Getting Things Done

When I started reading the Getting Things Done section, I thought, "This is exactly what I need!" I am an incredibly disorganized person. My dream for years has been to become hyper organized. My disorganization has become much worse this school year since I am at four different buildings. To do lists are constantly going through my head, but only the things that need to be accomplished somewhere else. When I do write down the lists, they often migrate and disappear. I don't know that I have ever seen a finished to do list. Right now, my apartment is a wreck and I am having trouble wrapping my head around all of the things I have to do to make it presentable.

First, I started writing everything I had to do in a zoho doc and quickly realized that it was not going to work. It would soon get cluttered and I would never look at it again. So, I downloaded ToDoList from the list of websites on the GTD learn session. I basically looked for the one with the highest rating. I then added all of the things that I needed to accomplish. The more I typed, the more I remembered. I came up with 18 different things that I would need/want to do in order to maintain sanity. The process step was a little confusing to me. I am not going to put anything on a list that I cannot do. However, I do frequently put things on lists that do not need to go on lists, just so I have things to mark off. It makes me feel more productive. For instance, I frequently put things like "eat lunch" or "watch The Office" on my to-do lists. I know it is ridiculous for many reasons, but mainly because I am not the type of person who generally forgets to eat. 

The organize step was very helpful. I ended up organizing most things by place. It mostly consists of things to do at/regarding home, and things to do at/regarding school. My current categories are home, school, professional, and home non-cleaning. I have to separate the cleaning from everything else. While it is the longest list, if I had to combine home and home non-cleaning, I would never want to go home. I know he listed other organization categories, but I didn't think they would work for me. So I made up my own! I really do like the 43 folders concept. I could see that being my main way of doing this if I had somewhere to put 43 folders. 

In ToDoList, I was able to prioritize how badly events needed to be completed and when. It kind of combined the review and organize portions. However, in the future, I will be able to just look and know which thing needs to be done soonest. For instance, my living room needs to be cleaned TODAY. It has been on the back burner for far too long.

I am working on the DO portion of my list right now. "Finish GTD Lab" was on my list. Soon, it will be done. Then I will move onto the living room. There are a lot of things that I like about Getting Things Done. However, I think I need to read the whole book to get a better feel for how it works. For now, to get me started, I will stick with ToDoList. The main problem I see with ToDoList is that it is not portable. I don't know if it has mobile applications, but I don't have mobile capabilities, so it doesn't really matter. So far, it is a tremendously helpful tool. I will need to supplement it with a small notebook that I can keep with me and then update my list every evening. So yes, I believe this system will help me. At least, I think my own concoction of this system can help me. It has already helped me calm down a little today! I know I am not going to forget to call the department of education tomorrow, or schedule my last concert of the year on Tuesday. If I can get the part of my life organized that takes place outside of my home, who knows. Maybe the living room is next...