Small steps leading to a bigger journey makes perfect sense to me

Ilchi Lees last blog post..Ilchi Lee on being genuine and real

Instead, he suggests keeping a list of “projects” and a list of “next actions”, which are the next concrete thing you can do for a project. (A project is anything that takes two or more actions.) Organize the “next actions” according to the context you need in order to do them, such as “home”, “office”, “phone”, or “internet”. Usually, when you complete a “next action”, the next “next action” for that project is self-evident, and you can just add it to the appropriate context list.

There’s a lot more to his system than that, especially regarding dealing with incoming “stuff”, but that’s the gist of the “to-do” aspect. I keep my “next actions” in my Palm Treo Tasks app, categorized by context.

I wasn’t even aware of some of the tools you mentioned — Google Notebook, Firefox Add-In Clippings, Backpack. Thanks for the tips! I like the products from 37 Signals — particularly because they are all online, and so easy to use. I just checked out Backpack. Looks nice.

I am also a fan of Stephen Covey’s habits and organization philosophy. He’s right about so many things.

Thanks for sharing your tips on getting organized and in control.

I still have things to do, and the lists haven’t gotten any shorter! I do believe in writing things down so I don’t have to fret about forgetting something important that just fell out of my brain because of too much clutter. At least it gets registered. But yes, it is true. Actually *doing* things, rather than fussing and mollycoddling a list, is the only thing that truly shortens the list of things to do!

I’m getting a virtual kick in the seat of my pants from listening to the audio book of “7 Habits of Highly Successful People” by Steven Covey. As an intelligent adult, I should be able to organize my life all by myself. After a busy work week, and this, that, and the other thing, I sometimes feel like doing absolutely nothing. There must be time for that as well. That is why I am interested in what Covey has to say. It is my choice how I prioritize my time. I just want to learn tricks so I can have my cake and eat it, too.

For me, organization is a lot of different things. Getting coaching through good books, articles, etc. Using nifty little tools like Firefox with Google Notebook and Firefox Add-In Clippings. Or del.icio.us for all my bookmarks (still have a whole pile to transfer from Opera on my home pc to del.icio.us.) Having a nice 2007 paper calendar always handy in my backpack (cloth, not virtual). These are all part of the picture. I also went to Ikea and bought various bits and pieces to whip my home office into shape. No more shoeboxes and other feeble attempts at economizing, which only looked a mess and stressed me even more. I look for virtual and physical gadgets that can keep the chaos under control.

I drooled over the moleskine in the C.P.U blog here: http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/01/gettingstaying_.html
I have many notebooks that I use for different things, and I think I will adapt her ideas to my notebooks, even though she’d say they’re not quite moleskine!
Bottomline – maybe because I am a writer – I ALWAYS have some paper with me at all times for jotting down Things To Do or ideas or … whatever.

Having various containers for all the ideas and thoughts leaping or strolling out of my head gives me a semblance of control. That keeps me calm and makes me feel organized!