If you’re already using Getting Things Done with Viira on your BlackBerry, you’re well on your way to living a more organized, productive life. But if you still have lingering questions on how best to use GTD in certain situations, there are plenty of places to go online to get help.

We’ve compiled a list of the Internet’s leading authorities on Getting Things Done. From tips and tricks, to words of wisdom from David Allen himself, you’re sure to find the info you need in one of the links below.

• Otherwise known as Mecca, DavidCo is the official website of the David Allen Company. Find information on all Allen’s books, upcoming appearances and more.
• GTD Times is a division of David Allen’s network. The self-described ‘hub of all things GTD,’ this site includes a blog, newsletter signup, and links to many more GTD resources.
• Another part of David Allen’s rapidly growing empire, GTD Connect is a subscription service that puts Getting Things Done practitioners in touch with each other and allows users to participate in online classes.
• Visit the official Facebook fan page of Getting Things Done to connect with other like-minded productivity fans on this popular social network.
• Join the official LinkedIn page for GTD Enthusiasts. Open to everyone, it’s a fantastic networking group to share GTD tips and tricks. David Allen and his staff are said to stop by occasionally.
• The official YouTube page for Getting Things Done ihas informative videos from David Allen and others explaining how GTD works for them.
• Follow David Allen on Twitter for daily musings from this famous productivity guru.
• You’ve probably read all of Allen’s books cover-to-cover, but if you happen to be missing one, head over to Amazon.com’s David Allen page and complete your collection.
• Run by Merlin Mann, creator of the Hipster PDA, 43Folders.com discusses productivity, taking several cues from GTD.
• Getting Things Done is a popular topic on Lifehacker.com, a blog that offers tricks and shortcuts to living life effectively. Search the #GTD and #gettingthingsdone tags to see all the posts.
• Not to be confused with Lifehacker, Stepcase Lifehack also focuses on productivity and often mentions Getting Things Done.
• Getting Finances Done is a blog that preaches personal financial control, using many of the GTD principles.
• Written by a GTD enthusiast, the Did I Get Things Done blog has multiple updates per week on productivity and motivation.
• The official Wikipedia page for Getting Things Done gives a great overview on the productivity system when you need a quick refresher.

Finally, if you’re like us and read everything you can find on David Allen and GTD, here are links to a few prominent news articles that discuss the productivity phenomenon.

• Wired Magazine
• Business Week (don’t forget to click through to Part 2!)
• Time Magazine
• NPR

Ever since we launched Viira 1.0, one of the most frequent comments that we received was “Great app! Now, how do I make it work with Outlook?”. Understandably, many of you are relying on MS Outlook for implementing Getting Things Done, and a comprehensive solution that transcends the boundaries of a BlackBerry device is clearly called for.

You requested it, and we listened. Over the last little while we have been hard at work on a combined BlackBerry-Outlook solution called The Viira Outlook Suite. In fact, it is almost ready for a beta launch!

At this point I would like to tell you more about what it will do, as well as give you a glimpse of how it will take your personal productivity and GTD workflows to a whole new level.  If you are interested in what a BlackBerry-Outlook GTD solution has to offer you can sign up for the Viira Outlook Suite updates - and maybe even help us a little by volunteering for our beta program.

Here is a summary of what our the Viira Outlook Suite will look like:

• BlackBerry *and* Outlook. The Viira Outlook Suite will contain both a BlackBerry app (Viira) and an extension to your Outlook. The extension (called plugin) will make it possible for you to do all the things you are used to doing with Viira inside your Outlook.
• Viira 2 functionality inside Outlook. The Viira Outlook plugin will provide the same features inside Outlook that Viira 2 currently offers, including projects, contexts and next actions.
• Full data upgrade path from Viira 2.  The Viira Outlook Suite will import all data from Viira 2 and people choosing to continue with the Viira Outlook Suite can do so effortlessly.
• Full purchase credit. Buyers of the full version of Viira 2 will get full credit ($29.99) towards the purchase price of the Viira Outlook Suite. We haven’t decided on pricing yet, but if the Viira Outlook Suite is say $29.99, then buyers of Viira 2 will get it for free. If the Outlook Suite is $39.99, buyers of Viira will be able to get it for $10.00, etc. So if you are interested in our Viira Outlook Suite and are also considering buying Viira 2, you might as well make your purchase now and enjoy Viira for longer.
• Same emphasis on GTD. Our Viira Outlook Suite will stay true to the principles of Getting Things Done, simplicity and ease of use.

