Organize IT

Inspirational quotes for 05th December 2008.

Paul J. Meyer: “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”

Sharon Salzberg: “Often we can achieve an even better result when we stumble yet are willing to start over, when we don’t give up after a mistake, when something doesn’t come easily but we throw ourselves into trying, when we’re not afraid to appear less than perfectly polished.”

Agatha Christie: “I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations; and suddenly find – at the age of fifty, say – that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about… It is as if a fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you.”

Margaret J. Wheatley: “Even though worker capacity and motivation are destroyed when leaders choose power over productivity, it appears that bosses would rather be in control than have the organization work well.”

If you’re reading this site, you will almost certainly have a to-do list of some form. It might be jotted down on a sheet of paper or it may be an elaborate list of next actions stored on your computer. These lists are important because they allow you to see and track what needs doing. They stop you from forgetting stuff and allow you to get those nagging thoughts out of your head. But the benefits go on. When you have completed a task on your to-do list what do you do?

In my last two posts I’ve repeatedly used my filing system as an example of productivity (epic) failure. As the end of the year is coming up I thought now would be a good time to shake things up a little. At the moment I use what is probably quite a traditional approach. It is split up alphabetically with subcategories for each section (I would have an insurance tab, B would have a bills tab, and so on). However, as far as I am concerned it’s more hassle than it’s worth and it crucially fails on three key accounts which I’ve detailed below.

Blimay! It’s nearly the end of the year again. At the end of December I’ll be doing my regular end of year recap. Be sure to check out my summary of 2007 if you haven’t already. Remember, this site has over two years of content and over 400 posts so hopefully there is something for everybody. The big problem with blogs is that old content gets pushed aside by newer content even when it’s all still relevant, which is why I have several regular posts highlighting these old items. Have a quick browse through, maybe you’ll find something interesting!

If repetitive day-to-day tasks are even remotely complicated or time consuming you’ll end up not doing them. Whether it’s updating your to-do list, emptying your inbox, trying to get the lid of your expensive pen or just generally trying to be productive, you will find yourself at some point falling off the wagon. Imagine that an old fashioned manager wants to start using some calendar program on the shiny new laptop his daughter got him. Unfortunately the closest he ever got to technology was when he found a lost mobile phone and thought it was a calculator. It takes him five minutes to input his meeting with that boring bloke from finances. It would have taken him five seconds in a paper calendar. I don’t think I need to spell out where I’m going with this.