The need for a 'trusted system'

One of the core concepts of GTD is the need for a 'trusted system' -- somewhere to store reminders of all of the stuff you need to do in such a way that you are sure you will see the reminders at the right time. This boils down to being able to manage lists, and there are a lot of ways to do that although some fit the GTD method better than others.

The need for a trusted system can sometimes be a bit of a barrier to entry for those new to GTD because they imagine that something that can do so much must necessarily be expensive. Fortunately this is not the case, it is possible to make a fantastic organiser by spending about £7 in an office supply shop. I am referring to the system based around a stack of 3"x5" record cards held together with a binder clip and accessorised with some tabs and dividers. This was dubbed the 'Hipster PDA' by Marvin Mann of 43folders.com.

The hipster PDA in it's most basic form is not that powerful, but with a few simple additions it's better than systems costing many times as much.

Below is a picture of how I set up a hipster PDA derivative for my mother --

After having tried using it for a while I was seriously impressed. It's not quite as awesome as the combination of OmniFocus and the iPhone that I usually use, but it was seriously close; what it gave up in high tech functionality it gained in the sheer joy of pen on paper -- and for a tiny fraction of the cost that is very impressive. 

Design :

This is an 'upgrade' from the basic hipster PDA with the following features :

• Inbox -- front of stack, as usual
• Master project list -- back of stack
• Contexts -- dividers within the stack
• Store of blank cards -- section of stack

Ok, so it's a pretty short list, but that's all it takes to take something that was originally conceived as a capture tool to compliment a 43 folders style desktop GTD system, and turn it into a fully fledged system in it's own right.

The front is the inbox, as usual; the back is a master project list; in between the two are project cards sorted by the context of their next action and a stash of blank cards.

Workflow :

It took me a while to figure out how to make a paper GTD system that I'd be happy to use. I'm probably re-inventing the wheel here but here goes.

Inbox : As you think of stuff you write it on the front of the stack in the inbox.

Single actions : Some of the stuff from your inbox will be single actions that are not part of a project. The front card in each context is a list of miscellaneous single actions for that context. Copy the single actions out of your inbox and onto the relevant single action list and cross it out in the inbox.

Creating a project : Many inbox items trigger projects. To create a project flip your pile of cards over and add the title of the project to your master project list, then take a new blank card, write the title of the project across the top of the card, add at least one next action prefixed by it's context. You may wish to include the date you completed the action, any info needed to do the action such as phone numbers, and due dates for some types of action.

Example project card :

Take cat to vet <- This card is currently filed in the 'waiting' context

PHONE vet to make appointment -- 01223 123456 25/12/2009

WAIT for vet to confirm appointment -- due 1/1/2010

HOME find cat carrier

HOME catch cat and put in carrier

Completing a project : Cross it off the master project list, add the date you completed it if you like. Take the project card and either file it or throw it away.

Construction :

The basic hipster PDA could hardly be easier : go to an office supply store, buy some blank 3"x5" record cards and some 6mm foldback / binder clips. Clip about 20 cards together as shown.

You'll need a pen. While a 10p biro will do the job just fine the Fisher 'Space Pen' is very nice at about £20

The cunning bit is making really, really tiny tabs for the dividers that are still legible. I used my label printer to print onto 12mm label tape. I set it to print two lines of text, but I left the second line blank. This produces a label that can be stuck to the edge of a record card and then folded back on itself to make a small but surprisingly durable tabs.

You probably don't have a label printer, but I'm sure you can come up with something, at a pinch a piece of paper sandwiched between two pieces of tape could work.

The 'Now!' tab along the top was just a blank card with the top edge trimmed to shape.

Potential Modifications :

A great many people have put time into developing this format of personal organiser, some to the point of specially modifying printers to accept record cards and then designing whole suites of custom printed cards. I personally don't think that you really need anything beyond a calendar, and even that could be hand drawn pretty easily but if you want to geek out your stack then you might be interested in some of the links on Marvin Mann's page about the hipster PDA under the section marked 'The Hipster PDA Elsewhere'