What’s in a “trusted system”?

GTD advocates will immediately call to mind David Allen’s mantra about putting everything into a “trusted system” so your mind can be at ease–knowing that your ToDo, brilliant idea, future project or simple note will be easy to retrieve when you need it. Like me, you probably took this to mean a paper notebook, a set of folders, a smartphone, a PDA, a web site or a computer software program.

A colleague and I had a quick conversation today today about her new “system,” which is a FranklinCovey paper planner, and wondered if you really need a single thing, or the combination of many things working together could qualify as your GTD trusted system? I think it can…if you’re careful.

Got a list of books you want to read? Should you put it on an Amazon wish list, or store it at Goodreads? A list of restaurants to try? Should it go on UrbanSpoon, Google Docs or a scrap of paper in your wallet? What about a list of gifts to buy? Or, stuff you want to sell on eBay? With so many places you could choose to keep this kind of information, what’s the best place to keep it?

It doesn’t matter. Ok, let me clarify, it doesn’t matter as long as you pick just one and use it religiously for that purpose. If you you sometimes put a book on your Goodreads list and sometimes on Amazon, and sometimes in your paper planner you’re asking for trouble.

At work, I have a notepad I take with me everywhere. If I need to capture something, it goes in my notepad. If that’s not available, it goes into Evernote, which works on my iphone, my PC, and my Mac. In my weekly reviews (usually on Sundays) I sweep things from my notepad and Evernote into their proper places.

Here’s what I use, and what I use it for:

• Evernote: Capturing notes on the go. Temporarily storing thoughts for upcoming meetings. Keeping reference items like train/ferry schedules, conference line access codes, and frequent flier numbers.
• PasswordMaker: Web site passwords (see my earlier post on this).
• Goodreads: Books I’ve read and want to read.
• ReadItLater: Lists of web pages I want to read. It conveniently synchronizes your ToRead list across Mac, PC and iPhone, and supports offline reading as well. And, it even integrates into Google Reader very nicely.
• UrbanSpoon: Restaurants I’ve been to and want to go to.
• Basecamp: Projects for work where at least one other person is involved. My whole team uses this, and it’s gaining traction within the company.
• OmniFocus: Personal ToDos and projects, as well as projects for work where no other people are involved.
• Paper Notepad: Notes to be transferred to another system later, or just kept for reference.

My colleague mentioned Amazon’s Universal Wish List, which seems like a good idea. I’ll have to check that out. What do you use, and what do you use if for?