GTD Tip: Don't Save Bookmarks
At least not in the usual places, such as del.icio.us or in your favorite web browser. I thought about this when there was a recent thread on Lifehacker.com (I think) about where people keep their bookmarks. If your a GTD nut like me, you should know that simple is best. Have the fewest data capture devices, pare down your inboxes, and keep all reference material in one spot. Repeat: keep ALL reference material in one spot. What does that mean? That means your bookmarks shouldn't be separate from the rest of your system! If all your reference material is in a wiki, then why keep bookmarks apart?
Four months ago I decided to clean out my del.icio.us account completely, all 350 links worth. What I did was I integrated those links into my already standing reference system, which is just one HUGE OmniOutliner file. If I find links that are relevant to a project, why not just dump that link right into your OmniOutliner file or folder? Then on top of having your bookmarks either in reference, someday/maybe, or projects, you can also do what I do, and turn your Firefox bookmarks into a new inbox. For me it works. If I see something on the interweb I think is interesting, I bookmark it and go about my business. Every few days I open all the bookmarks into different tabs and go one by one trashing, moving to Omni, or doing immediately (like signing up for yet another networking site).
Anyway, that's my method, and I'm not sure why all other GTDer's aren't doing something similar.
Four months ago I decided to clean out my del.icio.us account completely, all 350 links worth. What I did was I integrated those links into my already standing reference system, which is just one HUGE OmniOutliner file. If I find links that are relevant to a project, why not just dump that link right into your OmniOutliner file or folder? Then on top of having your bookmarks either in reference, someday/maybe, or projects, you can also do what I do, and turn your Firefox bookmarks into a new inbox. For me it works. If I see something on the interweb I think is interesting, I bookmark it and go about my business. Every few days I open all the bookmarks into different tabs and go one by one trashing, moving to Omni, or doing immediately (like signing up for yet another networking site).
Anyway, that's my method, and I'm not sure why all other GTDer's aren't doing something similar.
Labels: GTD, organization, productivity
posted by elliott at 1:03 PM
1 Comments:
I totally agree.
When it comes to the mounds of official-looking paperwork one is confronted with daily in the Modern West, I know which things I can throw out without fear of consequence, and can just keep the things which I KNOW are important.
But on my computer, it's less easy. I can reduce the number of bookmarks and minimalise desktop clutter easily enough. But there are many cases, like when I update software or get a new printer, where I'm not sure what is safe to junk.
This is probably just the whingeing of a technophobe though...
On a different topic, I think you ought to look up the word 'pare' in the dictionary, and compare it with your sentence involving '...pair down your inboxes...'
But I'm so glad you've updated! Keep up the good work!
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