Debut of My GTD Portable Inbox (ok, it's just a manila envelope)

I just got back from a business trip. And this is my inbox!

The GTD paradigm has changed my life. But until this week, it all fell apart when I went on trips.

I have gone on at least 5 business trips and 5 personal trips since starting GTD in May of 2006. And every time I got back from a trip, I would have to find all of my receipts (pockets, wallet, backpack, car?), my notes, business cards, ideas, to-dos, etc. and kind of start GTD-ing all over again from scratch (well, not quite scratch).

Before going on this trip, I commandeered David Allen's own personal Travel Checklist (and changed it around to meet my needs and possessions, of course). On the list of items to pack, David had his in-tray. I chuckled a little at first, thinking about packing my black plastic stackable in-tray.

But it made sense. The reason GTD had always fallen apart on trips was that I had no good on-the-fly collection system. So I got a manila envelope, wrote "INBOX" on it in big letters, and put it in my briefcase. I also put in a pad of paper for brain-dumping.

The results were very satisfying. And there was no glitch in my system this time. And everything was in one place. And I got things done. Ahh.