End of the PDA for Time Management?

In a recent edition of my local newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, there was an article on how many people are ditching their PDAs as their time management tools. The replacement? Paper. Apparently it’s hip to be using paper-based planning systems again. The article cites the “single source” for this trend is “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. So, does this mean the end of PDAs for time management?

Over the past 18 years I’ve look at a variety of time management systems. I’ve attended several Franklin Covey seminars and have successfully used their paper-based system throughout the years. Paper-based planning systems do work. But are they better than PDAs? That is like asking which is better – Mac or PC, Coke or Pepsi, Football or Baseball… It’s a personal thing. Doug Johnson, creator of the web-site DIYPlanner.com said this, "We think everything will become right if we just get the right piece of gear. A lot of people who are trying to become productive eventually have an epiphany -- 'I just spent eight days trying to figure out how to save 15 minutes.' "

I must admit I can relate to this. No one planning system seems to “last” for me. I’m a techie and like new gadgets, so I’m always tempted to try the latest and greatest “toy” to see if it’s better than my last system. I’m sure the ultimate planner is just a download away. I’ve created my own systems (going back to the HP 100LX palmtop days) and have purchased several others. Most systems work great if you are committed to using them. My blogger buddy Bruce Keener has a great site that offers a lot of advice – Using PDAs to Help Manage Your Time.

Some of the software tools I’ve used over the years:

ListPro. This is a great program to manage lists of just about any type of information. For those people who use David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” (GTD) there is an article about using ListPro for GTD: You got “Getting Things Done” in my ListPro! For me ListPro is great for storing reference information and creating quick check lists, but I’ve never used it successfully as a standalone planner.

Pocket Mindmap. Mind Mapping is a powerful way to brainstorm and organize your thoughts. I’ve used Mindjet’s MindManager for many years but their mobile offering was quite weak. Gyronix makes an add-on for MindManager that implements GTD called ResultManager. This is great for the PC but what about the Pocket PC? Pocket Mindmap does allow you to open MindManager files directly on your Pocket PC, so you can edit and sync the mind map files back to the PC. This is a very good system as long as you are at your PC enough as you need to do your primary planning there. For me it was too hard to maintain for a significant length of time.

Pocket Informant. This one of the best best time management tools I’ve used on the Pocket PC. It’s very flexible and easy to customize it to your own liking. The current version supports the FranklinCovey method for task management and planning directly in the app. It also syncs with the PlanPlus add-in for Microsoft Outlook. On Bruce Keener’s site he shows examples of using Pocket Informant, including how to implement GTD.

All of the above tools could be used effectively as time management systems. While I love mobile devices and have been using them for many years, there are some drawbacks to PDAs when used as a time management system:

• Requires power. Sounds like a very obvious statement, but at some point you are going to need a source of power to charge your device. While some devices have great battery life, if you forget or are unable to charge your device you’re out of luck. While the Windows Mobile 5 operating system (OS) retains your data if the battery dies, with earlier versions of the Pocket PC OS you would lose your data.
• Getting to information quickly. While there are many add-ons which can help here - one of my favorites being Spb Diary which displays your information on your Today screen. While this helps, it still takes time trying to go through your different lists (tasks, projects etc.).
• Inputting information quickly. Our brains are amazing things. We can be sitting there eating dinner or watching TV when out of nowhere we suddenly think of something we need to do on a project at work, or something that needs to be done around the house. While there are people with great (or greatly trained) memories, for many of us short term memory is just that – short term. We need to capture that information quickly before it is gone. I’ve used products like PhatPad which lets me quickly scribble information, but unless I leave this app up all the time on my PDA it takes time to load (especially if my device is locked). If you do this you need a good strategy for organizing all these loose bits of information. What typically happens with me is I’ll grab the PDA and it’s either locked or there’s some message displayed (new email etc.) and by the time I get to PhatPad to capture the information it’s already taken ride on the Short Term Memory Express and is gone.
• Disconnected information. While many apps can capture things like shopping lists, when you want to actually use these lists you have to carry the Pocket PC with you. I’ll waste more time trying to scroll through a shopping list (or worse try to re-organize and capture more information like price and quantity) and spend more time in the store than need be. I also can’t just toss my Pocket PC on the kid seat in the shopping cart while I do my shopping. I’m constantly putting it back in my pocket or carrying case and pulling it out again for the next item. Being able to “disconnect” this information and carry it with me is not possible unless I print it out first.

What’s my solution? I'll discuss that in my next blog posting.