Running my day to the maxx 4 April 2013

I start my day by writing a To Do List as I drink my morning coffee. Sometimes I even start my list the day before, especially if I have appointments and need to work out traveling time, factor in child procrastination time etc. I keep the list somewhere I will be using several times a day, (near the kettle in my kitchen works best for me!).  I cross off what I have completed as I finish it. If other unplanned tasks are done, I tack them on the bottom of my list & cross them off. When interrupted, I refer back to my to do list (this is truly a Bacon Saver). When feeling overwhelmed and distracted, I pause. I have a drink of water, and walk down to the letterbox and back, stopping to smell

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

any flowers that might be blooming. I grab a pad & pen, and do a mind dump of what is on my mind, even if it’s just a whine. Then it’s OUT of my mind. I’m free again to attempt to concentrate on my priority tasks, until the next interruption. Rinse, lather, repeat.

I use the “do today” section of the  Home Routines app with what’s come out of my Toodledo app. I then write my paper to do list from that. Er, on a good day. Lol.

I use a hash of different organisational methods for my personal peace of mind and paper clutter control. I use aspects of Sandra Felton’s “Messies”, David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” (GTD) and Mary-Anne Bennie & Brigitte Hinneberg’s “Paper Flow” system. I really like GTD but there are parts of the system I know I won’t get to, maybe ever,  like high level reviews and the like. I am not comfortable with keeping comprehensive reference files as I have too much out of control paper as it is. The GTD concepts of Mind Dump and Lists are superb. Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims “Vertical In Tray” concept for corralling miscellany is another essential for keeping crud off my desk. Paper Flow keeps stuff flowing though, apart from the filing tray which tends to get overloaded.

My paper is taking over!

I find my filing gets overloaded really because I am lazy/busy.  If I could just get my hands on the hole punch right away without having to find what box I buried it in, and other excuses, then less than 5 minutes per day would take care of it. And I know this.  But still …

Productivity P@wn 23 August 2011

I succumbed to the allure of the new and shiney a few months ago. My excuse was that my dear husband encouraged me, and now that I was back in corporate slave-Dom I needed something portable to keep me organised on the move.

So, I ordered an iPad2. I had to wait for it to arrive, but that gave me time to research all the amazing fabulous apps that I had high hopes would wave the mythical magic wand and get me organized.

I found a lot of great sites with excellent information. And I splashed out a few dollars on a magazine dedicated to iPad2 which was a great way to find out what my new toy would be able to do when it did arrive.

For starters, the clever people at makeuseof.com provide me with oodles of information in my inbox to read offline, and they feature lots of apps, particularly free ones. Then there are the clever lifehacker.com dudes who are not just iDevice aficionados but feature all sorts of great free ideas for life in general, as the name suggests. Their vodcasts (snappy new word meaning video-podcasts) are great entertainment – they taught me about using the humble bulldog clip as a cable management device!

The GTDtimes.com forums are full of wonderful discussions on productivity and that’s where some bright spark wrote the term I used as a title for this entry. I could spend hours reading about how other people do things, instead of actually doing stuff myself, but hey, it beats watching my husband channel surf in the evenings when there’s “57 channels and nothing on” (sang Bruce Springsteen once).

I initially decided to only use free apps, but having found toodledo’s website free service to be an indispensable GTD (getting things done) tool on my Windows notebook, I decided their app looked like a good value purchase to integrate with the website. It’s proven it’s worth. There are lots of others out there that integrate with toodledo though. But as a todo manager, the ability to import a whole page of straight text tasks at once (I exported Outlook data) on the website can’t be beat.

I’m proud to say I am a follower of flylady. I wanted to keep my flying household stuff separate from other to-do items so I invested in the Home Routines app. I love how it tells me how many items I’ve done. (Nobody else notices, but home routines does, lol).

I needed something to allow creation and editing of Micro$0ft word and excel documents so I sprang for DocsToGo. It’s a little odd getting used to but it does the job. Micro$0ft have a free OneNote app but from what I gather it only integrates with the 2010 version of desktop OneNote. As I have 2007 and no need to upgrade they can keep it! Boo.

I downloaded Friendly as a FaceBook interface but it keeps freezing or losing posts and comments and it has a character limit too, so I have given up and use FaceBook in safari for now.

At the time I was looking at apps it looked like Goodreader was the only PDF reader that kept in doc annotations and let you add them as well, so I sprang for that and it has not disappointed me.

So, what free apps am I using on my iPad2? The inbuilt calendar. The inbuilt notepad. The inbuilt FaceTime and Safari. Skype, Evernote, Springpad, Woolworths, Twitter, DropBox, Messenger (for Windows Live Messenger), pcalclite, readitlater, auspost, dragon (free voice to text – by the big$ dictation people!), makeuseof, WordPress, (app for the social book worm site), boxcar (as an rss aggregator), iPad tips and tricks lite, bloomberg, Iconverter, Kj to calories, trip advisor, temp convert, currency plus free, my fitness pal’s calorie counter & diet tracker, Hoyts Movie App, Napuru’s excellent relaxation apps. And that’s just the productivity and lifestyle apps.

