Day 9 #blogjune - Organise me

Sharon's post today is about running (yes she called it "Dark" but it is about running!) so I thought I would take inspiration from Rachel's post on "Organisation".

I see this topic coming up quite regularly during #blogjune and #blog12daysxmas.  It's a topic I love, all about organisation and stationery and colours and...you get it....

I always have paper next to me on my desk and write down anything I need to do as it comes to mind.  From this list, I choose 3 things that I want to complete that day, write them on post it notes and stick them to my monitor. I love lists and have blogged about keeping lists but keeping lists electronically just doesn't work for me.  I find that I don't tend to go back to the lists or the notes once I have jotted them down.  Having said that, I have found taking my laptop to meetings and annotating the agenda with action items helps me action these things, but if I was to just start a Word document with notes and/or action items, then I wouldn't think to refer back to them.  I am not sure why the first works but the second doesn't. I do use the "Keep" app on my phone (the only app I use for lists!) as I can access it from anywhere.  It looks like a lot of post it notes, I can colour code them and have tick boxes (stationery, right?).  I guess it works like Evernote, but I just don't like Evernote (ducks for cover).

Another thing that I have found works really well is buying a 12 month diary (with a lovely cover of course, stationery, remember?), day to a page.  I take this with me to less formal meetings and jot down things I want to discuss with the person or things I need to do.  I refer to this daily and if there is something outstanding, I put a post it flag there to mark the page (stationery, remember?). I use the flags as they are very sturdy and reusable.  I keep several of them stuck to the inside front cover so that I have ready access to them.  They don't take up any room at all this way and are always to hand.

I do have a large planner on the kitchen bench. It is a calendar one and everyone needs to write down what they are doing here - extra work hours, events they are going to, special occurrences etc.  This has been working really well from a family perspective.

What do you all do to organise yourselves?

Day 7 Lists #blog12daysxmas

I love lists.  I love trying different apps and sites that will keep lists for me.  Whenever I feel like I have too much crowding my head, too much that I need to get through, creating a list makes me feel like I am that much closer to meeting my deadline or making it past an insurmountable task.  Once my list is out of my head, I feel as though I can power through things much more easily.

Having said that I love trying list apps, I don't feel as though I am getting through anywhere near as much as when I write down my dot points on a notepad (or piece of paper if my notepad is not in easy reach).  Quickly jotting down key words, line by line, as they form in my head, makes it simpler for me to think of the next task.  The very act of putting a line through things gives me a greater sense of accomplishment than striking through a word electronically ever could.

The majority of my list centres on work sitting at a PC, they are all relatively huge tasks and all have a sense of urgency.  Just as I crossed off one major one today, another major one appeared that I had forgotten about!  I do plan to make good headway into a different one in what is left of today.