Today is another day of Lifehack’s 12 Days of Giveaways where we feature some of the best productivity services, apps, and products that you can get your hands on. We really appreciate all of the entries so far this week and last, and after today’s awesome prizes from the David Allen Company we only have one week left. Don’t worry though; today there are three chances to win!
Before we get to what we and David Allen Company are giving away, let’s first announce and congratulate the winner of The Womack Company prize pack. Andrea Aresca, had this awesome comment here at Lifehack.org:
“I will be more INTENTIONAL in defining what I want to achieve in every “account” of my life.
I will be more SPECIFIC in describing the outcome of each one of my projects.
I will make the habit of FOCUSING a bit extra time daily on 1 very important thing I’ve chosen the day before.”
We at Lifehack hope that The Womack Company products are going to help you out in the new year, Andrea. Congratulations!
Today’s Giveaway
I’m very excited about today’s giveaway because I am a devout user of it and have been for about a year now. And, since we are in the spirit of giving, it feels great to share the awesomeness and ubiquitousness (it’s a word now!) of the David Allen Notetaker Wallet with 3 Lifehack readers.
First, The David Allen Company is a, “global training and consulting company, widely considered the leading authority in the fields of organizational and personal productivity,” as if you didn’t know. But, really, The David Allen Company and the GTD system (something that we are quite fond of here at Lifehack.org) are almost synonymous.
If you are a GTD follower in any way and have listened to Mr. David Allen wax about GTD outside of his books, then you have surely heard of his infamous Notetaker Wallet. The “evening module” or “UCT” (ubiquitous capture tool), as David Allen has aptly called the notetaker wallet, is a sturdy accessory with an awesome little paper pad and a “wicked cool” expandable pen. If you are a knowledge worker, or just someone that wants to get the next great idea, thing to pick up from the store, or current project’s next action out of your mind and into your system so you can concentrate on the work at hand anywhere you are, then you seriously need this tool.
Also, these wallets are super high quality. My Ballistics style wallet is the strongest wallet I have ever owned.
So, what are we giving away?
- 1 GTD® Notetaker Wallet – Original Style
- 1 GTD® Notetaker Wallet – Trifold Style
- 1 GTD® Notetaker Wallet – Trifold Style Ballistics
That’s right. The David Allen Company isn’t messing around and you won’t be either when you turn into a ubiquitous capturing machine with your new GTD Notetaker Wallet in 2012.
How to Enter
In order to enter to win one of the three GTD Notetaker Wallets, you need to leave a comment below or on our Facebook fan page that answers the following:
“How will the addition of a ubiquitous capture tool enhance your productivity this coming year?”
Leaving a comment on both our Facebook fan page and here at Lifehack.org will get you 2 entries, so but you need to give us two items that you like the most – no copying and pasting!
The Fine Print
Employees of The David Allen Company and of Stepcase (including current independent contractors of both) are not eligible for this contest. The winning entries will be judged by the Stepcase Lifehack editing team and winners will be notified on the platform in which their winning entry was placed (either on the Lifehack.org Facebook wall or by email through our commenting system here on the website). For those entering the contest with a comment on our site, in order to be considered eligible, you MUST leave a contact email when leaving a comment (it’s the only way we’ll know how to contact you). Entries must be submitted by 10 am Eastern the following weekday (Monday 12/19/2011) and winners will be chosen by 12 pm Eastern time on the same day. The winners will be announced the same day on Lifehack.org, and will be notified beforehand. The David Allen Company will ship you your Notetaker Wallet flat rate (even Internationally). The item will be marked as a “gift” and the winner will have to pay an taxes that are required by their country.
Good luck!
Free the mind by writing stuff down.
Ubiquitous capture is the key to my sanity–how many times have I thought “oh, I’ll remember that for five minutes until I find a piece of paper” and then whoosh, the idea is gone. If I have something to write on and with at all times, I don’t have to remember. I’ve been eyeing these wallets for years, and would love to have one.
The iPhone can be great for many things but I’ve never liked it for quick note taking. I love the feel of paper and the smooth ink as it glides across the page.
My wallet is 10 years old and falling apart and this will fill both voids, proper note-taking on the go and a lovely wallet I can be proud to own (and my wife will stop making fun of!)
I will be able to remember all those things that come to mind while driving: notes I need to write, research to look up, book ideas, things to buy for the kids.
