Do you GTD? Then you should TDM!

I read the Getting Things Done (Allen) book a few years ago and have tried to maintain a system that allows me to track my actions. I am a computer guy - I need a technology system to back any type of paper system. I have looked low and high to find the right mix of simplicity, elegance and functionality.

Through my search, I've encountered tools that are way to simple, way to complex, too slow and just plain ugly. I've built my own applications (from Excel to a .Net/SQL Server solution) but while I write good code, I was still not happy with the results.

Through all that, my open actions haunted me as I had no reliable system. Every few months, I resume my search to find the right mix and a tool to track and maintain my actions. I thought I found one a few weeks ago and used it for a few weeks, but it turned out to be clunky and slow. Very disappointed. Things are crazy at work and more had the potential to slip through the cracks so I did another search and went through a bunch more - again no dice. There was one that looked interesting, but I glossed over it and kept moving. I did have it open in a new tab (very lovely feature in browsers these days) and as I was closing them down, I stopped and looked at it again.

With no other options, I read it a bit more closely and downloaded to give it a try. When I first saw it running, it was functional, clean and simply amazing. I read the tasks that show you the basics and spent a little time playing with it and quickly realized that this may be the one. I took it a step further and performed a massive sweep of my actions for two reasons. The first, to simply get my act together. And second, to try the tool. I have just over 100 actions with a few headers. I have devised my strategy for tags and will implement that today or tomorrow. I have been extremely pleased with this app named Tudumo (www.tudumo.com). It is very easy to use and seems to be holding up it's end of my GTD deal. The author is nearly done with version 1. It is free for use while in BETA. He is also very active in the discussion group - both answering questions and taking suggestions. If you are looking for a tool that makes it easy to keep you on track, give this a try. This is the first tool that has really given me confidence it will deliver and as such I had really loaded it up. I will continue to use it, putting it through its paces while it helps me get stuff done!