April 30, 2009

You are probably familiar with the binders many people carry containing calendar and task pages. Many people still prefer using paper systems over an electronic system like Outlook. This might be because they are on the move a lot, or because they just like using the paper medium better.

To serve this group I have recently developed a comparable paper version of the MYN task system (it is not-Outlook based) and I would like to find some users to use the system and send me comments. After testing, the final version and templates will be described in a new (non-Outlook) book due out next year, (and I may start selling pre-printed binder sets on my website, if the demand is there).

Compared to most other paper binder systems my new paper system is very light weight. Basically, the task system is a two+ page paper set that you can carry with you to add and review tasks. It uses nearly the same Manage Your Now! task approach as in the Outlook system. That means users identify and write down their Critical Now, Opportunity Now, and Over-the-Horizon tasks. The main difference is that unlike the Outlook system, which shows a daily list, this one is designed for a weekly approach. That said, it can also be adapted into an existing daily paper planner if desired, or added to other types of calendar notebooks.

So I am looking for testers to beat up the current version of this new paper system, and to give me comments. Testers should be willing to write me back with detailed impressions and any change recommendations. To get started, either reply to the newsletter, or contact me at michael@michaellinenberger.com. It would be helpful if you would let me know in that e-mail if you want to use the weekly approach described above, or intend to insert this into your existing daily planner (and what binder type and page size you currently use). That will help me select what I will send you back by e-mail; at minimum, you will get an instructions document and a weekly template file that you can print from and use.

Thanks,
Michael Linenberger
michael@michaellinenberger.com