GTD enhancements to OSX Spotlight with SpotMeta
Published by on May 21st, 2006
My main GTD tool has for some time been KGTD*, but I have been wanting to extend the organisational capability beyond a list of items in an application. “Attach files to the items” comes the response. But OmniOutliner creates an internal, file-specific copy of the attachment rather than linking to the original within the filesystem. Great for keeping everything in one place, but useless for files that are part of a larger project.
Finder Spotlight
OSX’s spotlight enables searches on tags placed within the Info Note panel of a finder item. Careful application of a consistent set of tags enables one to create SmartFolders which aggregate all finder items which are so tagged. There are a couple of usability issues here in that it can be tricky and fiddly adding tags generally - get the item, trigger the Info popup, enter the tags, try and remember what tags you used last time, etc. - and even more fiddly to remove temporary GTD-style tags (i.e. @action, @deferred, etc.) once the action has been done.
Enter Spot Meta
SpotMeta by Ben Summers, makes the whole tagging process infinitely easier to manage - and as we all know, the removal of organisational obstacles is the key to maintaining an organisational system for those of us who combine heavy workloads with ADD!
SpotMeta does not introduce tags into the Finder’s Spotlight Comment field, it hides them away… somewhere… wherever… in the system… I don’t know… and offers up the tag keys to the filter options when creating a finder Smart Folder.
The key to its usability is the ease with which you can add or remove tags to a finder item. A user-definable key combination pulls up a small popup window in which all the defined tags and keys - defined by the user within the SpotMeta application itself - are there for drop-down menu, radio button or checkbox selection. So no more having to remember what tags you need to use. Add to that special tag elements such as free text and date and you can create a highly complex tagging system enabling a whole manner of customised finder searching and smart folder rules.
I have yet to fully exploit the possibilities, but simply being able to tag a file or folder with the standard GTD actions (@action, @deferred, @waitingfor), enables me to quickly see what I need to be dealing with at a glance and most importantly remove focus away form what I do not need to be dealing with at any one time - can you say ‘distractions’?
Like any such system there is the need for self-motivation to keep the system up to date as a lapse in tagging means incomplete and inaccurate SmartFolder results, and there’s a good chance you’ll miss something that needs to be done, but it certainly helps overcome a few obstacles. It is early days for SpotMeta but it has yet to provide any system issues, so I hope the future sees some enhancements, particularly the ability to create hierarchical taxonomies for structured tagging - how that might work I am unsure, but it would provide some beautifully complex possibilities.
* I am glad I am typing it here because for some reason my speech processors have a very hard time speaking those letters in that order. Odd, but often entertaining, it comes out something like: “KTGTGDT”.
Technorati Tags: kgtd, gtd, spotmeta
4 Responses to “GTD enhancements to OSX Spotlight with SpotMeta”
May 22nd, 2006 at 8:27 am
For me I think that I would tie myself in knots just trying to remember how I was supposed to use something quite so complicated. I have tried to get myself organised in so may ways over the years, most of the methods just fail miserably in the end because I forget that I set them up and they become out of date, or I have no confidence in their accuracy. I recently discovered something that seems to work for me however. It’s a very straightforward tool called Backpack, which simply lets me create pages of information online and access them anywhere. This information can be in the form of notes, files, to do lists, images, etc. and I can share the page, make it public, and even e-mail directly into it.
It works form me because it is wherever I am. I don;t have to make a note or e-mail myself when I think of something at home now, I can simply add it to the appropriate Backpack page there and then.
I know this is hardly project management, but I didn;t really want that anyway, just a better alternative to pencil and paper.
May 23rd, 2006 at 9:56 am
The GTD system is actually a lot simpler than it initially appears - though many people end up making it way too complex with far too many actions and categories. Problem with it is that you need to spend a fair chunk of time actually getting the system started as in order to be effective it has to handle everything, all aspects of your life, not just some work stuff. Best place to start is David Allen’s Get Things Done
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:01 pm
I’ve tried Quicksilver, having seen online demos of it. But for me it’s just too damn complicated trying to remember all the commands and shortcuts…
Maybe I’ve been a windows user too long?
May 23rd, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Likely. Give quicksilver some time, if you only use it as a launcher then it’s a huge bonus. For example, if I want to launch photoshop I type control-space then pho then return how hard can that be..?
The only other powerful feature I use is the clipboard history. control-space then Command-L gives me the last ten things that were on my clipboard.
It can do a lot more like send items into other applications but I’ve not found a good enough reason to delve deeper for any regular amount of tasks.