How to Implement GTD in Springpad
Hey there! Have you downloaded the latest version of Springpad yet? To learn about the updates in Springpad 3.0, check out this blog post: “The New Springpad Makes It Fun and Easy to Share.”
There have been many questions about how to best use Springpad for GTD, and a couple of our awesome users have written great how-to guides!
Daniel Gold posted his own guide on using Springpad for GTD.
Then as a follow-up to Daniel’s post, Marcel Chaudron posted about how to set up GTD in Springpad.
And more recently, Bobby Travis wrote his own post on how to use Springpad for GTD over at 40Tech.com.
Read Daniel’s Post
Read Marcel’s Post
Read Bobby’s Post
Thanks, guys!
22 Responses to “How to Implement GTD in Springpad”
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I’ve just finished writing a small ebook about implementing GTD using Springpad.
Could I send you the ebook for your review and comment?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Jeff Pinkham
Faris says: I would love to read it Jeff … am looking into using SpringPad for GTD.
Roog says: Thanks for the post about using GTD.
I believe that at a minimum, Springpad should allow the easy use of the Getting-Things-Done (GTD) methodology, without breaking any trademark or copyright laws, of course. The two posts that you have featured for using GTD are very helpful and informative, however I suggest that Springpad make the easy implementation of GTD a priority – including all of the suggestions given by users about sorting tags and tasks, using subprojects/folders, and creating subtasks, etc. that I have read – without questioning too much why such features would be desired. I know this represents a ton of work for Springpad personnel, but I think you would receive a lot more traffic/use/adoption. Those not interested in using Springpad as a GTD/Task tool could simply not use those features and use it for storing and organizing information. Keep up the great work!
heidi says: Jeff, if you require an additional reviewer I’m keen! Heidi
Tim L says: I agree with Roog, especially the ability to create subtasks; or even adding multiple tasks within a note. I divide all of my projects by note tagging them as such. When I return to them, it would help organizationally if I could just add tasks within the note.
time says: Hi Jeff,
when will your book be published?
I think that personal organization is a bigger topic than most appreciate, all of the excitement behind the GTD phenomenon is not lost when you pop onto Springpad. I was encouraged to find out about Springpad and how seamlessly it incorporates into the way people use technology. I especially love the way that it can add context to the crush of information people encounter. It is just a start and I am still fleshing out the framework for using it in my daily life but it is on exactly the right track to help a lot of people.
norbert says: Hi Jeff, if you require a foreign reviewer, I am looking for a way to use SpringPad and GTD
[...] your task list in order Lots of Springpad users are also fans of GTD! Check out some great how-to guides for setting up Springpad to work with your own GTD [...]
Kris says: Second everything Marcel suggested, including sharing these improvements with the Android app.
Great work so far.
Wilco says: Jeff,
Send me an e-book. Would love to test it. Enjoy making lists and GTD.
Succes with your publishing
Wilco Huizing The Netherlands
Hi Jeff, I’m new to Springpad and am trying to figure out the best way to incorporate GTD.
Would love to get my hands on that e-book!
Thanks 
Kevin says: Hey Jeff, new to springpad and would like to take a look at your ebook. Like to see if it would help keeping up with all of my Army task.
Some really good stuff here. I wonder if anyone has a really good argument for what the best way to go is? Projects as tags or notebooks?
Glenn says: Jeff, I’m new to Springpad, coming from Evernote, and a big GTD user. I’d love to get a look at your ebook.
Thanks.
latraviata says: I like how versatile and feature rich Springpad is and I’d love to use it for GTD, but there are a couple of omissions that currently make it unsuitable for me.
1) No recurring tasks. This is a very basic feature for a task manager and I’m surprised that apparently this is not even planned.
2) No local alarms/reminders. This means that users incur costs when traveling abroad. Depending on the country and phone plan this can be very expensive. It also means restricted offline usability, i.e. if the phone is in airplane mode alarms don’t work. I travel a lot, so I often depend on the iPhone app because access to WiFi or internet is not always available or unreliable (or expensive). Also, some email reminders I set arrived late, twice or not at all.
3) No badge to indicate due/overdue tasks.
