Using Bonsai With Getting Things Done: Keywords

Posted on May 7, 2007 by
Categories: Productivity,Software

Keywords

Keywords make it easy for me to classify my items into my Areas of Focus. I also use Keywords to note items that are only one item long, i.e. a Single Next Action (SNA).

Areas of Focus

My areas of focus were generated over a several month span. I started by working through the Covey roles, listing those roles that I play in life. I then modified the areas using Steve Pavlina’s article on setting focus. I was able to determine what areas my life would need to spread around in order to achieve some semblance of balance, without overload. These are a work in progress, but I’ve stuck with this particular list now for a few months, and I’m pretty satisfied with them.

My Areas of Focus are:

  • Adventure: for items that push my boundaries
  • Consumer: for items I wish to purchase
  • Creativity: this includes all of my crafting, music, etc.
  • Family: for my family roles, including parent, daughter, etc.
  • Financial: things that impact my finances
  • Home: for things applying to my home
  • Partner: while this could have been wrapped up in family, making sure I focus on my partner is essential.
  • Physical: including things like health, appearance, etc.
  • Self Improvement: for reading, growth, etc.
  • Service: for service to the community and organizations
  • Social: for making sure I have a social life
  • Spiritual: for spiritual growth issues
  • Work: for all things that I do in my profession.

Other Keywords

In addition to my Areas of Focus, I have two others, classified until Type: AOF (Areas of Focus) and SNA (Single Next Action). These two play an important part in my filters.

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Comments (1)

 

  1. Joe T. says:
    May 8, 2007 at 5:20 am

    For those with the PDA program LifeBalance, these are great suggestions for categories. Life Balance gives you a pie chart showing you how you’re doing in balancing your life. I set my Life Balance categories up improperly, more like task categories, so the balance piechart hasn’t been helpful. I think I’ll try to reorganize to use these categories.