ResultsManager Setup

Intro

Last Friday I had the pleasure of meeting with Kyle McFarlin, from Gyronix, about ResultsManager . I think the meeting went very well and I think me and Ryan connected on many levels. For one, we both are from the same area of Rochester Hills Michigan, or the Roach as the kids like to call it. (just goes to show you that despite my young age I am starting to lose touch with younger crowds). We both are always on the front of adopting new technology and making these connections was important in allowing both of us to see where the other was coming from. After our meeting I was not prancing around with my credit card in hand ready to surrender it to Gyronix but I do have a much greater appreciation for ResultsManager . It really is not just a “$285 plug-in” as I referred to it previously. I think that as my career progresses down its path (whatever that path may be) I will end up eventually having a nice reunion with ResultsManager. At that time I will embrace it with open arms and allow it to play a more dominant role in my organization of projects and activities than my current situation permits.


Just because I am not proclaiming ResultsManager as my hero in fighting clutter and activity management currently, does not mean it can’t have a profound affect in your life. There are actually many individuals and instances where I feel ResultsManager could significantly impact the process by which one tackles various projects they encounter. From a student’s perspective the incorporation of ResultsManager has to be viewed from a more abstract level. The application is clearly not designed for students but I think some may be able to find benefit from it. I personally plan to work with it as much as I can before my trial expires. I feel that any knowledge or insight I gain now may actually end up providing to be useful down the road when I find a more suitable situation for ResultsManager to unleash its powers.

Retreating back to the present for a moment I am faced with a bit of dilemma. I want to demonstrate exactly what ResultsManager is and how a student may potentially be able to benefit from it now. Since most of my support currently resides in the fact that I feel it will be of more value later it is very easy for one to clearly stop reading now and wait for that later moment. I also can’t promise it will become this wonderful tool later down the road as I am not a crystal ball. However, I can assure you that Gyronix ResultsManager is worth your while to look at. In fact the more time I invest in it myself the closer I come to breaking down and actually buying it myself. I guess I know I won’t be able to take full advantage of all its resources now but am so clearly convinced it will prove to be worthwhile down the road that I can see its initial overwhelming price tag as an investment in my future for many years to come.

When I first sat down to write this article I actually had a very difficult time launching the process and transcribing my thoughts to words. I believe this is because ResultsManager is such a vast program. Although it does sing in unison with MindManager it can carry its own tune. Of course no musical composition sounds complete without the entire ensemble and I suppose the same could be said for MindManager and ResultsManager . Only when the two join and work together can the full score be fully appreciated and enjoyed. Also, like any great musical piece there are many parts and layers. Attempting to describe just a few of these features does not give ResultsManager justice. I feel that even with a full one hour session with Kyle we were only able to dissect that first few layers. There many more topics I need to examine on my own before I can really sit here and give final judgment.

To prevent myself from writing a novel on ResultsManager I wish to only cover some of the very basics. I plan on revisiting this topic several times like I did with MindManger in order to reveal the entire story, but my goal for right now is to intrigue you enough to motivate a visit to the Gyronix website. My hope is this will cascade down to an eventual reading and personal discovery of ResultsManager. To get you started I plan to walk through the initial setup at this point. The setup is a very crucial piece to being successful with ResultsManager and was actually the first obstacle I ran into from my attempt to use it from a student’s perspective.

A student’s perspective is one of the dominant concepts I would like to capture as I share my experience with ResultsManager. I won’t be able to present the whole story in one article as there is just too much to cover but if you stick with me I hope to artificially create that “ah ha” moment where you can start to see the real magic behind ResultsManager.

As a student I often feel I hold a certain light to applications that can often reveal just how valuable a particular piece of software is to my fellow classmates. However, many of the concepts discussed and covered in these next few articles can be carried over into other areas. I even encourage you to look into other uses that may be more valuable to your particular situation. Personally I am currently investigating possible scenarios where ResultsManager may be helpful to doctors as they organize and manage medical and dental practices. I have taken a recent interest in these topics and feel I may be able to share knowledge with professionals that operate in the medical field. But that is more than enough background for now so lets get started!

Starting off with ResultsManager

I personally had difficulty getting started with ResultsManager and it was until my meeting with Kyle that the concepts behind ResultsManager actually started to become visible. (literally!) Even with my initial frustrations you may actually find yourself running into difficulties before even getting to ResultsManager . This is because ResultsManager is embedded within the MindManager program itself. You need to have a comfort level with MindManager before trying to add one more piece to the puzzle. Take some time before loading up ResultsManager to make sure you are comfortable with the basics behind MindManager. That way when you do install ResultsManager your experience will not be biased by a misunderstanding in general MindManager practices. ResultsManager even includes a MindManager Essentials PDF with the program so if you are new I highly recommend you take a look at this as well.

Once you’re ready to start your journey with ResultsManager the obvious question is where to start. I recommend you start with the express wizard. This will allow you to create many of the parts and labels that allow you to organize and work with your new map features. More importantly, it allows you to create your Map Central. This is going to be a very critical section as it’s your central hub, as I like to call it, which allows you to launch to and access all your other projects or classes. The Map Central that the wizard creates is probably not going to be all too useful the way they create it. If you’re comfortable with MindManager you may even be able to make your own. Please see the manual if this is the path you would like to follow. Using the wizard simply allows you to visually observe the premise of what the map central is going to be all about.

