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My lofi system isn't working as well as I had hoped. Help needed.
baraqyal | Apr 5 2007
I work full time (~50 hours a week) in addition to being a full time grad student at night. GTD clicked with me, and initially really helped reduce the stress. The problem is that my systems haven't been working out as well as I'd really like them to, and I was hoping to get some feedback from others who use similar methods to see how I can improve. I'll break it into a few different parts: On my person, I carry a moleskine ruled pocket notebook and a pilot precise V7 pen. I really like the look and feel of both of them. The moleskine is divided into a few sections. All pages are numbered and the first 6 pages or so are an index. From there, up to page 90, I have space reserved for various projects that I take on. Just little bits of information like "why I'm doing this", information like phone numbers/addresses/etc, and a list of actions for each project. Inside the cover of the moleskine, I carry two 3x5 cards. The sides are labelled like so: "Next@Home", "Next@School", "Next@Work", and the last side is divided in two "Calls" and "Waiting For". As I cross actions off the next action list, I go through and add new next actions from my projects. The second half of the moleskine is reserved for raw data capture. Phone numbers, maps of where I'm going, etc. At home, I have a tickler file and a box of a bunch of manila folders for various projects and information I want to keep. I also have a wire basket inbox. I have a calendar on the wall. At work, I also have a tickler file and file cabinets for information. On the wall is also a calendar. Here are my problems: On my person, I don't have a calendar. I tried printing out some on 3x5's, but they didn't seem to work. I tried carrying a seperate calendar, but that didn't work either. I don't know how to solve this issue, I need to be able to keep track of dates somehow. At home, I can't seem to get into the habit of regularly going to my desk. This is a big problem, because it means stuff stacks up in my inbox and my tickler file and calendar are downright useless. I can't seem to nail down a specific time to do a weekly review, because something always comes up. At work, my inbox keeps growing and growing. I have one very important process that takes up a huge amount of my time that I can't delay or give to someone else. While I'm working on this task, I'm constantly interupted and sidetracked. It's a struggle to keep up. In the meantime, I can't seem to find the time to go through other, less important projects and they keep getting pushed back in the tickler file. The main process is about 6" of paper that sits in my inbox and I can't seem to get it empty (I did about 3" worth yesterday, only to see it fill completely back up today.) I'm on the verge of completely dumping both tickler files. They just don't seem to be working for me, and are just causing a big delay in things getting done as I move things back further and further while I try to catch up. The calendars aren't working for me either. What can I do to improve my mess? Help! 5 Comments
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 A few thoughts: I'll start at...Submitted by Antemeridian on April 5, 2007 - 10:51am.
A few thoughts: I'll start at the bottom and work my way backwards. As for dumping the ticklers, I have a question. If you don't have the ticklers, where/how do you plan to track the actions/projects/items/etc. that are currently stored there? While they may not be the ideal situation at the current moment, do you have an alternative to try? I guess I'm thinking along the lines of don't go from something to nothing, even if the something isn't perfect. At least now, you're seeing those things you have in your tickler. Perhaps instead of just moving them back in the tickler, you need to look at the committment, and see if it is something that you must do and that must be done within the next week or two. If it can honestly be delayed, then move it back a month, and catch it at the relevant review points. But with the tickler there, you can trust that it will be seen in time. On the other hand, if its just as urgent, then it may need to be renegotiated. For the work inbox, you say that this is urgent and it must be completed, but you have trouble due to interruptions. Is it possible to block some time that is "interruption free"? I know that this isn't always an option (I still haven't found a way to do this, but its still a nice thought :) ), but it could be a way to get through it. If you could get say, half a day to work on this exclusively, then it may be easier to keep up with everything else. As to going to your desk at home to manage your home system, that's a tough one. There's a few options. One is the basic, just go there, but that's often easier said than done. Another option might (which may seem counterintuitive) would be to separate parts of your system from your desk. Maybe try things like moving the calendar to somewhere in the house where you're going to be anyways (kitchen, etc.) at which point you can look more frequently. Use this calendar as a partial tickler, for some items, even if its something where you might need to look at the original item, put a note reminding you that you have to go look at the full tickler. As for the weekly review, unfortunately all I can say is it really is the glue that keeps the rest of the system running. Then you know you're looking at your projects and doing the evaluating regularly. As for trying to book it, there's suggestions I've seen from booking conference rooms at work to do it, picking weird hours, etc. The key is just to keep plugging away. I know I sometimes have a problem doing my weekly review from 10-11 Friday AM, which is when I aim for it. If I can do it Friday, great. If I can't then its done as early as possible Monday morning. (Or since tomorrow and Monday are holidays for us at work, I'm going to try to squeeze in one this afternoon). The other problem is definately a calendar. Compactness seems to be the cornerstone of your system, so you'd need something small, but you didn't like the 3x5s. How about trying to find a template of some sort online showing the next month on one side, and the current week on the other, and print it out two-sided on a letter size sheet of paper. Then, with a little folding, voila, it can fit inside the moleskine, but you still have an easy to see view of the next relevant timeframes? As far as where these templates may be, you might be able to google them or something, or design one of your own. For some ideas, I think the Scrybe (iscrybe.com I think) demo video had some visuals of some of their PaperSync ideas, you might be able to work that into a lo-fi version. Well, I hope these help, and they weren't too random, but if you need clarification, just let me know! Cheers, Adam » POSTED IN:
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