“How will the addition of a ubiquitous capture tool enhance your productivity this coming year?” Right now, I do a pretty good job of brain dumping anywhere using the software Dropbox. However, I fatfinger while typing on my Android ALL the time which is annoying when I’m trying to quickly jot down a note. The David Allen notetaker wallet would solve that problem in no time!
How will the addition of a ubiquitous capture tool enhance your productivity this coming year?
It would allow me to get a handle on the collection phase so that I can start working on the other 4.
I am from India and I have been trying to find something like this for quite some time. I am just getting into GTD and I think a UCT would be perfect to set me on my way. I am shooting for the original style notetaker wallet :-)
It will allow me to capture thoughts that would otherwise remain unfocussed reflections and unrealised intentions.
The end of juggling with index cards and unwieldy clips. Always available capture in a beautiful package.
I’m a programmer and having the UCT to jot those late night ideas or middle of the night realizations will help, and keep to dos with me so I don’t forget to get milk on the way home and waste time going back out.
It’ll mean that those brilliant ideas that come to me when I’m in the toilet in a bar will actually get captured. If there as good as I think they are, I’ll make my fortune!
I always have great ideas when I can’t write them down. This would change that.
How will the addition of a ubiquitous capture tool enhance your productivity this coming year?
In the coming year, I will achieve greater productivity as a result of working on defined actions with a clear and focused mind. A ubiquitous capture tool will aid in clearing my vague and random internal to-do lists and achieve clarity.
I already have a small pocket notepad (which is falling apart) and pen, but being able to combine both of those with a wallet is much more efficient and easier to remember. Plus, the design of the notetaker wallet is very nice — and it’s good to use tools we want to use. It’s too expensive for me, tho, so winning one would be great.
I recently completed reading the GTD book the concept of a single point of collection is fascinating and challenging. I’m working toward an optimal solution while recognizing where information is coming at me. All email inboxes are now clean. next step is to filter all other ideas and information coming at me in the real world.
Hey everyone. Please, please, please leave your contact email in the comments here. Without contact information, YOU WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO WIN.
“How will the addition of a ubiquitous capture tool enhance your productivity this coming year?”
This would be a better way to capture both my ideas and note the things I need to get done. While I use my phone for my todo, I find I still prefer pen/paper to keep track of most of it.
Next year I will be working on projects in Europe, China, Japan and Brazil- all from the US. This will mean many late night and early morning conference calls, this device will help me capture ideas and notes sparked in those calls.
Capturing thoughts idea, commitments conversations… truly
anything, anytime whenever it shows up on one’s radar, without fear of losing “stuff.”
I currently work at capturing everything and end up with notes on index cards
in various pockets. One of these elegant
GTD NoTetaker Wallets might be the solution to my problem of notes being lost.
The addition of a ubiquitous capture tool would mean that 2012 will finally be the year I stop procrastinating and start “Getting Things Done”!
Having a ubiquitous, paper capture tool will mean that I no longer forget important ideas or actions because it takes to long to activate an electronic device.
Being about to visualize my tasks and plans will be powerful and extremely motivating. I work well with lists. Seeing my progress can keep me moving forward.
“How will the addition of a ubiquitous capture tool enhance your productivity this coming year?”
As a knowledge manager for the government, my mind is constantly running at a pretty high pace. I come up with new (won’t necessarily beat my chest and say good) ideas all the time. I’ve been using my iPhone as my capture tool…BUT recently I’ve been working in secure areas where electronic devices like the phone just can’t go.
One of these wallets would be ideal to allow me keep the good ideas flowing AND wind up in my capture system. 43 Folders here we come!
“How will the addition of a ubiquitous capture tool enhance your productivity this coming year?”
Ubiquitous capture is necessary for ubiquitous thought.
“How will the addition of a ubiquitous capture tool enhance your productivity this coming year?”
I will be able to better track everything, money, ideas, this is definitely a gap filler
Right now, I would classify my system as Unbiquitous. I switch from system to system like George Clooney switches women. Still looking for a system I can get serious and settle down with.
I work on an assembly line while looking for an engineering job. I do my best thinking (about ways to market myself) while on the line, where I’m not allowed to have a cell phone.
