As I stated previously, it’s a little hard to figure out how to leverage the available information- and task-management tools most effectively to actually help me get things done.

I’ve decided to focus on Remember the Milk for now, because it has several killer features:

• Integration with Google Calendar (see) and the Google Personalized Start Page (see)
• SMS reminders
• Super-fast Ajax - it’s even faster than Outlook in some cases
• Color-coded prioritization for each task
• Tons of keyboard shortcuts
• Tagging
• It’s not blocked by my employer’s internet filter

I’ve used RTM for a while now, but have been limited in my effectiveness by several problems:

• Not differentiating “someday” tasks from “do this right now or you will die” tasks, and cluttering up my lists with the former
• Not following my self-imposed due dates for the “important but not urgent” tasks
• Not clearing out my “due today” tasks daily (which is inexcusable, because RTM has a very easy-to-use postpone feature)

Enter the Getting Things Done framework, by David Allen. I won’t describe GTD in detail here, as others have done a better job than I could. I will, however, share some ideas for using RTM with the GTD framework.

GTDwRTM Tip #1: Context Tagging

RTM supports tags, and GTD suggests specifying a context for each action that you have to take. For example, some actions have to be done at home (e.g. taking out the trash). When you’re at home, pull up the @home tag, and you’ll see all the things you need to do there.

To tag an item, check it (or check multiple items to tag them all), then hit “s” on the keyboard. Type the tag, and hit enter twice. Hit escape to un-check the todo item, and you’re done.

Use @contextname to distinguish context tags from other types of tags. Making your context tags begin with @ will not only distinguish them from other tasks; it will also put them at the top of your tag cloud (which is as David Allen intended).

I also set up an @read context tag for things I have to read (I figured that would be better than @bathroom, which would be the more literally application of the context-tagging principle).

Another example: canceling a domain name requires me to send a fax to my registrar. Sending a fax is a pain, but I have to do it. If I don’t acknowledge this context, I’m likely to perpetually postpone this task because the context is inconvenient and unpleasant to think about. Tagging a particular domain cancellation to-do with @fax is one step in the right direction. “Fax” is not a literal context, but it’s a sphere in which work is done, so it functions for me as a context.

GTDwRTM Tip #2: Timeframe Tagging

As I mentioned, my to-do lists tend to get cluttered with things that I’m not going to do in the near future. Each item must belong to a particular list, but you can also give it as many tags as you want. If you find a list getting too many “someday” items in it, tag them as such, and assign a due date or status to the others.

Some useful timeframe tags:

• next - things you need to do immediately to move forward with a project. When working, you should always start with next-tagged items - this will save you from scanning through your lists dozens of times a day and mentally re-prioritizing. Just click the “next” tag and do the first thing on the list.
• wait - an item that requires someone else to get back to you before you can proceed
• someday - an item that you might want to do some day, but not right now
• ibnu - Important But Not Urgent - for things that you really need to do, but aren’t pressing. It’s important to review this tag frequently and assign due dates to (or just do) each item.

GTDwRTM Tip #3: Project Tagging

In the GTD system, anything with more than one step is considered a project. While each list in RTM could be considered a project, it’s more likely that you’ll use lists to separate your areas of responsibility, for example, home, work, and school (but don’t confuse these with contexts, which are the place you actually do the work - you could do homework, which would be on your school list, at home, so it’d be tagged @home).

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If you’re not using lists to define projects, you can tag things as projects, such as p-termpaper or p-fallseminar. Other GTD systems such as GTDGmail use p: to tag a project, but RTM doesn’t accept the : character in tags, so use - or something similar.

GTDwRTM Tip #4: The GTD Disciplines

It’s important to clear out your inbox (and your brain) every day, so I’d recommend making RTM one of your home pages if you plan to use it in this way. If you’re a religious RSS user, you may find it useful to subscribe to your RTM Atom feed, so you see your lists each day.

GTDwRTM Tip #0: The Two-Minute Rule

There’s one thing I didn’t mention yet, but you should keep this rule in mind when using RTM or GTD: if it takes less than two minutes to do, don’t even bother entering it into RTM. Just do it. You’ll save yourself from thinking about it more than once, and you’ll have more time later to do the bigger stuff.

Leave your tips in the comments.

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