No one could say that I am an organized person. Not even close. That is not to say that I don't have my moments or display some organization skills, but for the most part, I keep my head above water at best. During my college years, I really didn't do any planning. I did write down some notes and when a test was or a project was due, but not much farther than that.
Over the years I have tried a paper planner (provided by my work), electronic organizers, Palm devices, and of course smart phone apps. But I have never been able to use them to an extent that actually helped me. The problem did not lie in the method but in my mindset. In most instances, I started out with the idea of working hard at using an organizer to its fullest capabilities, getting my life organized and on a good track. But in every instance, the experiment ultimately failed. I got lazy or forgot to enter information or refer to it so I didn't miss appointments or important dates.
About six months ago, having been using my smart phone and tablet to keep track of my day, saw some DIY day planner pages and systems. I sat down at my ancient iMac and designed a set of pages that I thought would help me. I thought I had a good system and began implementing it. After a week, I discovered a tool called Chronodex and then one called Spiraldex. These are non-linear graphics to track time and appointments. I redesigned them a bit and put them into use. I really like them and switch between the two.
The other day I picked up an At-A-Glance planner refill at a closing sale for less than $3. It normally went for $45. It is two pages per day and includes a month planner for the whole year. I decided to try it instead of my custom made version because it was practically free and I was hoping that maybe it would be the 'one' that could get me organized.
It is now January 15th and I have been using it since the 1st. I have realized that no matter what form my organization takes, I can't seem to make it work. There have been at least three days that I put down all the things that I needed to get done, and never got to any of them. It is very frustrating. I guess it is a mental defect.
I am not going to give up just yet though. My wife and kids are counting on me to get these things done. I can't let them down. So, I will concentrate my effort, not on the method of organization, but on the implementation of the method.
No comments:
Post a Comment