Living without my PDA

Welcome to Simple Productivity Blog! You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. This will allow you to receive updates in your RSS reader every time new content is posted here. If you want to receive updates in your email, click on the envelope in the upper right corner, or use the "Subscribe" link below the blog title.

Please take some time to check out the content on the site. You may comment on any article by scrolling down and using the form at the bottom of all articles. Thanks for visiting!

orginally published 15 Jan 2006

The Zire Died…

Last Wednesday, while switching authorized SD cards in my PDA (Zire 72s) to listen to a different set of MP3 files, my PDA screen went dark. Nothing would bring it back. And after a not-so-helpful phone call, and a very helpful phone call to PalmOne, the machine was set into motion to get the device repaired. Thankfully, it is still under warranty.

An Opportunity

I told myself that I would use this opportunity to do two things: to re-examine my system, particularly my project list, and really get it into a more useful state; and to examine what software I had installed and cull those things that provided only marginal benefit. So far, so good.

I also told myself that while I had lost both my PDA and my most recent complete backup (which was on the faulty SD card), I still had the backup done by Hotsync and my files were intact, and I could access most everything from my PC.

I will be honest. While there are very good things about this, there are some down things I hadn’t counted on.

The Unexpected

Lost Connectivity Between My Tasks and My Planning

Firstly, my to-do list software (Agendus/Palm To-do) only links to my planning software (Bonsai) via Hotsync. So while I could determine what I needed to do, I couldn’t get it to the place I needed it so I could have one printout to follow. So I’m operating with a to-do list that doesn’t contain my project stuff.

On the up side, I’m also not consulting my to-do list, because it’s not with me all the time. This is an advantage, because I’m more focused on what I *want* to be doing at any moment, rather than what I feel I *should* be doing. This has given me some needed down time with permission to relax. My base system of the minimum of what needs to be done to make my life and household run smoothly resides in a binder on my kitchen counter, and all the extras have now been given permission to not bug me for a while.

Repeating Tasks Vanished

Also, I had made extensive use of a piece of software called Redo which inserts repeating to-dos into the list. Unfortunately, while a wonderful piece of PDA software, there is no PC component. I really have no idea of the full extent of things in this list. These are the trivial things in my life, but if I forget them, things can go very wrong. Like forgetting that Fridays are movie days, and trying to explain to a three year old why Mommy forgot to bring her favorite movie. Or forgetting that the recycling was due to go out, and now there is a backlog of recycling cluttering the garage.

I See The Lack of Balance

The third, and most eye-opening result, is that I have noticed that my project list is organized in a way that puts undue pressure on me. I found that the 7 Habits system left me stressed out, as I tried to cram stuff in so that every “role” in my life would be in balance. Apparently I haven’t left that behind, because my projects are pigeonholed into the roles leftover from the 7 Habits system. Not directly, but unconsciously. I will need to rectify that.

Things To Do

I need to find a way to make the system so that if I do have to go without my PDA for a while, I can still function. That means all the stragglers need to be somewhere in the system that I can access things from the PC.

I am not as frantic as I expected to be without my “electronic brain”. I do have to say that the thing I miss most about my PDA is….(drum roll)….the ability to play really difficult Sudoku puzzles and have it calculate the possibilities for each square for me. Doing it by hand is a drag

Update 5/8/2007

Since that last disaster, I have transferred everything into Bonsai. I have a separate outline that accounts for the repeating tasks, and I do not use my task list as a data entry point. Everything has been centralized to one application, and in the case when I do not have my PDA available due to an unexpected power discharge, I can still function really well — everything is in one place.

I still don’t like doing the really difficult Sudokus by hand, though.