Canyon R

This was originally written 4-28-2006:
I have recently reverted, taken a step back to an earlier time. You see, in my past I was an organizer. Not just that I carried an organizer but I was one. I organized things. I could be counted on tho make a dinner or a movie event with many people happen, I made lists, copied phone numbers and generally was organized all with paper. Things got done and I felt pretty good about it. I did carry an organizer, the smallest, slimmest one I could find that would take standard inserts (Compact Size). It had to fit into my pocket. If it didn’t I wouldn’t carry it around. I had addresses, to-do lists calendars and notes kept within it’s pages. Whenever a page would get too messy or full I would just rewrite all the important information onto a blank sheet.

This system served me well through college and up until I got my first “Tech Support” job. I was working as a bench tech at CompUSA and one of the other techs was trying to sell his palm pilot pro. This was in 1998 and I already had a newton message pad. But it had never really supplanted the organizer for all my planning needs. Now I had an opportunity to get a pilot. It even had the “upgrade card” to make it equal to a Palm III. I don’t remember how much he wanted for it but I knew it was a great deal. I also had to get an adapter to plug it into my Powerbook 3400. But once I had it up and running there was no looking back.

I completely digitized my organizer. Every scrap of paper, every phone number, every note went into the palm. I swore that I would carry it everywhere, and I did. I searched for a great belt holder and pen/stylus. I was going to be fully mobile. I’ve always considered myself a road warrior with nowhere to go. The palm accompanied me to the mall, camping, on job interviews, and even doing the laundry. You see my paper organizer was always with me and significantly larger so the palm was easy to justify and carry. I just never became as easy to use.

I upgraded to newer models and constantly searched out better programs and accessories. I read palm pilot news sites and discussed them on some of the first forums dedicated to palms. Yes I was a true believer and followed in the way of the palm. I ever wrote a short story almost entirely in graffiti. My whole life was in there and I could find no fault in it.

No fault, but always a nagging feeling. I was still looked upon as the organizer, but doing so seemed harder. I felt more pressured to look at my palm. I was always trying to justify using it more or buying another accessory. It had become an extra step in everything. I had to force myself to look at it to see what I had to do. I stopped writing in it as much.

Now I don’t mean to portray this as an overnight change. I have been using a Palm OS device for 8 years now. I have always found it useful but never inviting, functional but not empowering. I always felt I should be using it more than I was. The most productive I ever felt with it was when I found a program called MacNoteTaker the let me sync a folder of text files to it, edit them on the pilot and sync the changes back. This was true power and one of the few things I really miss when I went from a mac to a Linux box.

Now I find myself looking at my palm pilot, which is also my phone, only when I have to. Things have been lost in it’s to do lists and the notes are almost completely empty. Only the calendar and contact list are regularly used. I feel that after 8 years I could get a non-palm phone, provided it syncs my calendar and contact list on Linux, which none of them do, and be just as productive.

So now I’ve gone back to paper. I have found GTD and it’s working well so far (2 weeks in). I’m carrying a hipster PDA based on the templates from DIYPlanner.com and joined the 43 folders forums. But the real proof of my return to paper is this writing itself. It his being written on my first Moleskine, or at least the first draft is. I rarely write and yet I have spilled out 6 pages so far and I feel better about it than The entire short story I wrote on the palm (As I add “Finish Short Story” to my next action list).

I feel that in returning to paper organizing has become about the information again. I am worrying much less about what I am doing with that information and more about what I am doing. Hopefully this will help me make the most out of GTD and stop missing so many of the things I need to be doing. Plus if I start writing more then writing behind the keyboard should get easier.