How do you to do? I mean, you have stuff to do, right? How do you remember to do it? Do you have the brain/memory capacity to remember everything you need to do each day? Or do you forgot lots of things? Maybe you have the ultimate to do list system? And do you worry about forgetting to do things? Or maybe you just don’t worry about not doing, to do’s?
I’ve been asking myself all of these question of late. There have been a couple of blog posts that got me thinking about this, one of which is here (check out my rambling comment!).
The one conclusion that I have come to is that I have relied on technology to remind me to do things for so long now, I’m incapable of doing it myself - my brain can’t handle it, most likely because it’s out of practice (it hasn’t been used in this way, so it’s forgotten), and possibly because it hasn’t been allowed to adapt to a world where there are literally hundreds of bits of ‘mini information’ being thrown at it from all directions at the same time, courtesy of the aforementioned technology.
I always have lots of things ‘to do’ but I suck at doing them. I make to do lists; most are in my email, some are in an online ‘to do list manager’ (which is embedded in my email), many are saved as reminders in my mobile phone, and very occasionally there’ll be one or two in my head. But as my to do list manager (software called Remember The Milk) so often reminds me, my ‘overdue’ list is always longer than my ‘to do’ list.
So, how do I fix this? Do I need to adopt a super-strict routine when it comes to ‘to do’s’, or perhaps I need to stop worry about it, and in the words of Nike ‘just do it’? Either way I’m not sure, and I’m swimming in a sea of ‘to do’s’.
How do you make sure you remember to get everything done?
Well…. you know how spazzy I am… so I hope these comments help.
Even though technology is great, I always rely on handwritten “To Do” lists. I find that the physical act of writing something down helps me remember it better and plus if you decide to write things down, then you need to specify and allocate ONE spot where all of these things are written down. I always have a notebook strapped to me at all times.
For work, I just have one notebook that I write everything down on. Each morning I start a new date and write down everything that needs to be done that day. If it didn’t get finished that day, then the next day I write it again on the list. I also enjoy the physical act of being able to cross something off my list. It’s very satisfying!
WRITE ON YOUR HANDS. It’s the only way. That and literally surrounding yourself with physical reminders like putting bills on the floor where you HAVE to walk over it. That way, you can’t escape thinking about it, and if you don’t allow yourself to wash off the reminder/move the stuff, it’ll eventually annoy you so much you’ll just do it. Part of my problem is that I never look at reminders in notebooks/digital things, so I literally need it in front of my face all the time.
That being said, that doesn’t help with actually doing it. That requires motivation, and is an entirely different issue. I think with some things you can let slip, but other things you just have to get on with I’m afraid! Don’t worry about say, not doing the shopping on a certain night - you can go the next day. But do worry about paying credit card bills on time, and things that actually have an impact on your life! One thing that helps is to save lots of things up until you feel super productive, then plough through. You end up feeling versy satisfied they’re all done.
Thanks for the suggestions ladies - I’m going to try various different methods and see which suit me best!
For as much as my personal and professional lives are heavily technocentric, I have always preferred paper-based action management. However you choose to track what you have to do, it’s a big help to extend your brain by getting these things out of your mind and onto lists. So don’t worry about keeping lists or forgetting how to mentally juggle all that you want or need to get done.
I read “Getting Things Done” and it’s the system I try to follow. I stumble sometimes, but I start right back up again because it’s really working. It may seem complex at first - because it is a system and not just lists and tools - but David Allen has always encouraged tweaking and adjusting and simplifying. The ideas I like best are the focus on next actions as opposed to vague projects masquerading as to-do list tasks, and questioning what’s really important to get done and why.
Good luck. I am interested in reading about your experiences with different methods.
http://jott.com/jott/how-to-jott.html
i don’t know if something like this would be useful or not, but i thought of you when i saw it :).
Thanks Amy - I’ll check it out!
let me know if you do, and if you like it. i’m thinking about it myself, because i can’t remember crap anymore. cheers!