Setting it up

The Map Central that the wizard creates is not going to be all that helpful the way it currently stands. To customize it to fit your needs as a student it will require some tweaking. To first setup your classes you can start your organization off by going in two directions. You could have each class branching off from your main central, or you could create a topic/folder called classes and then place your classes here. Because I am currently trying to use MindManager and ResultsManager in all aspects of my life I use the former path. This is because I find that ResultsManager is most valuable when you have a large number of maps associated with activities. By incorporating it into my lifestyle, school, work, and a DorkoTech map it allows ResultsManager to really show off its stuff. If you only have a few maps associated with activities and prefer a daily to do list style then ResultsManager may be of little help. It really shines when you allow it see the whole picture, organizing all the different varying aspects of you life. Going in this direction is scary, especially for new users. For this reason I will proceed down the path where your classes are organized around your Map Central. This does not really allow ResultsManager to “show off” as much but again I feel is easier for students to relate to the first time they work with ResultsManager. Creating hyperlinks to maps and folders is important as this is what allows ResultsManager to scan all your maps looking for activities. You do this the same way you normally do in MindManager and again if your uncomfortable with doing so spend so time with MindManager alone or check out my first MindManger Video where I demonstrated how to do so.

Setting Up Your Classes

After you have created your Map Central and initial links to your classes it is now time to start filling in the pieces. Traditional ResultsManager terminology needs to be tweaked here in order for your maps to be more student friendly. A lot of the core concepts are going to remain the same though so don’t feel that reading that 200 page manual will be a waste of time. In fact reading the manual is something I highly recommend if you really want to understand ResultsManager and get the most out of it. When you go about filling out these details you may want to familiarize yourself with the Getting Things Done (GTD) style. ResultsManager is the best application for applying this system to MindManager and being familiar with the concepts may allow you to create more maps that work in better synchronization with ResultsManager . Typically non-task information is going to be found on the right hand side while task related activities and information should be placed on the left. Maps are also read in a left to right clockwise fashion. Of course you don’t have to adhere to these guidelines but if choose not to then when you start using ResultsManager to setup automated dashboards you may find yourself with maps that may be a bit more disorganized than you would like. Getting a grasp on the basics now will be key to your success with ResultsManager later. If you start becoming a power user you definitely will not regret the extra time invested to learn these fundamentals so it’s good idea to get in the habit of doing so from the start.

The first topic you may observe from my example is the creation of an In-tray. I’ll be honest and say I really didn’t understand the purpose of this the first time it was introduced to me. I just kind of shook it off as something I would not use. Lately, as I try to transform and reword aspects of my classes I am finding a need for the in-tray. For me, the in-tray is a place where I can throw just about anything. If I know I have a goal or project I would like to accomplish but have not taken the time to break down the steps to accomplish this goal I will first drop it in the in-tray. When I have time later I can do go back to and file it is a new project or relate it to one of my current projects. I think everyone may have their own purpose for the in-tray and if you’re really good about staying organized you may not even need one but since I always have things flying at me I would sometimes just like to record it down and place it in such an area. I can then worry about later instead of having to stress over where it should go right at the moment, especially if I am busy or working on something totally different and don’t want to interrupt my thinking process. Just don’t let do many things build up in there!

The second topic can be something labeled as Resources. This is a great place to organize the many files or folders that may be associated with a class. For example, in many of my classes I have ebooks, digital copies of figures, note cards, or handouts. All these could be considered resources and could have links to them in this section. This will allow you to separate things that you need to do from resources that help you in doing so. Although the two are related and probably can be linked together if you need to, it streamlines the process of seeing exactly what you have to. I like to consider this section as my toolbox. Organized within in it are all the tools I need to accomplish and complete all my activities and projects on the left hand side of the map.

The left side is typically used for projects. Although many students do encounter “projects” throughout the semester, many others won’t be able to make this connection. To accommodate this for students that would still like to try ResultsManager the term project is going to need to be re-worked. For example, one can assign the desire to get an A in physiology as a project. In my example I have choosen, I phrased my physiology project as earning a 3.7. Although it may seem weird to phrase it this way I’ve been told by phrasing the initial goal as a completed project increases the potential of success. This puts a positive spin on the project and I can understand why this is recommended.

Setup Complete!

Well I hope at this point you are starting to see the framework that we are laying down for ResultsManager . At this point it may just seem like a lot of work for nothing but I assure you that in my next few articles we will start to dip into exactly how ResultsManager can take the framework of maps that we have created to start to generate automated task lists and project tracking maps. From these we will be able to view our progress throughout the semester as we work hard to accomplish our projects or goals of getting a desired grade. We will also start to add subprojects to our main projects to more clearly define our goals and actions of each class.

This article has already started to become a bit lengthy and I did not want to overload you with too much information too fast. ResultsManager takes some time to a get a hold so a slow and steady pace is my preferred method to revealing the entire package. Hopefully a slow start will also allow you to ask any questions you might have early on so you don’t get too far behind all at once if things are unclear. I’m always open to comments or emails so if you have a question or comment feel free to drop one. I might not get back to you right away but usually am able to respond when I have some free time.

This setup process is also critical in allowing the resources of ResultsManager to start to take hold of our many activities and projects. This is another reason while I wanted to address only this the first time through. Starting out easy, and getting the basics setup I feel will allow a higher rate of success as you work with ResultsManager. Although this setup process may seem boring right now, I guarantee you that if you stick with me and ResultsManager you will start to discover the true value in ResultsManager .

In the next few weeks I hope to actually produce a Camtasia Video demonstrating this technique and setup as well as the numerous other features hidden within ResultsManager. I currently am waiting on a new license for the tablet as I would really like to produce the demo on that instead of my desktop. I also plan to follow up this article with a few more that really start to take a deeper look into using ResultsManager on a daily basis. I hope you found this setup and introduction at least some what interesting and hope you will stick with me as I continue my journey with ResultsManager .

posted by Jason Dorko at 3:42 PM 0 comments links to this post