Recently, I started digging into GTD as a way to get a handle on my busy schedule. GTD or Getting Things Done “is an action management method, and the title of a book by David Allen.” Today Kelly Forrister from Allen’s site posted a way to use Gmail as a workflow tool. After having tried this out I couldn’t agree more. This is a very cool set up for Gmail users.
Using our method, think of a Gmail Label as a To Do list heading and an email as To Do list item. In GTD terms, these labels will organize your context-based Action lists which hold your “next actions.†By assigning a Label when processing your incoming emails, or using filters on new emails that you send to yourself, you will be putting something on a list.
You will need to setup Labels, Contacts and Filters in a very specific way. This setup will take about 20 minutes. It’s worth it to setup the structure all at once, for at least your Action lists (not necessarily every item at this point) so you’ve got the framework in place.
Give it a whirl.
[tags]GTD, Getting Things Done, Gmail, Workflow, Time Management, David Allen[/tags]