So put down your name name and email address on our sign-up form and we will let you know as soon as the Viira Outlook Suite is available and ready for download. We all look forward to taking your productivity habbits and GTD workflows to a whole new level.

GTD is one of the world’s most popular work/life productivity systems, but despite all the examples in David Allen’s fantastic book, the system isn’t just for busy executives or creative entrepreneurs. Anyone can use Getting Things Done to help organize their lives, no matter if they are a stay-at-home dad or an on-the-go gal.

Don’t believe us? Well, the following examples may inspire you to apply the principles of Getting Things Done in ways that haven’t crossed your mind yet. With productivity tools like Viira and your BlackBerry, the multitude of ways to get things done is downright amazing.

@Book Recommendations - From Oprah to Arianna, everyone’s recommending a book. Keep track of the ones you want to read in their own Context. Adding a new book to the list is as easy as reaching for your BlackBerry.

@Travel Destinations - Make a note of the fantastic voyages you’ve seen in the newspaper’s travel section or on your friend’s slide show. When it comes time to plan the trip, just transform your notes into next actions.

@Supermarket - Manage your grocery list in Viira and you’ll always know what to pick up when you’re out and about.

@Resolutions - Write down your New Years resolutions. You will have them right on your BlackBerry to remind you - and then check them off the list one by one!

@Doctor – If you’re lucky, you only see your doc once a year. Make notes about all the items you want to discuss at your next checkup so nothing gets forgotten.

@Renovations – Anyone who’s tackled a remodel knows there are roughly five thousand details to keep track of, and Viira is the perfect place to do so. Just remember to always have one “kick-start action” to keep the project moving along, as David Allen recommends.

@Class – GTD isn’t just for working professionals. Students can also use it to take notes. Just create a separate context for each class and your notes will be at your fingertips during those late-night cram sessions.

@Take Notes — Next time you are at a seminar or presentation, instead of using pen and paper use Viira to take notes. Simply create a context, e.g. “XYZ Presentation” and write down points or follow-on reminders. You can review the presentation later, and even designate next actions for follow-up.

Remember, the guiding principle of Getting Things Done is to collect 100% of all your tasks and commitments, or “stuff,” as David Allen calls it. Your “stuff” doesn’t just live in the office—it’s all around you, and when you’re able to keep it all off your mind and at your fingertips with the Viira BlackBerry app, you’ll be free to focus on the bigger picture of staying focused in the new year and the new decade!

Congratulations! You’ve made the decision to adopt GTD and install Viira on your BlackBerry, the perfect pair of tools to make your work and home lives more organized and productive. If you haven’t already done so, we highly encourage you to read David Allen’s fantastic book, “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.”  It goes into detail on the best ways to incorporate the GTD system into your life.

But what now?  You have the tools, but how do you start organizing all of your commitments into GTD via Viira?  Fortunately, the app makes it a cinch.

Step 1: Collect your Commitments

The guiding principle behind GTD is to collect and organize 100% of your tasks and commitments, or “stuff” as David Allen calls it.  This process gets the details out of your head, freeing your mind to focus on larger issues and bigger projects.

All this “stuff” may be in the form of sticky notes framing your computer monitor or scrap papers in a junk drawer.  Or, like most people, your email inbox might be the biggest culprit.  If so, Viira makes it simple to get your inbox to empty by transforming incoming emails into actionable items.  Since the app works seamlessly with the BlackBerry’s native email program, you can easily create a task directly from an individual email.

Step 2: Organize and File

All the “stuff” you collect needs to be acted on, and you can organize it all using Viira.  You may want to consider setting up your Projects and Contexts first. David Allen defines a project as “any desired result that requires more than one action step.”  Contexts, on the other hand, are groups of actionable items that all need to happen together, like @Computer, or @StaffMeeting.

Once you’ve got a handle on those, you can start adding actionable items into the system as Appointments (items with a due date) and Tasks (items that aren’t time sensitive).  These can be filed as a specific Project or Context…or nothing at all, if that’s your preference.

Step 3: Daily Review

David Allen warns of the danger of putting reminders out of sight, and suggests frequent reviews of your lists to make sure you stay up to speed on all your items.  To combat this, he recommends a daily review of your calendar, as it provides a “hard landscape” of what has to be done that day. Viira makes this a breeze with the Day View that stays seamlessly in sync with your BlackBerry’s calendar.

