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Transferring action items from meeting notes to omnifocus Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
When do you do your capture of meeting notes, how much time does it take, and how much detail do you capture?

During meetings I generate a ton of action items (I keep trying to get my assistant to take on more of them but she's rather adept at finding more for me!). These are on paper or in a Word document.

When do you folks capture these and at what level of detail? I'm finding that after an hour long meeting it is taking me about ~20 mins to break everything down into next actions, put them in the appropriate projects, and capture everything I'm waiting for from my employees. Is this normal? It doesn't seem necessary to keep track of each task assigned my employees (not true for all of them, tho).

Biggest problem: this kind of time doesn't exist in my schedule and so it doesn't quite get done.

Regards,
Rutilate
 
Yep, that sounds about right to me. In my experience, transcribing meeting notes doesn't last nearly as long as the meeting but takes up a substantial amount of time; extra items are generated as I read through the notes and think about what was discussed again, which adds yet more time. My best experiences with this kind of stuff has been when I did that consistently during my weekly review and followed good GTD practice. I've been debating getting one of those fancy e-pens to avoid having to actually go through my physical inbox every time I need to transcribe notes, but I think that's more gadget envy than anything else.
Do you do weekly/daily reviews and if so how much time do you allot to each? This might be a place where you could fit in the transcription.
 
I've thought of getting an ipad to help ease the note taking/transfer process, but like you, I think that is more device envy than real timesaving effort.

When I do the daily review it seems far easier to keep up with these. Perhaps the real question is how to remain motivated to do the daily review when I work myself so long throughout the 12 hour days that I feel too exhausted at the end to do much more of anything than shut off the lights and go home.
 
Could your answer be as simple as starting the day out with the review?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Could your answer be as simple as starting the day out with the review?
That's the way that I had always done things before reading David Allen, who suggests that it should be done in the evening. His logic is sound in that I don't want to stay at work any longer than necessary and so don't keep doing just one more thing during an evening review, and it means that I can immediately dive in the next morning without distraction. Mornings are my most creative, productive best and I'd like to use them. Unfortunately, the current system isn't working as well.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutilate View Post
That's the way that I had always done things before reading David Allen, who suggests that it should be done in the evening. His logic is sound in that I don't want to stay at work any longer than necessary and so don't keep doing just one more thing during an evening review, and it means that I can immediately dive in the next morning without distraction. Mornings are my most creative, productive best and I'd like to use them. Unfortunately, the current system isn't working as well.
I think he would forgive you for doing it in the morning if it made your system run more smoothly. Set yourself an appointment first thing for 15 minutes, don't let yourself miss it or go over. An abbreviated review is better than one you skip. Take advantage of OmniFocus' ability to have different projects on different review cycles.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Set yourself an appointment first thing for 15 minutes, don't let yourself miss it or go over.
15 mins? Does this include processing email? My reviews typically take nearly an hour, and email is a big chunk of that with well over 100 emails/day.

Based on an earlier thread, this is what my review looks like:
- [ ] Process Email
- [ ] Empty In Folder
- [ ] Empty In Box
- [ ] Review Today's Calendar
- [ ] Empty OmniFocus Inbox
- [ ] Review active projects
- [ ] Step through Active Projects due for review today
- [ ] Any projects to put On Hold or move to someday/maybe? (Be
draconian)
- [ ] Any projects that are stuck?
- [ ] Planning/clarity needed?
- [ ] True next action identified?
- [ ] Attach purpose, "success looks like", etc.



Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
Take advantage of OmniFocus' ability to have different projects on different review cycles.
A lightbulb is starting to flicker on. This is a new concept for me. What types of projects need to be on different review cycles? How/where can I learn more about this?

Thanks!
 
15 minutes is just a number that might give you enough time to get eyeballs on the most pressing projects without taking up too much of that prime creative time. If it isn't a huge block of time, maybe the same "I don't want to/can't spend any more time on this than absolutely necessary" pressure you feel at the end of a long day will make you more efficient? Do the most important parts first so you have a clear vision for the day, and adjust the length if you find you need more or less. My morning review is mostly checking to see what is due today, what is starting today, what is still on my flagged list, which approximates important work in progress, and a look at the calendar to see what blocks of time I have available. Actual reviewing of projects I tend to do in the evening, and when I have small bits of time.

Search the forums for "prime number review" and you should turn up some stuff by Curt Clifton and some elaboration by me on the variable review cycle idea. DA is assuming you are working on paper, but with a computer to help, it becomes more practical to review different projects at different intervals. You can spread the work out so you only rarely have to review everything at once (your big picture reviews).
 
I use an iPad for meeting notes. I have been looking for a good way to do this, and here's where I am now:

If the meeting will work for typing, I just use the Apple Notes app that came with it, and a Bluetooth keyboard, and here's why: IT SYNCS!!

I make hierarchical notes using tabs and dashes. I then cut and paste this into OF, and get a set of actions. That's right! Each line becomes an action.

If the note requires handwriting, I use Note Taker HD (http://appshopper.com/productivity/note-taker-hd) with the new Griffin stylus (http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/stylus). This is now available from pretty much everywhere except the Apple store.

Feature Note: Note Taker HD has facility in it to transcribe hand written notes. That is, from the hand written page, you can open a side window that accepts typing. Hook up a Bluetooth keyboard, and you're off. Then we can cut and past into OF.

So… The actual CAPTURE part of moving stuff from iPad notes to OF can be as quick as cut-n-paste.

Last edited by CareyB; 2010-10-27 at 04:51 AM..
 
 


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