Then there are the potential time wasters, like games, recipes, makeup Styling, photography editing … I won’t go into those, as I’m sure anyone reading this will soon be app store surfing with the best of them!

You can’t take a Kindle in the bathtub 1 April 2010

I know these new-fangled e-book readers are a great idea. BUT. Having dropped many a book and magazine in the bubbles (and the bath is one of my favourite places to read) it makes the limitation of electronic reading devices really obvious. Unless those smart people over at otter box hurry up and design a case for them that lets you operate the buttons correctly?

So I spent the last few weeks with my head in books. Real books. I ordered “Organizing Your Day: Time Management Techniques That Will Work for You” by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims

Sandra Felton & Marsha Sims' "Organizing Your Day" Book

from Emporium, my favourite Aussie online book seller and couldn’t wait for it to arrive. When it did I didn’t leave it alone! I got so much out of that book, so many good ideas and insights into my own character when it comes to procrastination and the reasons why I do that. The three biggest changes that spring to mind that I have put in place after reading this one is finding my most productive time of the day v. my worst and scheduling the important things in the morning when I’m at my best and the more mundane stuff like laundry folding, for the afternoon. Then I drew a giant mind map, which is great but doesn’t go into enough detail for me to schedule stuff so I started a project management file, breaking down the things I am working on into good old babysteps. And then a light bulb moment hit. Telephones. I really really procrastinate about making phone calls because the house phone is usually not in the same room as I am, and I often have to hunt to find where it’s been left (not by myself) or it’s out of battery or I go to fetch it and get sidetracked by the dog or something. Sad but true. And I won’t make business calls on my mobile because of the cost, especially if I’m likely to get caught on hold. So I dragged out the old curly cord one with no fancy stuff on it, just buttons and a receiver and plugged it into the old caller ID box still on my credenza next to the computer. Oh what a great move! It’s next to the mouse, and every time it rings I just have to reach over and grab it and everything I need to take a note or answer someone’s query is right here. 😀

That one got me so excited I ended up in Kikki.K spending some Christmas Money I had left. Lol.

Lissanne Oliver's "Sorted" organizing book

And they had books back in stock. I bought “SORTED! The ultimate guide to organising your life – once and for all” by Lisanne Oliver which has more wonderful ideas than you can poke a stick at. But particularly I like the project for organizing those receipts you have to keep for tax or expense claims or whatnot. Simply glue them on sheets of A4 printer paper!! OMG how simple! Divine!

While in Kikki.K I also purchased “Paper Flow: The Ultimate Guide To Making Paperwork Easy” by MaryAnne Bennie and Brigitte Hinneberg. Paper Flow had me jumping out of the bathtub to grab lined post-it-notes™ and a pencil to start making notes immediately. I was so enthusiastic I wanted to get that system up and running then and there. The beauty of the paper flow system to me is that after a bit of babystepping to adapt your existing systems, it is very simple to maintain when slotted into your daily routines. No brainer obvious things like opening your mail every day and immediately dumping it in the relevant folder (not forgetting that big round one called RUBBISH BIN) so that on the day you schedule to do whatever folder that thing gets DONE. If you don’t “DO IT NOW” and they stress that you should always do things right away if you can, but if you can’t, this system is there to save your bacon. I adapted

Paper Flow Book

my existing desktop step file system to run with “recurring action files” (love that idea) and am in the throes of adapting my suspension file system to suit the author’s brilliant concept of “reference files” which also gives me an excuse to THROW MORE PAPER CLUTTER OUT. I am consolidating several files into one category with an index. Oh I love it.

More as I progress through the Paper Flow 28 Day Challenge (at my own pace, not just 28 days cos they say so. ;p)

And now I’d better get on with what I was procrastinating about by writing this book review blog entry. I have to work on DS1’s computer, it looks like it needs a new hard drive and therefore a reinstall of Windows and all those fiddly drivers. Sigh. Being a boy he wants it fixed NOW.

Of shoes, champagne, makeup and handbags 13 February 2010

Evidence that once I had a brain (or that I knew how to use it!)

I’ve been decluttering and shredding my way through 5 years of taxation records and contracts and all sorts of other evil papery things that were lurking in boxes that I did not even realise I had. I thought I’d been pretty thorough in paper control apart from “a box or two” until I got both kids off to school and had time to open that scary cupboard of mine.

My poor old shredder keeps overheating. At least now I have discovered it actually has “duty cycle 2 mins on 4 mins off” written on the bottom so I know to set my timer for 2 mins of shredding before taking a break so I’m getting through it faster than I was for the entire week preceding today. *shame*

This sort of paper accumulation is the direct result of having kids. A sort of knock on effect. You have a baby, a large proportion of your life then goes to the care and entertainment of said offspring. Necessitating other areas of your life being pushed to the side. Regularly throwing out old papers after their taxation use-by date being one of them.

Bag four of HOW MANY ?

But what has made me smile, and at times cry is the things I’ve found.