4) I was really excited about Google calendar sync, but the way it is implemented is impractical. Sync is apparently only possible with a new separate Springpad calendar, not my default calendar. This would be great for tasks as I don’t want them to clutter up my events (=meetings) calendar. However, tasks can’t be synced to this SP calendar, only events. Since these events appear on the SP calendar they don’t sync with the iPhone calendar, which syncs with my default calendar. The only workaround appears to be to copy events manually into my default calendar, so I might as well create them there to begin with. Also, events can’t be created via phone, only web. What I would like to see is that tasks and events that are created with SP can be synced to any Google calendar I choose (I understand that this is possible with Pocket Informant).
5) Not GTD related, but the value added info on products, restaurants etc is too US centric. I live in Europe and travel either there or in Asia, so unfortunately this is not useful for me.
If these features could be added Springpad could become THE killer app for GTD!
latraviata says: Oh, something I forgot to mention: I tried to create an address book in Springpad and it seems that I can’t add businesses from my Google contacts, only people. This means that I can’t add any hotels or restaurants in my contacts. I tried to “look it up” but none of my businesses are found, probably because they are not US businesses. How do I add this type of contact? And how can I link a contact to a task, let’s say if I want to remind myself to ring a friend or book a certain hotel? This is pretty important for GTD and very useful if you want to look up directions when going to a meeting.
Can't believe it says: Umm.. this is pathetic.
I am sorry. I gave Springpad a really fair try. I really did.
These articles should be called “How to try and hack and twist SpringPad into kind-of doing GTD”.
Because Springpad doesn’t support Notebooks within Notebooks and their iPhone app’s don’t really display Categories in all my stuff (or let you filter by categoried) – then this doesn’t work in real world scenarios with many projects, many clients many tasks within tasks. Its a weak tradeoff in most scenarios. I respect Dan,Marc’s,Bobby’s smart work-arounds but hey – if Springboard is just a pretty face that require hacks to make it do almost GTD, then isn’t the stress GTD is trying to reduce – getting away from overly complex systems to record your tasks?
When Springpad fixes it – then I will revisist. Untl then, .. they s…
Jasper Sauer says: I don’t agree with you, even though you can’t believe it 
. I have used several systems for my GTD-system (among them are ThinkingRock, Evernote, GQueues).
I agree you have to give it some thought, but Springpad really works fine for me. The combination of notebooks, categories, tags and tasks next to a very powerfull way to store and keep track of all your reference material makes Springpad very useful. I don’t have an iPhone, so I can’t say anything about the iPhone-app, but the Android-version works very well for me.
There are a few features that would make life easier though, one of them for me would adding tasks to note. (I really don’t see why you can add sub notes, links, photo’s and files to a note but not tasks). This would make Springpad even more powerful for GTD as it already is. For me it solves my biggest issue that I experienced with other tools, no good system for reference materials. I know Evernote does cover this pretty well, but I don’t really like the task management part of it. But that’s just a preference thing, really.I also like the UI of Springpad better.
For your information btw, Categories are only shown when you are viewing tasks (at least in the Android-app). So a task can have a categorie (I use those for setting the context of the task, @home, @computer et cetera), notes you put in notebook(s) and/or you can tag them.
Jasper Sauer says: Excuse me for some typos, I had to finish my comment very quickly, because I had to switch trains.
Chris Gibbons says: Would love to see how some one else uses Springpad to GTD. I am a new user and tried five other apps before settling on Springpad. It is not perfect but I have learned some tricks to make it useful to me. The android version is a little behind. I’m an engineer with time critical tasks including the need to learn new apps.
Still trying to see if in fact I can use SpringPad for my GTD service.
Like others, i have tried them all. TO this point, i have been most happy with the 2Do application that has such a robust functionality and a nice interface. I am frustrated, however, that there is no desktop tool other than using a Toodledo Sync and something like Task Unifier (I am a MAC guy). Also, no attachments or document management in 2Do is frustrating – so I have taken to engaging Evernote for document management – the whole thing is a little clumsy. While I am waiting to see that the folks at Midnight Inbox do (all platform solution) I re-upped my SpringPad account (which I had abandoned some months ago because I just couldn’t future it out!!
