I can partition my mind

[jack]

I realised that despite having several good weeks my todo lists got left behind, and I found I had half a dozen urgent things. This is the point where it breaks down so I went back to update them. I am still questing for the perfect system for me.

I restructured slightly. I split everything into four, in one place (though now text files instead of gmail draft :)) I have a separate file for:

"Productive stuff" -- Anything which needs to get done, eg. buy a bike, finish the computer game, pay bills.
"Social stuff" -- Not necessarily distinct from the first, but email people, arrange parties, get to the round, etc.
"Spod" -- Ideas I've written down that should get written up and excreted onto my livejournal, or hived off into my fiction plot folders, or thought about.
"Work" -- Actually stored entirely separately on my laptop at work, but logically here in the hierarchy.

The idea is, each should be prioritised, with stuff at the top labeled as "do by [today's date]", and "do by [weekend's date" etc, and some "need to do by october," etc. But unless the shit really hits the fan, I should always be doing something on each each day. Writing a book and going to the someone's party are different sorts of urgent, and I might have to choose one or the other, but that choice should be clearly forced on me, not implicit by collapsing several degrees of freedom into one by ranking everything in one file.

However bad things are, I need *some* social life, but I need to get things done too. It was hard deciding what I needed to do this week when things clashed, and because social life naturally refills a todo I could not notice I wasn't actually achieving anything :)

While I'm sharing, other text files I organise things into you may be amused to hear about include:

"To Wiki" -- Things I heard about and need to look up. Eg. "So who is Herodotus?" My hearing about him and wondering who he was was some time before I was bored, and browsed his entry on wikipedia. If I don't have this, when I browse wikipedia it's entirely random. By extension, this file also has knowledge to be acquired from elsewhere, eg. "What do you call a chain tool?" (thanks, Mobbsy!) and "How are utility bills proof of anything when you can just print one out yourself?"

"To amazon" -- Books (or films) I've seen recommended and need to either look up and see what I think, put on my list to read one day, or order next time I order anything.

"Rec books" -- Books everyone must read. Having them here saves thinking every time I'm asked that. It used to include films, but I couldn't actually think of any films I think everyone *must* see, even if I'm surprised if they haven't.

"Quotes & snippets" -- Things I've seen or heard someone say, or I've said, that I liked and think need to be saved. They generally get thrown into lj posts or at various quotefiles at some point. This is not an ideal solution -- I need some kind of distillation to find ones funny out of context, and which are only funny to me.

Comments

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

"excreted onto your LiveJournal"... now, come on, that's a bit strong. I don't think that what you write is in any way excremental. :-)

I, too, keep a to-do list in a text file, but only at work. I don't have enough social life to need to organise it!

"excreted onto your LiveJournal"

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I consdiered "secrete", but decided "excrete" was funnier. In fact, the meaning is somewhere between the two because the purpose is dual: I want to get the ideas out of my head where they're taking up valuble thinking space, but I also hope people enjoy imbibing them.

I don't have enough social life to need to organise it!

Well, it doesn't take much to need so. I include replying to personal emails in this category, of which there are normally several, and which my inbox is not quite sufficient to organise. Add about a saturday night something that often needs to have people phoned on wednesday, and a "I really should go to the round again, it's fun" and it's enough that I forget it, especially if I'm juggling work and stuff-to-do as well.

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

I don't actually know what "spod" means. But, being online, I went to Google and it gave me this test to see Just How Big A Spod I Am. I scored 24%, was not enlightened as to a definition of "spod", and discovered I also don't know what a "talker" is :-(

Re: getting things done, I am quite a fan of the ideas in David Allen's Getting Things Done. I have never implemented it properly, but it has given me lots of useful tools (note down everything you can think of to do, and you won't need to waste brain capacity storing it and running memory refresh cycles). Most importantly, I realise I have trouble getting things done because I take on way more than I can physically, mentally or emotionally do. Just because I can do a manic all-nighter and work like a fiend, doesn't mean I can maintain this productivity!

