UPDATE: There is now a second series of Getting Things Done desktop backgrounds!
I just finished reading Getting Things Done
by David Allen and was completely took by how much the book helped me shift my thoughts and day-to-day patterns to become more productive.
(If you haven’t read of or heard of this book, you shoud jump on it immediately. Reviews/related sites: To-Done, 43Folders, Lifehacker’s GTD section, Del.icio.us/tag/GTD, Amazon, David Allen’s Definition of GTD)
While I’m not implementing the system in full (no paper inbox, no 30-day / 12-month tickler file), there were lots of little chunks that I wanted to re-read over and over because they helped “snap” my mind into a productive state. I created a desktop background for my laptop to help me focus when I’m feeling frazzled—then realized a week later that maybe others could benefit from the same thing as well.
So—here’s my series of Getting Things Done desktop backgrounds, available in a variety of sizes to fit your screen resolution.
Choose_one_project.zip [410kb | preview]
Choose_your_actions.zip [287kb | preview]
Get_rid_of_negative_feelings.zip [375kb | preview]
Things_on_your_mind.zip [373kb | preview]
Each zip file contains versions at 1900×1200, 1680×1050, 1600×1200, 1440×900, 1024×768 and 800×600. If you’ve got a request for a wonky resolution I don’t have here, let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to oblige.
UPDATE: It seems that most of the world doesn’t utilize OS X (I was shocked too) and therefore doesn’t have access to their desktop via Expose like I do. Shari came up with the great idea of having the GTD messages open in a Firefox tab, slideshow-style. I wrote some basic HTML pages to link the images together; you just click the message to go to the next one, and it will loop back to the beginning.
To use, unzip to your desktop (or wherever you want), and open index.html in your (tab-enabled) web browser.
Download: GTD_Slideshow.zip [105kb]
REQUEST: I’ve gotten a few requests for additional backgrounds; I’d really love input from people on what GTD messages they’d like to see. These four spoke to me the strongest—what passages from the book “snap” you into a productive state? Share in the comments, thanks!
NEW SIZES: New widescreen resolutions available (thanks for the suggestion, Michael) - now in 1680×1050 and 1900×1200. I have also added these resolutions to the “complete set” files above.
Download: GTD_backgrounds_1680×1050.zip [141kb]
Download: GTD_backgrounds_1900×1200.zip [160kb]
Also, thanks for getting me onto del.icio.us/popular—I appreciate the link love!
