Implementing a Personal Information Architecture.
A project I’ve been working on since the beginning of the year is implementing a personal information architecture. This has included creating a better-organized professional archive, but has gone well beyond that to include all the Stuff I deal with on a daily basis.
I am using a very specific instance of the word Stuff here. If you are not familiar with David Allen’s Getting Things Done
of it. GTD generates a certain amount of cult-like devotion, but the
fact is that for many it's a highly effective system for organizing
life.
The foundation of my personal information architecture is
GTD–which I implemented both at work and at home. It took me two full
days (in the week between Christmas and New Year's) to do this, a
timeframe that is not unusual. Up and running on GTD, I started the New
Year operating with two main categories of Stuff: Projects/Next Actions
and Reference Material.
GTD has a lot to say about organizing Projects/Next Actions but
fewer specifics on organizing Reference Material (Stuff that needs no
action but may have future informational value). But, of course I
already know a lot about organizing reference material-type Stuff. I
am, after, all an IA! …
[IA THINK]