[geofffitch]

Most GTD apps including OF seem to handle the inbox in a way that doesn’t really capture the philosophy of GTD. In particular, implementing it as simple list invites the error that GTD tries to avert – falling into making your inbox your to-do list. David Allen makes a point, write down everything on a single piece of paper and throw it in a pile (a pile, not a list). This is even represented in the OF icon – the stack of 3x5 cards, rather than a check list, but it’s not represented in the implementation of the app.

I find this true of most if not all GTD apps – the better representation of the inbox would be a pile of stuff, where you could only see the top and you could only remove the top item. Sure, you could sift through it somehow, but the bigger it gets the harder it gets. Counter intuitive? Why would Allen recommends a pile of stuff and not a list, which would be much easier to scan and manage – because it implements an essential rule – one item at a time, never put it back once you take it out. It forces you to do the planning and not revert to the usual mess of random stuff we collect as an org system.

Secondarily, it would make sense not to place this in the same area as the projects, as if the inbox was just another (albeit less well organized) project. I want to throw stuff in my inbox, not see it until planning, then be able to see it separately from my project list, perhaps even in a separate window.

This philosophical error seems also evident in the idea of the Cleanup function and also the option to specify a context and project in the Quick Entry window. It really blurs the line between Collecting and Organizing. I am going to avoid the Quick Entry window in favor of Quicksilver for this reason. Seeing those fields automatically makes me think – what is the item? What should I do with it? What project? What context? Etc. The whole point is – throw it in the in basket and move on.

Geoff