I have adapted my computer to reflect what I have learnt from the GTD system:
1. My Desktop
I have created an interesting computer desktop layout that helps me get organised with files and stuff that I have downloaded, articles I need to print (I create short cuts and place them on the desktop in the print section and then just bang them off when I am near a computer), files to transfer to my desktop, presentations to run, files for projects that I am working on, articles to update as new blog posts are posted, stuff to watch or listen to, etc. I have uploaded two screen grabs as examples: Older and Newer.
2. My Filing System
My main data is stored in My Documents – where I have GTD related folders such as:
A. Action (for items that require a next action from my part)
B. Listen (for audio files that I need to listen to)
C. Watch (for video files that I need to watch)
D. Projects (each project I am working on has it’s own folder)
E. Read (for documents I need to read before filing)
F. Share (for items I need to pass on to people)
G. Transfer (for items I need to transfer to another PC)
H. Update (for items that I am continuously updating and don’t want to hunt for all the time);
I. Waiting For (for items I can’t finalise until I get something from someone else)
J. Print (for items that need to be printed and then read or processed)
K. Reference folders – then there is my main set of reference folders, including (Church, Computer, Consulting, GTD, igniteYOUTH, Power (were all my presentations are stored), Personal, Resource (this is my main folder with resource material in sub-folders), Sermons and Software (where all my utilities are stored for reuse or for sharing with others).
3. My Search System
David Allen suggests that you have a simple A-Z filing system and use the power of the processor to find what you are looking for. I find my work is too interconnected for that approach and use a comprehensive filing system instead but I do use the power of Google Desktop to find what I am looking for on my computer. It is like having Google search your hard drive and IMMEDIATELY help you find what you are looking for. A double tap of the Ctrl key brings up a search box and after typing some key words you can either click on the file you want or open up the search results in a browser. You can download it from: http://desktop.google.com/