I've developed a good habit (which I stole from Case) that has pretty much ruled my GTD system for almost a year now: SMS to Email.
Yes, most SMS plans include an email gateway (T-Mobile's has been known to crap out occassionally, but it's been better of late). Here's how to exploit it:
0. Get an unlimited SMS plan. Do it.
1. Get an Idea.
2. Open SMS app on your phone.
3. Instead of using a number for the destination, use your GMail address (or whatever GTD destination you employ, like a BackPack page).
4. Distill idea into 160 characters or less.
5. Send, then Forget About It.
Later, in the Batcave...
6. Categorize Idea in GTD system of choice.
(I also auto-label all messages from my phone into =Log.)
7. Get That Done, then Archive.
8. Enjoy Fruits of Labor (usually an apple, or sometimes an orange, or maybe a satsuma).
Thursday, February 08, 2007
SMS to Email
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6 comments:
Thanks for the hack! I was searching for an sms-to-email gateway, and now I see my carrier does it for me. I can't believe I'm the only comment. I may try the GTD under gmail or backpack too. Excellent!
This is cool. I've known some of this for a while, but I'm glad to see it getting out more.
I have the opposite need: we are considering setting up something to receive SMS to a dedicated number (don't care if it's a standard 10-digit, or a short-code) that we receive in an email. We would reply by email back to the person and their cell. This isn't marketing for us; this is a service we intend to provide to our patrons (we are a library).
I've looked at Red Oxygen and they mostly meet our needs, but I would love to see some other options, be they other providers or our own hardware (just not a hokey cell-phone-plugged-into-the-PC kind of thing and the AIM-method is too hard for some to remember). Any ideas, suggestions, or recommendations?
Thanks and keep up the good work!
Oh, and congrats on Leo crawling!
The iPhone does not let you enter the @ sign through the SMS app
Yes, I know iPhone won't perform this SMS to email function. That's why I employ a separate Twitter account, and send direct messages to myself which get posted to my Gmail for later consumption.
It's even simpler!
Although step 3 is the crux of your solution, I find that my phone will only accept numbers as the input for a SMS destination. This of course makes sense.
thanks! great post.
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