GTD and Google Notebook: Ten Features I Absolutely Pine For

As longtime readers know, I’m a big fan of Google Notebook, and GTD.  And, as cool as hitting ALT-N is, there are critical features missing from notebook that would make it even more glorious as a thought organization tool–without changing the basic “ultra simple ethos.”   Maybe the folks at Lifehacker can help a guy out and make a better Google notebook.  Now that Google Docs are finally usable, let’s turn some attention to the truly remarkable ap that Google made–the notebook. 

I’m a fan. 

1.  Make A Default Notebook–as an option in lieu of the last one you were in.  Wouldn’t  it be fabulous to have a setting that ALWAYS puts stuff in your default notebook?  For me, it’s unprocessed things.  From there, my notes find their places in the appropriate folders.  A lot of times i have a ‘read later,’ list, and if I was in THAT notebook, it will undermine me. 
2. Hotkey for notes.  It’s possible that my FF install is wonky, but after some update, it stopped allowing me to hit ALT+N and just type away.  Now I have to click or activate the notebook tab, and that’s a serious PITA.   This is a MINIMUM.  Alt N and type, and alt N again to shut down.
3. Global Hotkey to put stuff in notebook:  Double click-ctrl is a godsend for “search”  Double click alt or something to fire notebook up real fast.  No hands off the keyboard…just double click alt, type your note, and resume.  This COLLECTS those thoughts and prevents thinkers from being interrupted. 
4. Allow Different Locations in Firefox for the Notebook Along the bottom bar.  Since I’m in Google aps a lot,  I get this notebook showing up a lot.  It covers up conversations, messages, etc.  Let’s move the notebook to the far left instead of the far right so we can use it live and in real time with the other stuff that we’re doing.
5. Copy Between and to multiple notebook feature.  Some things belong in more than one place.  I like tags ok, but I like having notebooks that have as much as possible.  I might have a bunch of things that are in my unprocessed things that I both want in my “reference” notebook, and my “web design” notebook.  Making multiple notes quickly copy to other places is the best possible feature.
6. Different/Better Sharing: Let’s put a social feature in: one place or setting  that is ’shared,’ for anyone that wants it.  Notes can be dumped in privately and toggled public or something–as a setting.  I know we can share noteboks, but there might be ten notes and we want to share 7 of ‘em all under ‘blog post ideas.’
7. Email This Note.  Way more useful than “add a comment”  I mean, seriously, add a comment?  To notes.  In your notebook?   Emailing a note to a buddy in a “reader-simple” way should be part of it.
8. Right click-copy from clipboard in ANY application:  There are times that I have images, times that I have links, times that I’m in a word document and want to save some text.  Right click, copy from clipboard.  Pictures, songs, etc…can be ‘duly noted.’   I don’t know quite to do about open office, but we’ll figure it out.
9. Sound, baby, sound: This might be a reach, but if it could let me turn my mic on and “Jott” stuff into notebook, oh, how would that work. 
10. Better keyboard navigation:  I am a J-walker in Google Reader.  I want notebook to have the same jump around ethos that the rest of reader has.

I want all of these, all at once. 

A prior post on this subject:

http://genuinechris.com/2008/02/07/how-i-use-google-notebook/