As I mentioned before, I love to have my life all planned out, but some things are simply unforeseeable. \u00c2\u00a0I try to keep a substantial portion of my calendar blank to take care of the things that come up in the mean time.<\/p>\n
I’ve tried to generalize these tips out for everyone. \u00c2\u00a0My own style might be useful for you, or not. \u00c2\u00a0In either case, here’s how I work:<\/p>\n
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- I have a computer pretty much any time I have a notepad, and carry my iPhone far more often than I carry a pen. \u00c2\u00a0I also do a decent job of not being distracted by my computer when using it. \u00c2\u00a0That combination of facts has led me to go entirely electronic for my task management. \u00c2\u00a0I used to use post-its on a due-date sorted basis but found that I could not adequately manage the time that needed to go into each task, which resulted in some large things not getting done as soon as they should have.<\/li>\n
- In particular, I use The Hit List. \u00c2\u00a0No iPhone app just yet, which is a drawback, but its flexibility and suitedness to my style more than make up for it.<\/li>\n
- In THL, I keep few lists and very few projects. \u00c2\u00a0Anything that will be around for less than a month or so is a task, and fortunately, tasks can have subtasks.<\/li>\n
- I never found the GTD idea of “contexts” useful. \u00c2\u00a0I feel like I’m not alone in this, but have never really heard anything to confirm that.<\/li>\n
- I have a “Completed” Smart Folder to remind myself of what I have accomplished since my last review. \u00c2\u00a0Seeing things checked off in the list can just get cluttery; I try to review once every day or two to clean up and see how productive I have or haven’t been.<\/li>\n
- Archiving takes place at my daily or two-daily reviews.<\/li>\n
- I’ve added an “On My Mind” list for things that I can’t do much about for a moment or want to review later. \u00c2\u00a0Lately a lot of my friends have had problems or situations that I can’t help directly; this list lets me “forget” it when I can’t do anything and helps me focus on what’s important when I can. \u00c2\u00a0It may seem like micromanagement of my life, but it eases my mind to remember I still care about things of that nature and want to do something about it.<\/li>\n
- From my task list, I use iCal to plan out time for each of my tasks during the week. \u00c2\u00a0As I mentioned before, I try to stick to my estimates and leave a decent amount of free time as a buffer. \u00c2\u00a0I don’t have a time set out for every task on my list; generally it has to be a “definite due” item or easily forgotten or at least 1 hour long to merit a mark on my calendar. \u00c2\u00a0In the other direction, though, pretty much everything on my calendar besides classes has a task.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nGetting Things Done without Getting Things Done<\/em><\/p>\n
I hope this helps someone with a few ideas. \u00c2\u00a0I welcome people telling me I’m wrong about any of this. \u00c2\u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This time of year, the stresses of academia mount and self-perpetuate through strained social interaction. \u00c2\u00a0This year, in particular, is notable since the majority of the people around me are graduating and generally moving on with their lives. In particular, the phrase “finals” has a chilling effect when they are, in fact, finals. \u00c2\u00a0Though this … Continue reading On Time Management<\/span>
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