Palm Organized

Update: 8/21/2007-No Desktop! No Problem! PDB Version now available for Palm Only Users. Included in the zip file.

Bonsai is a Palm program by a company called Natara. You can find it at Natara.com and download a free trial. Bonsai is what you would call an outliner program. An outliner displays information in a tree-view or explorer-view like interface. There are a few really good ones out there for the Palm but I happen to think Bonsai is the best. Do not underestimate their power as I have taken the time to read manuals for programs like this that can reach over 150 pages. I’ve researched quite a few outliners & you need not look further than Bonsai if you use a Palm.

What I will do here is “outline” a way to implement GTD (Getting Things Done) using Bonsai. This is what I believe to be an almost flawless implementation that with upgrades to its features that I’ve already made to the Natara Forums will take it to a whole other level beyond what already is an amazing resource.

This is the start screen on the desktop. Peaceful in its simplicity yet it holds all of your Next Actions, Calendar Events, Project Actions, Ticker file, and Someday/Maybe items. In fact, all your contexts are created without using Categories, Filters, or even Keywords. This now means that you have the freedom to use them in other ways to customize your outline to your liking. You are not limited to 16 categories, hard to access keywords, or complex filters that are difficult to create. How is this even possible? This is all now possible because of a little feature suggestion of mine that got implemented that allowed for Zooming in & out on the 5 way navigator.

The “context parents” which before would have cluttered your list are no longer an issue when you Zoom into them. This frees you from a 16 category limit because you can create as many 2nd level “context parents” as you want. This also frees you from dialogue boxes you’d encounter with filters and keywords. This system allows for quick one handed operation on the palm when you’re navigating using the 5 way.

Filters can now be powerfully used to augment the added Calendar heading. If you can keep your actions and events together, why not do so? Viewing your list using flat list filters and zooms makes adding more headings and items a non issue. You can see I leverage time in my use of filters.

How do I handle someday/maybe items? Very simply by using the start date attribute. I can set the start date for a someday / maybe item for 6 months from now. Six months later it will show up in a either a this week or next week filter. However, just like in the previous picture I can create headings to group items and yet all headings disappear when the list is filtered. How about alarms and the fact they are missing in Bonsai? I simply link out to date book and set the alarm there for only the current week. If I use “Back to Bonsai” I can easily jump back and forth.

How are project actions managed? How can this system be used to track projects and their actions that can come from multiple contexts? Well, I have a project myself and that project involves this very blog. Beyond what I have written here I have written a full description of this system with all the specifics inside a Bonsai Outline. You can import it into your Bonsai Desktop and then synchronize your palm and have an actual template to create from. It’s free and all I ask is that you leave a comment. I’ll send you the outline by email. Your email is not used in the comments at all and remains private. I will also add you to my weekly (once a week email) newsletter which you can unsubscribe from at any time. If you would not like to be on the newsletter just send me a reply email telling me so when I send you the outline.

Your participation will help to create a lively interaction and sharing of ideas. Leaving a comment will allow me to update you on my blog as well as send you this Bonsai Outline Template. If you use the Natara Forums you will know me by my Username Fox Mulder as someone who contributes to the community and not some spammer. I participated there for 3 months before I started this blog. You will even find my site listed on the Bonsai Page at Natara.com

If you’d like the outline just leave a comment. I’ll assume you want it. If you only want to leave a comment then let me know not to send the outline and I won’t. Also, If you don’t already own Bonsai download a trial and check it out. You will be then be able to use it to see my full description of the implementation. The best way to view the outline is using Bonsai Desktop. I’ve included a video so you can understand why I have “Parent Contexts.” It is the Zoom Feature that makes it sing on the Palm

PS - Even though I have not responded to each and every comment doesn’t mean I have not been sending out the templates. If for some reason you did not get one due to an oversight just use the form below to get a template. It is the fastest and simplest way for me to manage these requests and get the template to you fast. It also serves to allow me to keep you updated on new developments. Thank you.

Update June 6, 2007 In the video I mentioned a product called one key I meant Okey. Click here for my blog post on it. You’ll also find the link to the download link from the Palm Freeware site where you won’t need to submit an email to download.