I have been trying to post regularly about my things happening in my life. Yesterday was a good example of why a personal productivity system is essential to maintain organization in your life.
Yesterday was a very hectic day, a lot of projects needing attention, more projects being created, plenty of hurdles to overcome. Almost a standard day, but without my productivity system, I would have probably gone to the corner, assumed the fetal position and wept. The sheer number of tasks that had to be accomplished yesterday was larger than normal and I was able to manage my stress because I knew what I had to do and broke it down into completable tasks.
- Take CD to Kinko’s
- Brainstorm postcard design
- Find and email photos to fellow designer
Before I found the joy of a personal productivity system, most of those tasks lived in my head, but related to the post on breadcrumbs and on a day like yesterday, the psychic RAM would have maxed out and the “least” important items would get dumped. The critical thing is that those “least” important items are still tasks that need to be done. They might be a lesser priority than the ones I have just been given, but they still need to get done.
If I weren’t writing down my tasks, the ones that get dumped could become lost forever, or until the person who wants the tasks completed calls me and asks where their widgets are. GULP. That’s never good.
Over the next week, I will be working on documenting my personal productivity system, to give you an idea of how I operate, but in the interim I highly recommend reading David Allen’s Getting Things Done. It is a system agnostic way of productivity. You can integrate it with Covey or any other system you have tried in the past and are comfortable with.
Before I babble on about that, I’m going to stop and let you think about your own personal productivity system and I’ll talk more about the specifics later this week.
The importance of a personal productivity system is a post in my attempt to find a better niche for this blog. Don’t worry, the personal stuff will continue.
