Consistently getting things done
I’ve read David Allen’s fascinating book “Getting Things Done,” and even attended a 1-day class on the topic. I read posts on Gmail and other blogs about tools, techniques and processes people use to employ this system.
Where I work, I can’t bring my Palm T|E into the work area, so it sits in my mailroom inbox all day. I have struggled with various ways to have the information I need near me available in convenient ways, but am still grasping at a “system” for all of it. I’ve seen the DIY Hipster PDA forms - what a neat set of tools! I’ve looked at PigPog for their ideas on how to really use this approach. I’ve looked at 43 Folders and all their ideas. But… (you knew there had to be a “but” coming)
None of it feels like a “system” to me. It’s all bits and tools and whatnot that I use to try to remember all the things I’m involved in, what I should be thinking about, and what I’d better remember.
The realization is dawning in my mind that maybe, just maybe, that’s the problem - I shouldn’t think in terms of “building a system to get things done.” I should just look at what things I can use to remember, organize, motivate, and create (I’m sure there are more verbs to add here), then employ them where they make sense. The result will be my own “system.”
I found an article by John Perry, “A Plea for the Horizontally Organized”, that resonated with me. I’m not disorganized, I’m just differently organized that most. I’ve jokingly called it my “Rodale method” for organizing. You stack a layer of paper onto the pile, you turn the pile to look for thing periodically as you need them, and the stuff on the bottom just decomposes - much like a compost heap (with apologies to the Rodale Press).
Most of the time that works well for me. I do have pangs of guilt that I’ve not used one of the more complex, elaborate, multi-tooled “systems” to organize myself. Maybe the approach I’m taking is a “system,” just an unnamed, undiagrammed system so far. Maybe that’s what I’ll use this blog for - to diagram and review my system.
