A pen and paper, although old, are very good tools. I usually use all the techie stuff (outlook, phone etc.) to write down or brainstorm my ideas, keep the list of all my tasks, all appointments, contacts etc.. But using the pen and paper is different.
I recently (just as a test) took all the important tasks from my Outlook and wrote them down on paper. I just use A4/Letter size sheet of paper divided it into smaller boxes (3x8 boxes on one sheet of paper). Every box holds one task.
After doing that it was immediately clear to me what to do and how to set priorities. And miracle happened!
Withing a week all the major tasks were done!!! I don’t really know what was the magic, but it worked! And that is all what I need!
Maybe it was just a sense of all the tasks lying in front of me. The clarity that it brought. Maybe something else.
The reason for doing writing tasks in smaller boxes was that I wanted to cut the paper so I can rearrange the tasks and make a ‘timeline’ of the tasks and their dependencies. However, I didn’t do it, because even this first step worked.
As as second part of the experiment, I will write the new set of tasks on the small cards (as described above) and rearrange them on the timeline (what should be done first, what second). Also the daily task management will become easier - task replanning etc. This will actually require some board to stick the little pieces there. Will see…
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I have over 10 years of Franklin daytimers in storage. I ran my business life out of those, and the system really help keep me orginized.
I got a Palm IV and then pretty much went electronic. Plus so much communication is via email and Outlook helps keep emails orginized. (nice to be able to find a 3 year old email).
I have found at least for me, doing a paper to-do list every morning is still the most effective way to keep on track of what is important.
John Deck
http://www.DirectMarketResults.com
I have over 10 years of Francklin daytimers in storage. I ran my business life out of those timers, and the system really help keep me orginized.
I got a Palm IV and then pretty much went electronic. Plus so much communication is via email and Outlook help keep orginized. (nice to be able to find a 3 year old email).
I have found at least for me, doing a paper to-do list every morning is still the most effective way to keep on track of what is important.
John Deck
Hi John,
thank you for the post!
Yes I still use my Outlook, and I also have mails 3-5 years old (or even older) in my Inbox :).
As you said, doing TODO list on paper is something which keeps me too on track! Maybe it is just a combination of motoric action visible result and some kind of ‘material’ nature of the thing.
I’m sure somebody must have some great report/blog/manual about it. I would like to read it. Any tips?
Jozef