filmmaking GTD style

i’m always looking for better ways to stay organized and efficient. these are some of the different things i’m juggling:

- working full time as a web designer
- writing class – feature length screenplay
- freelance design to pay for writing class
- post production on my 3rd short film
- writing 4th short film script

all those different projects have overlapping schedules, and i need to be able to manage all that while dealing with all the distractions from regular living, like friends, family, bills, etc.

i tried using many different programs to help organize myself – tinderbox, ical, google calender, omni outliner, curio, etc., but they all had limitations. i think i’ve finally found a program that will help me manage all my stuff in one place. it’s called d3 – a “kinkless” GTD system, and it’s free!  it’s a single html page that uses javascript and CSS to keep track of all the stuff you have to do.

GTD is shorthand for Getting Things Done, the name of a book and a system of time management and organization developed by David Allen. do a google search for “GTD” and read up on the basics of the system, then get d3 GTD and start getting organized.

i don’t want to try to explain too much about GTD, but i’ll cover some basics. one key is knowing the difference between a project and an action. you can’t do a project. you do actions associated with the project. for example, if you have a to do list, and write down “make a movie”, that’s not an action that you can do. “make a movie” is a project, with actions like “write a script”, “cast actors”, “get locations”. actually, those are all projects too. “write a script” could be broken down into “brainstorm ideas”, “write synopsis”, “write rough draft”, etc. GTD forces you to break down large tasks into smaller units, and it works well for filmmaking.

another aspect of GTD is understanding contexts, which describes where you have to be to do that action. for example, i need to be at a computer in order to edit, or to do research online, or to email someone. david allen recommends marking contexts with @, like @computer, @work, @phone. that way when i’m on my computer, i only need to look at those actions that i can do right then and do them.

read up on GTD, then download d3, and it might help you organize things for your next movie.  if anyone is interested, i might upload a template for filmmaking.
other tools are monkey GTD (which is similar to d3, and also free), and here’s a pdf on using gmail with GTD.

43 folders is a good overall resource for GTD and productivity in general.