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Not sure if this is correct placing of this open question, but I thought at least here most people are very well-schooled in GTD and 'life organisation' in general.

I do currently have a license for OmniFocus, which I love for the simple things it does well. However, I'm looking for a personal organisation solution which is a bit more complex; I'd like to be able to link my tasks to allotted blocks of time in my calendar when I'm otherwise 'free' AND to sync this information, as well as my task list and general schedule (and ideally e-mail etc) between my Mac and my Windows Laptop (and, ideally, my iPod Touch or Nokia phone as a mobile device...!!). I'm trying Pagico, which is meant to be a 'comprehensive database' but it doesn't yet sync well between computers, and doesn't go any more 'specific' in terms of time planning than one day (i.e. I can't assign this week's Maths, which is due on Tuesday, to be done on Monday evening or Tuesday morning before my lesson (easily)).

Any thoughts/comments/suggestions !?
 
My thought is that this approach would collapse like a row of dominoes after the first emergency occurred that kept you from working on a task in the block of time you assigned. You'd either have to move everything forward or shuffle around your blocks of time. It's contrary to the spirit of GTD to put anything on your calendar that doesn't have to be done at a specific time or on a specific date, for the very reason I mention: you don't want to have to constantly move tasks from one date to the next if you fail to do them when you plan to do them.
 
I've read posts now on a desire for prioritization and a this desire to have OF connect tasks to blocks of time in your calendar, across to your iPhone/PDA and throughout one's life, I suppose. What happened to the WEEKLY REVIEW. Remember DA's admonition that no organization can do all your thinking for you. I think he said something like, "You can't push a button at 9:43 AM and have your organizer tell you 'Call Fred'." When it comes right down to it, deciding what to do at any particular moment is an intuitive judgment based on circumstances at that time. No personal management system can nor should try to take all factors into account. This is what the weekly review is for, to keep yourself refreshed week-to-week in the landscape of one's life. So, knowing the priority of something derives out of that complexity, not some number/letter assignment in OF. And knowing to do your Math assignment on Monday evening or Tuesday morning derives more from a weekly review in which you see that you have that the assignment due Tuesday than from any feature automatically blocking out 7-9 pm on Monday evening for you. Now, according to strict GTD, you could put a note on your calendar to do the Math assignment on Monday, but that would mean (again, according to strict GTD) that it had a fairly high priority and HAD to be done that day. It is my opinion, and only my OPINION, that GTD as DA defines it handles nearly every situation perfectly well as it is, if you truly do GTD throughout your system. Hybridizing one's system is usually not necessary if one is truly following GTD methodology.
 
@joneslthour - Bravo!
 
lukebacon,

I agree with the other posters. For the Maths example, I would put it on the calendar for Tuesday morning. I would also set a due date in OmniFocus.

If you set aside certain blocks of time (e.g. Homework, free time, work), which is actually what I do, then organize your Omnifocus folders according to those categories. Make a "Homework" folder, a work folder, etc., and put your projects only into their relevant folders. They key is to not make your life TOO complex, or you won't maintain it... use the MINIMUM number of top-level folders you can away with. Then when your homework block starts, use Omnifocus to focus on the Homework folder, then switch to Context Mode, and you'll see all your next actions for the projects you're supposed to be working on during that particular block of time.

To restate what the others already said, if you try to make a structure that is complex enough to tell you what you need to do at any given moment, it will be too complex to maintain. It's better to train your mind to be "in the moment" and learn to judge which tasks need to be done at that moment, using simple tools like an organized list (Omnifocus) and a calendar. If you have a very structured life and like to dedicate consistent blocks of time to particular areas of your life, then the best way I've found to do that is to organize it into big folders like I said. If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them.
 
 


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