I think I'm a pretty organized guy, at least compared to some of the people I've worked with over the years. But what with a full time job, my own side business, and another business-related project - plus being a homeowner with all the little tasks that entails, I'm starting to feel like my current system may not be adequate.
On the work side, I have multiple web projects spread across three broad categories, plus other non web-related tasks. Of course most projects have multiple sub-tasks and information. And then on the personal side it's the usual stuff... bills that need to be paid, things that need to be fixed/replaced, etc.
My current system pretty much totally relies on email, at least for the work-related stuff. This system has worked well for me for years - emails stay in the inbox until responded to or the related task is completed, at which point they're saved in the appropriate folder, depending on the task/client they're related to. For offline stuff I have your basic little notebook that has years worth of notes from meetings, etc. in it.
I like email because it's "in the cloud" - I use imap so it's always available as long as I have access to an internet-enabled computer (or to some extent my phone). But the system doesn't seem to do well at tracking larger, longer-term projects with multiple goals, tasks, etc. And if something doesn't end up in my email, I'm much more likely to forget about it.
I've tried using my palm phone's to-do list, but that's just clunky and inefficient to be adding stuff all the time. I think I'd prefer paper to that...
So I've been looking around a bit at other options. Some, like the "Getting Things Done" system seem promising - but require a lot of up-front work to set up and may require custom software, etc. But perhaps it's worth the cost, it's hard to tell.
I guess I'll write another post if I ever solve the problem. Guess that's something else to add to the to-do list...
On the work side, I have multiple web projects spread across three broad categories, plus other non web-related tasks. Of course most projects have multiple sub-tasks and information. And then on the personal side it's the usual stuff... bills that need to be paid, things that need to be fixed/replaced, etc.
My current system pretty much totally relies on email, at least for the work-related stuff. This system has worked well for me for years - emails stay in the inbox until responded to or the related task is completed, at which point they're saved in the appropriate folder, depending on the task/client they're related to. For offline stuff I have your basic little notebook that has years worth of notes from meetings, etc. in it.
I like email because it's "in the cloud" - I use imap so it's always available as long as I have access to an internet-enabled computer (or to some extent my phone). But the system doesn't seem to do well at tracking larger, longer-term projects with multiple goals, tasks, etc. And if something doesn't end up in my email, I'm much more likely to forget about it.
I've tried using my palm phone's to-do list, but that's just clunky and inefficient to be adding stuff all the time. I think I'd prefer paper to that...
So I've been looking around a bit at other options. Some, like the "Getting Things Done" system seem promising - but require a lot of up-front work to set up and may require custom software, etc. But perhaps it's worth the cost, it's hard to tell.
I guess I'll write another post if I ever solve the problem. Guess that's something else to add to the to-do list...
Comments