Thursday, December 21, 2006

On a roll

I was on a roll today. I was getting things done left and right. In the course of a day, many things come up. There are constituent calls, odd jobs your Rep. needs done or researched, people to call, things to read, emails to answer, and so on. Probably one of the worst things to do is to start something when you haven't finished something else. It messes with your head because you end up having to mind two mental threads or more while trying to concentrate on the new thing that popped up. It's like a memory leak in your brain. You have all these programs running and taking up more and more memory while doing nothing.
 
In any case, I was able to keep it together to finish one task right after another, even some stuff that I put out of mind. I use the David Allen GTD (Getting Things Done) method. Write things down and dump them in your inbox so that they don't clutter your brain. Knowing that you wrote it down lets your brain relax on that one project because you'll check the inbox later when you have time. That's precisely what happened. I had a bit of time to devote to processing my inbox and got several projects completed. David Allen recommends using sheets of paper for each project. Since I am using a Hipster PDA, I use notecards. Sometimes, I'll use regular paper for projects, such as when one requires printouts. I could technically print on notecards, but the text would be so tiny.
 
Try the GTD method. Write down a thought or to-do item on a sheet of paper and put it in your inbox. Then, at some point when you have time, process your projects one at a time. The GTD method has a few more steps. I recommend reading the book so that you learn the details.

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