You know those fantastic, great ideas, which are going to make you rich, that you have when you and all your friends are drunk at 3am? They always sound stupid the next day. It worries me that I might be forgetting all the actual great ideas which could be making me rich. If I had the notebook wallet I could right them down, and then I could be rich. Or I could at least record how much I’ve had to drink…
it’ll help me track notes on the students i tutor
In my line of work, ideas are everything. They define what you will do for years to come, and when I have these ideas, I write them down on scraps, which I subsequently lose. It would be great to have a system that would help me not lose them!
I’m constantly on the go, so having something portable & easy to carry will help me capture ideas on the go.
I’m hoping a ubiquitous capture tool would help me become one step closer to having ‘mind like water’, while managing the daily stresses of my life, so that I can be more mindful and focus on my true priorities with less worry, such as my 4 kids :). This isn’t possible when you’re trying to hold random ideas and “I need to do’s” in your head until you can find a random piece of paper to write on. How easy it is to become distracted and forget that important thought, only for it to be refiled into the subconcious mind.
As a new disciple of the Getting Things Done system, which I learnt about through Lifehack, I’m excited about how the ubiquitous notetaking tool will help me to capture my ideas and clear my mind so I can focus while I’m out and about on errands that I’ve organised together using the system. The wallets are gorgeous and the pen looks very cool. I love stationery and GTD has given me the excuse to get more.
To capture thoughts and get them off your mind, it’s essential to have tools that you enjoy using for themselves. With quality paper, a good pen, kept together in a wallet with a nice feel, I’ll be itching for the chance to pull them out and capture ideas keeping me productive.
I am a big fan of GTD, but it’s been slipping away the past months, because of being unemployed and not having a real focus. This might be the tool to get me going again, to keep me focussed and on track of all the great plans I do have (like getting an amazing job, more posts in my productivity and personal development-blog, put more effort in the volunteering of several organizations), but that don’t seem to become concree enough.
Tools like this can’t improve the productivity more than piece of paper. But they can massively improve the style and swag while I will be productive using it. And being freshly promoted to a managing position, a bit of style improvement could come in handy.
I will use this tool to catch all the arrows, nay, the cannon balls that life throws at me from all directions. No more missed appoinments and forgetting the brilliant ideas I keep having that might change the world! What could be better than that?
Everyday we are bombarded with information and options, creating so much noise that we often are overwhelmed. People type notes into iPhones, then never see them again, because it is just one more electronic file in a vast sea of emails, texts, websites and countless other forms of information. We’re limited by batteries, and wifi connection, pecking at tiny touch screens.
By creating tactile notes, actual physical objects with mass, these notes take up a greater presence in our minds, and are more effective.
This year, I will be moving to a new country, beginning a new career, returning to school, and getting married to the love of my life. I can’t afford to be forgetting things, or being caught without the ability to take notes.
Then again, can any of us?
I don’t know you or anything about you. It makes suggestions a little hard, so all I have to go on is my own experience here. I’ll tell you what I use it for.
I’m an ESL teacher and I work at ten different schools with 25 classes over a two week period. Some classes I see once a week while others are only every two weeks. Some are fifth grade elementary and some are sixth grade. Each class size is different, ranging from 5 to 35 students. I’ve been struggling to find a way to keep all the planning (especially because some classes move faster than others), and never quite found my groove. I’m hoping this year that using ubiquitous capture will help me keep all my ducks (or students) in a row.
I’ve been trying to go “all digital” with my note capture, but it doesn’t always work. This will get me the last steps toward catching all of my thoughts!
The wallet will enhance my productivity by giving me a notebook that is unlikely to end up in the washing machine. I have lost many important notes because I left them in my pockets!
As a minister, I’m constantly on the run taking notes as I go. This would be the perfect upgrade for me since I’ve went through countless cheap alternatives that I’ve used. I always want to look professional as I jot things down and this set would be the perfect tool for my work life!
I had a Notetaker wallet, and literally wore it out. I have been meaning to get the tri-fold balistic one. Great product, great idea! #GTD Get your ideas out of psychic RAM!
Marvelous tool to jog down idea.
Marvelous tool to jog down idea.
I use my smart phone to keep and update my contacts, calendar and to-do lists, but there is nothing like the good old pen and notepaper to quickly jot down info and ideas. The GTD Notetaker Wallet is a perfect fit and for this convenience – and it allows me to travel lite with my ID and cards.