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

In this context, "spod" means "write about in my blog". In cambridge, it tends to have the meaning "be social online, often by posting to a blog such as lj, but also emailing people or being on irc". However, which until recently I didn't know, outside cambridge it tends to mean "waste time on the internet".

Obviously, relative to non-internet activities those are fairly similar, but relative to internet activities they're almost opposite. This confused me immensely the first few times I told mum I was spodding.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

*adds to to "To Wiki"* :) Thank you.

(note down everything you can think of to do, and you won't need to waste brain capacity storing it and running memory refresh cycles). Most importantly, I realise I have trouble getting things done because I take on way more than I can physically, mentally or emotionally do. Just because I can do a manic all-nighter and work like a fiend, doesn't mean I can maintain this productivity!

This is all very familiar, yes; I think those I've pieced found from myself/other advice sources.

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

After finding GTD on Wikipedia, I found "spod" there too. And thought: Isn't Wikipedia useful, I should make it my home page - then every time I log on, I will - er - get horribly distracted by endlessly clicking on whatever my idle thoughts come up with. No, I think I'll stick with http:\\www.eastercon2006.org for the time being - remind me to get some work done on it!

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

I am also a fan of GTD, although I also haven't implemented it properly; the "take a day and organise everything" approach is a little too disruptive for my tastes. I don't think I can do it in one day because there is simply so much physical stuff to deal with. Three days would be more like it. If I can actually take three days in a row off of studying, teaching, busking and practising, I'd like a holiday.

So, I've been whittling away at the paper filing for a while now, fifteen minutes at a time, and I find it extremely useful - for paper. Unfortunately the filing system is less effective for filing things other than paper, such as my laundry, craft supplies and so on. The paper stuff of my life is getting more organised, but the stuff that isn't A4 and flat is still very messy.

I've been keeping separate lists for 'projects' and 'actions' and this is helpful. I also find the idea of having the action list context-oriented quite useful, although sometimes with deadlines and so on I need to force a context in order to get things done. Most useful, I think, is having a 'someday/maybe' list. I don't have a physical file for it yet, just a list on my PDA, but being able to compare 'someday/maybe' with 'current projects' has helped me shift far more of the current projects without either getting completely distracted by someday/maybe stuff, or forgetting my good ideas for someday/maybe stuff. This is moderately important for me.

So, yes. GTD is good.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I haven't read all of it, just skimmed the summary, but it seems eirily similar to what I've been coming up with myself, so I want to see. I think I was before that put off by someone mentioning "do something that takes less than 2 minutes immediately" because I read that as "as soon as you think of it", which is exactly one thing I was doing wrong before, rather than "put it on the list, but when you do the list, do it immediately" which makes perfect sense.

the "take a day and organise everything" approach is a little too disruptive for my tastes

My approach was to get everything written down *somehow* asap, but not try to worry about details then (eg. I might have an entry for "deal with pile of paperwork", but not try to break it up yet), just so I know there's nothing really urgent missing. Then turn "do" tasks into "schedule" tasks, so I'll do really really urgent things, but mainly choose days in the future when I'll do a *bit* of breaking down tasks into chunks and deciding when they're due, etc.

The paper stuff of my life is getting more organised, but the stuff that isn't A4 and flat is still very messy.

I know what you mean. Nearly everything I have can be on computer, so bits that aren't get left out. I have rubber banded collections of post. And laundry, washing up, etc, is just in bag or tray by draining board, or whatever, but with a note on the computer saying "do it wednesday" :)

I've been keeping separate lists for 'projects' and 'actions' and this is helpful

That makes sense. Ideally I would have a Really Simple database that lets me view "actions per project per day" or "actions per day per project".

Most useful, I think, is having a 'someday/maybe' list.

Yeah. I haven't got this working yet, but I push everything that doesn't need to be done now into a "Agh! Think about this in 2007," file, when supposing I have become organised, I can pick ones I most want to do and move them to actual doing.