Once upon a time I was able to complete my own taxation return, back when I only had to claim self-education expenses and some other simple things, however the bit that really stunned me was that I was able to work out what my Medicare levy was, what my estimated refund would therefore be, and I was 100% correct. My god, I can barely count to 100 these days before something or someone interrupts me and I can’t remember what I was doing.

A copy of payslips with my address in a foreign country written on them. Intrigue!

Some hilarious and beautifully written pieces of TAFE homework. I even wondered if “publicist” would be a possible career choice until I thought it wouldn’t be fun at all because you’d be trying to put a spin on someone else’s evil doing or silly products that you don’t agree with people wasting their money on, LOL.

Photographs from before DH and I were engaged. Tee Hee!

A print out of a very funny e-mail thread between BFFL and myself concerning arrangements to sleep on the floor of my empty flat and go nightclubbing. OH MY GOD I USED TO HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE!!! Oh those were the days! Dressing up!  Outrageous Shoes! Cute Handbags! Makeup! Champagne! I think Loud Music is the only thing I still have these days!

Letters and postcards with exotic stamps from good friends and people who were friends but have been lost in the mists of time. I’ve decided to keep the stamps I’ve cut off and turn them into decoupage on a wooden box. The wooden box will be something to do with writing I think.

But the most amazing thing is that I am now starting to have ideas about a possible business I could start, and what sort of things I need to consider and research before I take the plunge. Wow this is amazing.

And the pink panel of the hexagonal quilt is finished. I’m pinning together what’s probably going to be the last panel! End is in sight!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring, there goes the timer. Time to start shredding again!

This morning is the day after the next 8 January 2010

Lyric title courtesy of Chicane from “Come Tomorrow” off their Somersault album.

Hello Blog, sorry for the neglect.

Why does WordPress always bleep about with my password and not want to let me in?

I am compelled to blog that I am actually feeling pretty peaceful at the moment. I’m plodding along doing the same old things as always, but more progress is being made on projects and ongoing things like the paper monster. Routines are actually making life simpler. Meditation is helping keep life on an even keel and a fair amount of credit must also go to the stuff that my fabulous naturopath has put me on.

Christmas was a surprise. Dad had to go into hospital on Christmas Eve with a systemic infection resulting from a simple test he had done 3 days prior. He was looking pretty frail and on intravenous anti-biotics for about a week and a half. He wasn’t let out of hospital until after New Year. I drove my Mum up to the hospital on Christmas Day and we were allowed to take Dad home for a few hours to share in the family meal at my house. My dear DH had had this passionate desire to cook a big Christmas Dinner like his family used to have, so I had minimal kitchen duties on the day thankfully. Everything went smoothly, presents were dispensed, too much food eaten and then it was over. Friends and relations visited, and had over to visit. Friends from the UK had to go home early because the pipes burst in their house (hope things weren’t too bad when they got back, we haven’t heard yet). And in the first mail after Christmas I received an exciting surprise parcel from snowy environs – 2 discs full of Chicane, old dance music and live bootlegs. Oh aural bliss!

At some quiet point in the days following Christmas, with DH home on holidays, I was able to make sense of the “thing” that had bred in my “In” tray. I sat down with paper notebook, the shredder, a large outdoor garbage bag, a pad of post-it-notes™, a big black autograph texta, some spare hanging file folders and my new temporary file sorting box – a beer box taped up with packing tape, LOL.

Temporary in-box sorting system

I brainstormed with myself for a few minutes to come up with minimum important categories that i needed for the sorting system. I already have the vertical in tray set up (green plastic box on the left – thanks to Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims) so I needed a folder for stuff to go in there, one for things to go into Evernote, one for Urgent Action items and two for filing – one for “investment” because those have their own files and one for “other”. Receipts, bank statements and bills have their own folders in my desktop pedestal so I put that next to the beer box. It only took about 2 hours and it was done. Three quarters of the stuff in the in tray became garbage/rubbish/trash. Wow.

Another day I sat for an hour and fixed up the actual filing cabinet (new shiny plastic sleeved index printed out sitting in the front of the beer box). Pulled out any irrelevant old files. Made new ones for all the things that had been stuffed into tidy files and shoved into the front of the filing drawer. Then typed an index for the filing system, something that has been urgently needed for the last 12 years *gulp*.  And based on the contents of what had come out of the in tray made some new files for things that need to be kept and should be put away immediately they come in.

So now I have achieved a huge amount of mental peace because I *KNOW* there are no unpaid bills hiding, nothing else urgent that has not been dealt with, and anything that should be in my diary and calendar has made it there. If I need to find anything I now have a chance of doing that within 5 minutes and without disturbing anything. I can’t describe how *GOOD* this feels. Even more amazing is that I managed to get these things done with children home on school holidays. Because I have done a lot of babysteps already towards things, done some decluttering, researched methods of organizing and paper control and decided to make decisions quickly without agonizing about them. I’m looking forward to the day when I have a clean desk and can post a picture of that. (STOP LAUGHING!)

Now if I could just get the Christmas Tree down and packed away, LOL . . .