so that I can use it with or without an internet connection - since my laptop usually goes with me everywhere. Here’s a screenshot of what the Tracks interface looks like:
As you can see from the Screenshots left - Tracks puts everything on your Next Action list into a specific context. This makes it really easy to focus on doing the Right Things at the Right Time.
Avenue Q
What did you do for Halloween this year? I went to see Avenue Q at the Hobby Center in Houston. All I can say is WOW! Of course the production was far racier than I ever would have imagined - but it was also perfectly timed. Robert Mcclure (pictured left) did a fabulous job playing multiple roles including one of the main characters Princeton - and Rod. Throughout the entire performance I was dying to meet him - he had an amazing energy. So - imagine my surprise when on exiting the theatre - I ran right into him and got to chat with him briefly (and shake his hand). It’s amazing how the universe will put you exactly where you would like to be.
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Erica O'Grady is a New Media and Loyalty Marketing Specialist based in Houston Texas. Her turn ons are: Community Building, Design, BarCamp, and Twitter. Her turn offs are: Trolls, Spammers, and Folks who "Just Don't Get It". 
November 6th, 2007 at 7:44 am (#)
Have you tried Wrike http://www.wrike.com for GTD? I never thought that I would be able to find a proper GTD application but I did. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to review your “next actions” and “waiting for” lists. This post on GTD implementation might give you a better idea http://www.wrike.com/blog/9/4/2007/Getting_things_done_with_Wrike_saves_us_hours.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:35 pm (#)
@Barry - actually I’ve looked at Wrike in the past - but it was overly complicated for me. I know that probably sounds strange to you - but after using a system like Basecamp - most other PM systems look extremely complicated. I don’t actually think about my tasks that way - plus it’s just me - so I’m not trying to coordinate with an entire team of people - and when I am - I use Basecamp ;o)