Once you get a handle on your daily schedule, take a look at your Tasks View to see what else you can accomplish.  If you’ve organized your next actions into Contexts, one look at the Contexts View will show you the items you can tackle in your current location.

Step 4: Weekly Review

Don’t forget about the bigger projects you’ve taken the time to add into Viira.  A weekly review of these areas in Projects View will ensure everything is up to date. David Allen recommends having at least one “kick-start action” for each Project amongst your Next Actions, to keep everything moving forward.

This is also a good time to empty your head of all the new projects, actions and appointments you haven’t yet captured in the app, along with clearing out actions that you’ve completed.  Remember, when everything is off your mind and at your fingertips on your BlackBerry, you’re free to focus on the big picture.

Step 5: Take a Shortcut

Now that you’ve got a handle on all your tasks and commitments, become a power user of Viira! Make the most of your BlackBerry and GTD by learning a few of the hotkey shortcuts: you can check them out at the Viira shortcut information page.

As you continue to use Viira and apply the principles of Getting Things Done with your BlackBerry you’ll likely find that your mind is clear and you’re able to consistently and effectively manage all your commitments.  As long as you continue to aim for 100% collection of all your “stuff,” and transform it all into actionable items using Viira, you’ll stay in this wonderful relaxed and productive state.

Here is a small sample from some of the feedback emails we received since launching Viira:

“Very intuitive”

“Clean and easy to use”

“Simple, but yet with outstanding ability to get things organized”

“I think you guys have the first true GTD product for the Blackberry that actually works”

“Excellent piece of software”

“Love the app”

“…found it much better than the other task/getting-things-done applications that I have tried”

“It truly helped me ‘get things done’ “

“… and (big plus) appts entered in Viira show up on my today view!”

“Not exactly cheap, but worth every cent”

“Wow, with Viira you can do EVERYTHING all the little apps do”

“Love the product”

“Love Viira!”

Thank you everyone for the wonderful words! We are really appreciative of all the encouragement we have received and it makes us all very happy to hear that Viira is a productive addition to your day-to-day lives.

We promise we will keep up the hard work on our end and continue delivering productivity-enhancing features so you can always count on Viira to get things done with your BlackBerry. Stay tuned!

A while back Isaac Bowman wrote a great post on how to implement a system for Getting Things Done with BlackBerry by using just the Tasks application that comes standard on every device.

Isaac’s idea is a very ingenuous one, works reasonably well for small-scale GTD implementations (30-40 tasks or less and a handful of projects and contexts) and cleverly pushes the limits of the BlackBerry Tasks application pretty much as far as possible in my view.

Actually, in the early days of Viira development we used his post as our internal benchmark: if we wanted Viira to be successful, we realized it needs to be able to provide much more than what can be eeked out from the Tasks application.

At its core, Isaac’s idea of implementing GTD on a BlackBerry is fairly straightforward. To flag a task as belonging to a project or a context, encode the project or context name in the task name and use the search function to find all outstanding tasks for a project or context.

Another slightly more technical variation on this idea comes from Mike at Clutter Free Mind who uses the task names to encode a larger category of tasks, like work relating to specific clients for example.

A key problem with relying exclusively on the Tasks application for implementing a system for Getting Things Done with a BlackBerry is that the native BlackBerry apps don’t do a good job of combining tasks and appointments together. This makes having day-specific tasks, a requirement of any solid GTD system, that much harder to achieve.

Another problems with implementing GTD with BlackBerry this way is that a lot of extra typing is needed to get even the basics going. Switching between contexts or projects requires typing every time, and if you are a more involved GTDer your thumbs will start feeling it after a bit. For someone with a BlackBerry Pearl or Storm this can become an even bigger problem.

Also, when it comes to re-assigning tasks from one project to another or renaming projects or contexts the limitations of this approach of Getting Things Done becomes more obvious. Changing the project or context a task belongs to requires editing the task’s name, and renaming a project makes it necessary to re-edit the names of all tasks in that project.

If you are like me and have 30+ projects and start forgetting the exact wording of the projects’ names the entire process will become daunting in a hurry (in Getting Things Done David Allen talks about 30-100 projects being the norm). Mistyping a project name in the task field can cause that task to “fall off” the projects’ radar as well.

At the end of the day, the BlackBerry Tasks application was just plain not designed with GTD in mind. While some hacks can be used to augment the Tasks functionality it is hard to make them scale effortlessly to a larger, fuller and intuitive GTD implementation that works smoothly all the time.