With the Palm as my primary reminder system, I've had hundreds of people ask about how I’ve structured my
lists to implement the Action to Outcome model in my seminars.
Because this may save a ton of time for people who have been through my seminars, I’m publishing this and
will attempt to keep it current as I fine-tune it. (This will also be of great value to people using any list-based system for reminders.)
So, OK, here’s the current (work-in-progress) version of my Palm set-up:
Calendar and Tel/Add - that’s pretty standard. (I do not use categories in Tel/Add, except for Restaurants, under which I have all the local restaurants. In case we’re out and about, and suddenly get the urge to eat somewhere
we havent for a while… Otherwise the "Find" feature on the Palm is rigorous and easy, and I just keep the
Tel/Address list on All all the time.)
To-Do Lists - this is where I’ve installed the key reminder-type operational lists that I review daily and weekly. Here is my current set of categories:
- Projects (active more-than-one-action projects) - (I have about 60)
- Someday/Maybe (projects I might want to do in the future) - (I have about 70)
(In the following categories I use the @ sign, to represent action lists)
- @Agendas (items to cover with specific people when I am with them in person or on the phone. Each person
is listed as a To-Do, and the things to go over with them are listed in the attached Notes field)
- @Anywhere (actions that can be done pretty much wherever I am)
- @Call (actions at phone)
- @Computer (actions at computer)
- @Computer - Web (actions that require me being on line. Because I travel so much, many times I’m not on line, so I like to distinguish those)
- @Errands (out-and-about things to do I can do while I’m traveling as well as at home)
- @Errands - Ojai (out-and-about actions that require me being around Ojai to do)
- @Home (actions that have to be done at home)
- @Office (actions that have to be done at my office)
- @Waiting For… (actions and projects other people are doing that I care about)
Memo Lists:
- Clients (list of all of them: current and past)
- DA Thoughts (possible essay topics for my Food for Thoughts on the Web)
- Dates (birthdays and anniversaries, which it automatically sorts chronologically, as they are listed
"02-05 - John Doe")
- Focus Areas (bigger checklists like larger goals, objectives, areas of focus)
- Ideas??? (crazy ad hoc ideas I want to save but don’t know what to do with)
- In development (relationships, potential partnerships and networking possibilities)
- Inspirations (personal affirmations and inspiring quotes)
- Key people (just that, a list I want to review to ensure I’m doing what I want with the relationships)
- Lists (Weekly Review, Travel Checklist, and more than a dozen ad hoc lists I want to keep for a while)
- Maybe Get (books, CDs, videos, misc.)
- Next time in… (lists of possible things to do by city, when I’m there next)
- Travel (I have separate docs for each city, and the restaurants, stores, and people to be reminded of there)
- Web articles (ideas, themes, and topics I intend to add to this Web site)
- Wine (Chardonnays, Chiantis, Pinot Noirs, etc. to archive for reference)