I am close at this point to getting it to work for me. Here is my strategy:
1) Create notebooks that coincide to Contexts (for me it is Work, Home, Shopping, Research, Connect
2) Create a series of Tags to allow for better filtering (e.g. Pharmacy, Grocery, Hardware for my Shopping Context)
3) Create traditional GTD type categories for the Tasks that I create (@Computer, @Phone etc)
I am most frustrated by the lack of a connection to my Contacts – that would be a HUGE improvement to SpringPad.
Will let you know how it goes..
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I’ve just finished writing a small ebook about implementing GTD using Springpad.
Could I send you the ebook for your review and comment?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Jeff Pinkham
I would love to read it Jeff … am looking into using SpringPad for GTD.
Thanks for the post about using GTD.
I believe that at a minimum, Springpad should allow the easy use of the Getting-Things-Done (GTD) methodology, without breaking any trademark or copyright laws, of course. The two posts that you have featured for using GTD are very helpful and informative, however I suggest that Springpad make the easy implementation of GTD a priority – including all of the suggestions given by users about sorting tags and tasks, using subprojects/folders, and creating subtasks, etc. that I have read – without questioning too much why such features would be desired. I know this represents a ton of work for Springpad personnel, but I think you would receive a lot more traffic/use/adoption. Those not interested in using Springpad as a GTD/Task tool could simply not use those features and use it for storing and organizing information. Keep up the great work!
Jeff, if you require an additional reviewer I’m keen! Heidi
I agree with Roog, especially the ability to create subtasks; or even adding multiple tasks within a note. I divide all of my projects by note tagging them as such. When I return to them, it would help organizationally if I could just add tasks within the note.
Hi Jeff,
when will your book be published?
I think that personal organization is a bigger topic than most appreciate, all of the excitement behind the GTD phenomenon is not lost when you pop onto Springpad. I was encouraged to find out about Springpad and how seamlessly it incorporates into the way people use technology. I especially love the way that it can add context to the crush of information people encounter. It is just a start and I am still fleshing out the framework for using it in my daily life but it is on exactly the right track to help a lot of people.
Hi Jeff, if you require a foreign reviewer, I am looking for a way to use SpringPad and GTD
[...] your task list in order Lots of Springpad users are also fans of GTD! Check out some great how-to guides for setting up Springpad to work with your own GTD [...]
Second everything Marcel suggested, including sharing these improvements with the Android app.
Great work so far.
Jeff,
Send me an e-book. Would love to test it. Enjoy making lists and GTD.
Succes with your publishing
Wilco Huizing The Netherlands
Hi Jeff, I’m new to Springpad and am trying to figure out the best way to incorporate GTD.
Would love to get my hands on that e-book!
Thanks
Hey Jeff, new to springpad and would like to take a look at your ebook. Like to see if it would help keeping up with all of my Army task.
Some really good stuff here. I wonder if anyone has a really good argument for what the best way to go is? Projects as tags or notebooks?
Jeff, I’m new to Springpad, coming from Evernote, and a big GTD user. I’d love to get a look at your ebook.
Thanks.
I like how versatile and feature rich Springpad is and I’d love to use it for GTD, but there are a couple of omissions that currently make it unsuitable for me.
1) No recurring tasks. This is a very basic feature for a task manager and I’m surprised that apparently this is not even planned.
2) No local alarms/reminders. This means that users incur costs when traveling abroad. Depending on the country and phone plan this can be very expensive. It also means restricted offline usability, i.e. if the phone is in airplane mode alarms don’t work. I travel a lot, so I often depend on the iPhone app because access to WiFi or internet is not always available or unreliable (or expensive). Also, some email reminders I set arrived late, twice or not at all.
3) No badge to indicate due/overdue tasks.
4) I was really excited about Google calendar sync, but the way it is implemented is impractical. Sync is apparently only possible with a new separate Springpad calendar, not my default calendar. This would be great for tasks as I don’t want them to clutter up my events (=meetings) calendar. However, tasks can’t be synced to this SP calendar, only events. Since these events appear on the SP calendar they don’t sync with the iPhone calendar, which syncs with my default calendar. The only workaround appears to be to copy events manually into my default calendar, so I might as well create them there to begin with. Also, events can’t be created via phone, only web. What I would like to see is that tasks and events that are created with SP can be synced to any Google calendar I choose (I understand that this is possible with Pocket Informant).
