Thanks for any help.
I am a big list-maker. I make a list of all things I want to accomplish each and every day. If I get 50% of the list done, I call it a win.
Nope. You can multitask many things and switch between them, and remember dozens more, and come back to them.
You just have to practice it.
Don’t turn into a Biden and delegate your brain away. Not to people or to notes. Your brain does not need a crutch.
“Notes” can be useful for complex details. Make them condensed and concise.
No one wants to (re)read a book when they have to follow up.
Nowadays ... you can keep this list going, on your tablet.
You can also further prioritize items with an ABC method, in order of importance.
Not that I’m organized, or, anything 😜
Interestingly, one of the most helpful things I got from these books is that I was able to help a client win a lawsuit just by going back 10+ years and finding the exact date when a seemingly inconsequential but ultimately very important set of tasks had been completed.
I’m a huge notebook, calendar, and list guy. I find when I put in the effort to actually manage the list and also keep my notebook (which has meeting minutes, ideas, plans, etc) up to date that my productivity sky rockets.
I also figure out very quickly the things I don’t like to do and procrastinate at...as those things will make their way to the next day/week list until I force myself to do them.
However, I also find it wears me down very fast as I tend to overbook myself which leads to growing lists of things I ‘didn’t’ get done. This 2nd list follows me around and starts to wear down on me psychologically over time. At that point I’ll get away from the habit or force myself to do a hard reset in order to clear out the build-up.
I have found, now that I’m older, that I’m not as afraid to delegate the items that I tend to procrastinate about. I think it may be because I don’t see editing/advising my team’s efforts as burdensome....it’s enjoyable. This is especially true when you see the lights of realization in a junior colleague come on.
I try to make a list of 5 chores I want to get thru every day, a mixture of short easy ones, and longer ones. These would be things that are not every day or every week routine chores. It really does help to prioritize and not procrastinate. Five extra household chores a day isn’t much, but if there’s no time to get everything done, the things undone go on the next day’s list of 5.
(I had a school friend who did this; she said that if you get all 5 done, your list is too short :-)
Sounds like work
I once read to write down a list of EVERYTHING that is on your mind that needs to be done. It not only helps you prioritize, but it helps you to focus and reduces anxiety as now your brain doesn’t have to keep remembering what you didn’t get done. :)
My list of what I need to do grows much faster than it shrinks.
It takes me 10 times longer to do things today than 10 years back.
Maybe as my back surgery (doing well) I will get more productive.
I’m counting on it.
A huge benefit of listing, even if you don’t get to all tasks: You can stop wasting time trying to remember what you want do. Frees up the mind for more creative pursuits. Fact is, I will write a list of mundane tasks and set it aside just because I want to stop think about stuff I don’t want to feel guilty about.
It's easy to copy from the text files into emails if necessary. Word with .docx extensions works fine too.
It helps to separate sections with characters such as [][][][][][][] or ++++++++ that can easily be searched up or down with Ctrl+F.
TO DO lists are those that actually require a task to be completed. As each task is done, it's moved the end of the text file in the DONE/GOTTEN section with the date completed.
Scroll down to the text you're looking for or type Ctrl+F to open the Find menu
If using Find, type in a word you're looking for. Hit Enter, and hit it again if necessary to continue the search through the file
If the text is found, press the Esc key to close the Find menu
Select text, (Shift plus Up or Down arrows selects entire lines)
Ctrl+C or Ctrl+X (to copy to the clipboard or copy to the clipboard and delete),
Ctrl+End (to move to the end of the file),
Ctrl+V (to paste).
Ctrl+Home brings you back to the top of the file.
Ctrl+S saves the file with the changes.
Alt+Spacebar calls up the window menu and clicking C then closes the window.
LOGs are for notes related to something but don't actually require a task to be completed. For example, a Log for Work could include something like "Jim's last day." or "Satellite office closed".
For Example:
To Do Car
To Do Computer
To Do Family/Friends
To Do Health
To Do Hobby (like donate to Free Republic)
To Do Household
To Do Job / Career
Log Computer
Log Finance
Log Family/Friends
Log Health
Log Hobby
Log Household
Log Town/Municipality
Log Work
Microsoft Outlook Tasks works well for some tasks, especially recurring ones. You can set a task to pop up on such recurring bases as "Every weekday", "Every Day", "Monthly", "The last weekday of every x months", etc. You can also set them to "create a new task x days after the last one is complete".
Microsoft OneNote is good for things that might require images or tables but it doesn't work as well with the Key Commands.
Writing things down has been a big help to me. In a journal, or notebook, and especially a wall calendar with BIG squares. Everything bought or sold on the farm goes on the wall calendar. So then at tax time I’ve got back up!
I used to when I was working.
I would spend time in the morning and at the end of the day updating activities and what the next day’s work needed to be.
I ran my own company with some contractors. Keeping the “plates spinning on the poles” took some work.