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When 90% of my emails contain my todos
Javier Ferrand | Oct 16 2007
Hi, I've been a fan of GTD and have been using/trying to apply it for over a year now. I have a problem but first let me explain what I do: I work as an International Sales Representative ie. Agent/Broker for some industrial products, that is, I'm a bridge (middle man) between buyers in my country and sellers from overseas (big factories). Some facts from within my job are:
Problems are several:
To sum it up, I'm constantly getting behind with work, missing deadlines, neglecting important tasks from projects and hence, NOT getting things done. Can anyone give me an idea on how can I start organizing this? It seems easy or reasonable at first but once started, it gets out of control. Thanks. 8 Comments
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Whiteboard? Master map of all jobs?Submitted by solo on November 18, 2007 - 11:23am.
I suggest a lowfi solution to mapping the whole enchilada, then using email to track progress. If this job exists in email, it is creating more work to try to insist on "Inbox Zero" as a method. If you do all of your work in one office, and all of the jobs follow basically the same steps even though there are c. 40 of them one step you could take would be to simply keep a list of the jobs in front of you as a master map. A whiteboard where you can see them all at once? Rather than hoping to track all changes, you would at least have a map of the whole job. A model of this exists: the chef's list of tables and orders in a restaurant. Dupes with table numbers are printed out and then grouped. There is not alot of recopying info, but one look at the board gives the chef a virtual picture of the kitchen and orders coming in. You will have to use the email and other methods to keep track of small changes, but I think simplifying the job of tracking and seeing it as the critical component might help you. You might not get "mind like water" but at least you could swim with the flow a bit! Good Luck! » POSTED IN:
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