A while ago I was listening to and older podcast with David Allen where he made a very interesting observation. Very often we are building a very complex structures to support our productivity by adding layers of tags, applications et. In effect we tie ourselves up and put more pressure on maintaining this system. It becomes a drag.

Something that’s opposite should be true. A good productivity system should be light and flexible allowing to fit it into changing events and requirements.

Continuing with this thought focus on keeping your system just right and fit for a purpose. It’s very easy to spend few hours organizing everything in your system. Adding locations, tags, links, making sure everything is clearly laid out. But is such approach sustainable on daily basis? Probably not.

When you look at how people get organized more often than not everything they have is halfway done. They had some free time so they decided to organise something they meant  to do a long time ago. They put up a very nice looking structure of A-Z folders, marked with different colours and labels. After a while only half of the documents are done this way, the demands of the work took over and there is no longer a time to maintain this structure.
The same will happen with tasks. You can go full on with various application and fill every possible text box, tag, notes and links so then you can dice and slice actions, projects the way you want. After initial hurray stage this structure weighs your down and becomes a drag.

It becomes apparent that filling all the boxes and setting up all the tags and folders is too time consuming. You could do it when you had extra free time but it can’t be sustained in normal day when things are flying at speed of light.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why a short lists of tasks is so effective. It’s simple, easy and serves as a great reference point.

To conclude the tools you use should support you enough to let you maintain the control of the day and be flexible to allow you to adjust to changing priorities. 

photo by zigazou76

Remember The Milk for Android features home screen widgets for you to see what’s going on at a glance. This week’s tip, shared by joooc, shows how to se what’s going on at a glance… four ways over.

I use RTM widgets on my Android phone to split the wall to four different areas:

top-left: Today Smart List
top-right: "To-Do" – my primary tasks list
bottom-right: Inbox
bottom-left: "Buy" list for items like hangers, toothpaste, present for someone … and milk of course

Together, they occupy exactly one of 7 walls available, creating an RTM wall with all the info and controls I need. It’s the first wall on the left so basically once I unlock my phone on the go, I only need to swipe once and voila – all the tasks are instantly visible to me at one glance.

It’s very practical and fast to see what’s there for the day while still having access to all task just a tap away. The "Buy" list is great for checking what I need to buy on my way home or actually when I’m shopping, not to forget anything. Even more, Inbox serves as a perfect Notepad tool for ideas and tasks gathering that I can’t process right now but neither I want them to fly away.

This is a great example of making the most of available features of an application and a phone. I’ve been using this a similar setup for a while but following this post I’ve added two more widgets on my screen. Now my wall includes following items:

• Next actions for  today and next 2 days (a smart list)
• Waiting for
• Inbox
• Projects (a smart list)

I definitely find this beneficial. Not only I can see what’s is coming up and where should I put my attention but it also reminds me that I need to do a review once one or more of my list are empty. The other plus is that I can display any sort of list I have created. This way, if I’m working on something big and complex I can set up a smart list for it and put it on my wall. Then all relevant tasks are in front so I know what to put my attention on.

Great way to stay updated with your system and keeping it current.

• Midontrack – a GTD compliant task manager based on mind maps
• Email Viewing Habits: Where Do You Read Your Email? [Infographic]
• Seminal Productivity Ideas
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• How I’m Using Notational Velocity, Simplenote, and Merlin Mann’s QQ Trick as a Replacement for the GTD Application Things
• Reduce email overload by telling people how to work with you

If you have any interesting articles please share them in the comments section.

• Haruki Murakami: Talent Is Nothing Without Focus and Endurance
• iDoneThis
• Bending the stiffest arrow
• Why we crave creativity but reject creative ideas
• Toss Productivity Out

If you have any interesting articles please share them in the comments section.

1. Did You Know: How to Create a Checklist in Evernote « Evernote Blogcast
2. UV Outliner — Simple and powerful single-pane outliner for Windows
3. How To Become A Self-Management Superhero :: Tips :: The 99 Percent
4. SimpleProductivityBlog.com—Why Planning Is So Important to Productivity – SimpleProductivityBlog.com
5. Getting it Together: How I leveraged Evernote + SugarSync to create a productivity workhorse!

If you have any interesting articles please share them in the comments section.

I was listening to a recent podcast with David Allen where he mentioned very interesting element.  Many times we are building a lot very complex structures to support productivity
adding layers of tags, applications etc. In effect we limit ourselves and put more pressure to maintain this system. It becomes a drag. Whereas the opposite should be true. A good productivity system should be light and flexible allowing to fit you into changing events and requirements. You can listen to full episode here.

Continuing with this thought focus on keeping your system just right and fit for purpose.

When you have them, it’s very easy to spend few hours organizing everything in your system. Adding locations, tags, links. Making sure everything is clearly laid out. But is such approach sustainable on daily basis? Probably not.

When you look at how people get organized more often than not everything they have is halfway done. They had some free time, so they decided to organise something they mean to do a long time ago. They put a very nice looking structure of A-Z folders, marked with different colours and labels. After a while only half of the documents are done this way, the demands of the daily work took over and there is no longer any time to maintain this structure.
The same will happen with tasks. You can go full on with application like Omnifocus or Thinkingrock  or Remember the Milk and fill every possible text box, add connections, notes and links, then you can dice and slice actions, projects the way you want.

After initial hurray stage this structure weighs you down and becomes a drag. It becomes apparent that filling all the boxes and putting all the tags and folders is too time consuming. It can’t be sustained in normal day when things are flying at the speed of light.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why a short list of daily tasks is so effective. It’s simple, easy, flexible and becomes great reference point for your progress throughout the day.

To conclude, tools you use should support enough to let you maintain the control of the day yet they should be light easy to use so that they don’t become a drag.

Photo by: Aislinn Ritchie

• 110+ Resources For Creative Minds « Skelliewag.org
• Seth’s Blog: Easy vs. do-able vs. impossible
• GTD – Getting Things Done in Evernote with One Notebook | 40Tech
• A someday/maybe solution
• How to use mind maps to “zoom in” and solve your creative challenges

If you have any interesting articles please share them in the comments section.

A lifelong optimization problem

Famous people who use GTD (Getting Things Done) (thanks to @nunodonato for the link)

Getting Creative Things Done: How To Fit Hard Thinking Into a Busy Schedule

Evernote Developments – Blog – Get Everything Done

The Only Way to Get Important Things Done – Tony Schwartz

If you have any interesting articles please share them in the comments section.

1. Maximizing your Productivity as a Consulting Business Owner
2. Empty your Inbox: 4 ways to take control of your email
3. Logically Laid Out: A 5 Step Guide to Organizing Your Business for Efficiency and Success
4. Playing Through The Tape: Linking Actions To Life Goals
5. A Paper Based GTD System

If you have any interesting articles please share them in the comments section.