GTD & Symbian – A Match Not Made in Heaven
Symbian is the preferred operation system (OS) at Nokia, and used in most of it's E-Series and N-Series phones. It just happens that Symbian has a few restrictions that make running GTD, the popular time management system developed by David Allen, a small challenge. This has of course been extensively discussed and criticized by frustrated GTD followers, as Nokia with its 40% market share undoubtedly is a popular phone. However, in contrast to some forum posts, I actually think the challenges are small and can be easily overcome.
Nokia E71: A beautiful phone, but with it's Symbian OS it's not optimal for orthodox GTD.
Please always remember: successful time management is NOT about having the perfect tools and the most logical setup. It is about using your available tools in a right and optimal way, in order to get the maximum benefit. The solution is therefore simple: If you want to run GTD on a Symbian/Nokia phone, you just have to adapt. However, not too much: tweaking your system for hours and hours is a waste of time. The main GTD Symbian restrictions have to do with task management:
- You don't have the possibility to categorize tasks
- All tasks must be assigned a due date
There is no magic bullet add-on software that would solve these issues on a Nokia. I did the exercise, don't repeat my mistake. Do something useful instead.
Still, those really familiar with David Allen's Getting Things Done immediately understand mr. Allen himself probably doesn't use a Nokia for his mobile needs (he actually prefers a Palm).
Running GTD on a Nokia – The Setup
In my current work environment we are using Outlook with an Exchange server, and have Nokia phones. Let's recap the tools:
- Email & PIM: Microsoft Outlook with Exchange server
- Phone: A Nokia E71
- Mobile email, calendar and contacts synchronization: A third party software called SmartMail. The software works great, however it does not sync tasks, which was a problem.
- Task sync: Luckily the Nokia E71 ships with Mail for Exchange, so I asked our IT guys to configure it for syncing only the tasks (which is possible). I must have caught them on an good day, as they did it. It was half an hour and voilà, sync issue solved.
And now, this is how I run it: In my Outlook based time management solution, I have both daily tasks with due dates, usually within the next 2 week time space, and tasks that would not need to have due dates (lists, agendas, projects and someday/maybe items etc.).
For tasks with a due date I actually don't use categories, so the Symbian/Nokia works fine. Those are no problem even for the traditional Symbian Outlook setup.
For the task that would not need to have a due date, I just pick a random date on Outlook, about 6 months forward, and use the same date for the all such items. I am currently using the date 1.12. of this year (and now it is Summer). The date doesn't matter. I will most likely use that date until beginning of November. When beginning of November arrives, I will move all items 4-5 months forward. This, of course, is most easily done in Outlook itself. The probability I would get a "real" due dated task to the same date is non-existent, as I do not set due dated daily tasks much longer than maybe max 1 month . Secondly, if that would happen, it wouldn't matter. So what!
In my mobile phone I personally only care to look at two GTD categories: Agendas and Lists. Agendas are task items dedicated to key persons at my work, i.e. key colleagues, subordinates and of course my own boss. If something pops into my mind that I need to convey to them, I always write it in that task item's content field. Task title wise I name them like this:
- XAGENDA: Peter (category in Outlook: Agendas)
- XAGENDA: Mary (category in Outlook: Agendas)
- XAGENDA: … you get the idea
Lists on the other hand are task items where I collect "knowledge and wisdom". There I also keep lists I want to review from time to time, like annual goals. Regarding the lists, I have:
- XLIST: Restaurants (category in Outlook: Lists)
- XLIST: Wines (category in Outlook: Lists)
- XLIST: Work priorities 2009 (category in Outlook: Lists)
- etc
So, what's with the X? It is simple. When I open the default Symbian/Nokia task view, I first get all the daily tasks. And I get more of them when scrolling down, in their chronological order. But if I instead press the up arrow, I arrive straight to the X-items (alphabetic sorting). So they are easy to reach. All the projects and someday/maybe items fall in between. And in my system they are the biggest categories.
Regarding the X, you could use shorter prefixes like XAG (for XAGENDA) and XLI (as in XLIST) if you would want to, but I prefer those longer ones. I almost forgot to mention: I do not use the Outlook notes items at all. This firstly because there is no mobile way to sync those. Secondly, the notes part of Outlook is crap. Luckily task items work just as well. Now and therefore, as far as I care: issue solved. Now back to work, you too!
Summary
Symbian may not be an optimal tool for puritan mobile GTD. A Symbian phone is however completely ok as a mobile companion for your time management solution. You just have to adapt a little, e.g. according to the setup I describe above.
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