Task Order Up in Two New Index Card Formats

By request, here are 3x5 and 4x6 card formats, suitable for printers capable of handing those sizes directly.

UPDATE: Made a tweak to the 4x6" edition for use with my own job-tracking setup...I needed to add contact information to each card. This is likely to be the official version from now on. Send feedback if you're trying these out and need an adjustment.

Instructions for Printing

I tested these on my Canon Pixma IP5200R on blank index cards. The setup (Windows XP):

• Selected the reduce to fit printer margins options in the Acrobat print dialog.
• Also went into the Printer configuration (Printer->Properties) to set the paper size to 4x6" or 3x5" (portrait), depending on the media I was printing. You might want to make sure your printer can really handle this; some smaller sizes aren't recommended depending on the model of printer you have.

As a bonus, I put interactive text fields into the 4x6 format, so you can type in your text in Acrobat before printing the forms. If people like this, let me know and I'll start retrofitting this to the older forms.

The results look pretty good...I like it a lot. Cheap to print, sturdy, and no cutting necessary! Rock!

Download 2008 1-Up Task Order Up! Layouts

» 3x5 Card Version
» PCEO-TOU-3X5-1UP.pdf

» 4x6 Card Version
» PCEO-TOU-4X6-1UP.pdf

NOTE: 2008 brought a design change; however you can still download the 2007 version of 3x5 and 4x6 forms.

Enjoy!

» More on The Printable CEO Series

Comments

i do like the interactive text. i like my handwriting (most of the time) but find if i have a typed task list i’m more apt to follow it, not fully sure why.

of course i put some card stock through my pixma i4000 the other day and now the printer is making funny noises… (it never complained before) so i’ll see if i can get it to grab some 4x6’s.

you are amazing. thank you dave!

——-

This TPC series is totally addictive, Dave! :-)

How about an XML hook into the PDF’s - I’d be able to hack up a “ToDo-List-Extractor-Watcha-Ma-Call-It-Thingy” with the Basecamp API to generate pre-printed cards..?

psg: The 3x5 cards had some issues in my printer because the edge curled up…I had to smooth them and curl them gently downward at the corners (like a slight frown), otherwise the print head hits the card corners (which can’t be good). The 4x6 is a nice size…I can’t believe I didn’t know there was a bigger format. And it’s a nice aspect: 3:2!

chriztian: that’s a great idea! I had no idea that Acrobat had SOAP/XML hooks in it until you just suggested this! I just downloaded the Acrobat Javascript Guide and Acrobat Javascript Reference. So now I have to figure out how SOAP calls work in Javascript! I have a bit of other work to get out of the way first. Let’s see what we can get going!

Dave -

This Task Order Up! set has finally struck home with me.  I tinkered with some of the other PCEO tools, and while they are great, none seemed to strike a cord with me the way this one has.  Actually I’m using the TOU! and TPT in conjunction.  Use the TPT as the master list of project tasks (or high level tasks) and the TOU! for the details of the individual tasks.

I like the fact that you have included an estimated hours box, that will be great for tracking accuracy in work estimates.  I’ll be interested to see how I do in the next few months.

The TOU! makes great use of space, and while the cards are something I may do at home, the 3 ups on 81/2 x 11 are great for work, where I can’t print custom sizes easily.  I can tack them up on my tack board just like the ticket holder you’re using.  And if I need to make notes?  Take it down and write them on the back….

Hey, what about putting together a duplex version with notes space and the 10 point scale on the back?

Anyway, thanks for all of these great tools!

Great to see these new formats. I’m yet to actually try the task order up, but this week I’m going to try and get to the cash-n-carry to obtain a bill rack. Recently I’ve been using kGTD (Kinkless GTD). All very good. But I still find physical things work better. Onscreen stuff is so easy to ignore in minimise.

Hey Damien: not familiar with kinkless gtd…I’ll check it out!

3 things:

<ul>
<li>Kinkless GTD prints action and project lists to index cards (with a little tweaking), so I’m experimenting with adding the TOU! to the mix.

So far, I’m not certain it fits well at all, although I want it to… it’s just so pretty. :)</li>
<li>I’ve been just using the PCEO to track what, during the day, was “worthwhile,” and would dearly love an index-card-size version of that.</li>
<li>I took a picture of it, anyhow. :)</li>
</ul>

Dave,
The 3x5 single cards look great.  Unfortunately, I have yet to see them in color as I need to run out and pick up new color cartridges.

Thanks!

How about an undated version? That way I can scribble whatever year in the date field?

Links to PDFs are broken.