Organize IT

The weekly review is a common productivity practise. It basically involves putting time aside to figure out what’s happening in your life, chase anything that’s fallen through the gaps over the last several days and basically get a clear picture of everything. Every weekend on Twitter I see hundreds of people announce that they are doing their weekly review. But has anybody asked why it has to be weekly? Why not monthly, or even daily? Why, oh why!

It’s nearly the end of March, so that means it’s time for my regular recap of the best posts from the last month. Whether you are looking to control negative self-talk, simplify your filing system (perhaps using my own letter tray approach?) or wanting to clear your head and do an effective mind sweep, there should be something here for you to enjoy. If you like any of these posts, please help me promote it and get the blog out there to a bigger audience. Tweet it!

Today I was sat in Pizza Hut having a nice chat with my wife about a few projects going on in our life. Over the course of this conversation several ideas occurred to me, a couple of thoughts came up and I was reminded of a few tasks I’d forgotten about. Slight problem though. I didn’t have a pen or paper to capture any of them down. It was a nice meal though…

When you’re overwhelmed with everything in life and your head is buzzing with numerous tasks, thoughts and problems that need your attention, it’s very difficult to get a grip of the situation and do something about it. However, I’ve always found that the first step is to sit down, get my notepad out and really write down everything that’s bothering me (do you do something similar?). This process is often called the mind sweep. However, for it to really work I’ve realized that there are certain rules you have to follow. Essentially, you can’t hold back because if the thought is in your head, it deserves your attention regardless.

A couple of months back I came across a really cool video that had David Allen of GTD fame giving us a tour around his office. After searching around I finally came across something similar. For all you Four Hour Work Week fans, here is a video of Tim Ferriss showing us around his digital lifestyle as part of Cisco’s digital cribs series. It has some useful insights in it for those who prefer hi-tech productivity. Tools when used properly can do wonders, but why use technology that takes you ten times as long to do something on, when you can just as easily do it with pen and paper? Nice home, by the way!