5) Not GTD related, but the value added info on products, restaurants etc is too US centric. I live in Europe and travel either there or in Asia, so unfortunately this is not useful for me.
If these features could be added Springpad could become THE killer app for GTD!
Oh, something I forgot to mention: I tried to create an address book in Springpad and it seems that I can’t add businesses from my Google contacts, only people. This means that I can’t add any hotels or restaurants in my contacts. I tried to “look it up” but none of my businesses are found, probably because they are not US businesses. How do I add this type of contact? And how can I link a contact to a task, let’s say if I want to remind myself to ring a friend or book a certain hotel? This is pretty important for GTD and very useful if you want to look up directions when going to a meeting.
Umm.. this is pathetic.
I am sorry. I gave Springpad a really fair try. I really did.
These articles should be called “How to try and hack and twist SpringPad into kind-of doing GTD”.
Because Springpad doesn’t support Notebooks within Notebooks and their iPhone app’s don’t really display Categories in all my stuff (or let you filter by categoried) – then this doesn’t work in real world scenarios with many projects, many clients many tasks within tasks. Its a weak tradeoff in most scenarios. I respect Dan,Marc’s,Bobby’s smart work-arounds but hey – if Springboard is just a pretty face that require hacks to make it do almost GTD, then isn’t the stress GTD is trying to reduce – getting away from overly complex systems to record your tasks?
When Springpad fixes it – then I will revisist. Untl then, .. they s…
I don’t agree with you, even though you can’t believe it
. I have used several systems for my GTD-system (among them are ThinkingRock, Evernote, GQueues).
I agree you have to give it some thought, but Springpad really works fine for me. The combination of notebooks, categories, tags and tasks next to a very powerfull way to store and keep track of all your reference material makes Springpad very useful. I don’t have an iPhone, so I can’t say anything about the iPhone-app, but the Android-version works very well for me.
There are a few features that would make life easier though, one of them for me would adding tasks to note. (I really don’t see why you can add sub notes, links, photo’s and files to a note but not tasks). This would make Springpad even more powerful for GTD as it already is. For me it solves my biggest issue that I experienced with other tools, no good system for reference materials. I know Evernote does cover this pretty well, but I don’t really like the task management part of it. But that’s just a preference thing, really.I also like the UI of Springpad better.
For your information btw, Categories are only shown when you are viewing tasks (at least in the Android-app). So a task can have a categorie (I use those for setting the context of the task, @home, @computer et cetera), notes you put in notebook(s) and/or you can tag them.
Excuse me for some typos, I had to finish my comment very quickly, because I had to switch trains.
Would love to see how some one else uses Springpad to GTD. I am a new user and tried five other apps before settling on Springpad. It is not perfect but I have learned some tricks to make it useful to me. The android version is a little behind. I’m an engineer with time critical tasks including the need to learn new apps.
Still trying to see if in fact I can use SpringPad for my GTD service.
Like others, i have tried them all. TO this point, i have been most happy with the 2Do application that has such a robust functionality and a nice interface. I am frustrated, however, that there is no desktop tool other than using a Toodledo Sync and something like Task Unifier (I am a MAC guy). Also, no attachments or document management in 2Do is frustrating – so I have taken to engaging Evernote for document management – the whole thing is a little clumsy. While I am waiting to see that the folks at Midnight Inbox do (all platform solution) I re-upped my SpringPad account (which I had abandoned some months ago because I just couldn’t future it out!!
I am close at this point to getting it to work for me. Here is my strategy:
1) Create notebooks that coincide to Contexts (for me it is Work, Home, Shopping, Research, Connect
2) Create a series of Tags to allow for better filtering (e.g. Pharmacy, Grocery, Hardware for my Shopping Context)
3) Create traditional GTD type categories for the Tasks that I create (@Computer, @Phone etc)
I am most frustrated by the lack of a connection to my Contacts – that would be a HUGE improvement to SpringPad.
Will let you know how it goes..