How Do You Get Things Done?

I put all my stuff in my blackberry and review it in the morning.

Annual Reviews, Followed by 3 month reviews where I see if I’m meeting my goals

Sunday planning sessions, where I set my goals for the week and the major MITs(Most Important Tasks) for M-F

Before sleep, review my MITs for the day and for tomorrow.

I’ve done hundreds of productivity systems, and this one works the best for me.

Hey T,

Thanks for writing this blog, your perspective on a lot of matters is really helpful to my own life. I think about many of the points that you make in my own daily life quite a bit. I recently started doing Bikram Yoga, and the phrase you used in describing that meditation retreat as “simple and complex” is one that I really relate to and am drawn to in the things that attract me. Bikram Yoga is like that. Have you ever tried it?

Anyways, in terms of getting things done: I recently switched out of a lifelong (I am 28) mindset. I like to think about it like this: instead of putting out organizational (or other priorities) fires, I’m now approaching getting things done with the mindset of fire prevention. Maybe you will find this helpful.

I also use the 2 minute rule that says if a task will take 2 minutes do it immediately and get it done. Finally, I do use a to do list of absolute top priorities (written down, which makes them more concrete), and let lesser priorities fill in the gaps. I usually prioritize based on what the good and bad consequences of not doing or doing the task at hand will be, and the importance of the need or want that it will fulfill.

I also make sure to constantly have a notebook in hand, because the best thoughts come at the worse moments, and I find it very helpful to get their nuance or essence down on the page and then deal with them later for when I have time or can’t “think”. Hope this helps. Looking forward to seeing what others have to say.

My system is quite simple: do what needs to be done. However, I don’t have much of a workload, so it’s not applicable to everybody else. And if you have too much to do, just prioritize.

How did you guess? D:

I really do make a list of 3 things I MUST do each day.

The sheer satisfaction of checking off even one of those three items makes me feel motivated to do other stuff on a side list of (somewhat) less important items.

And a method that’s really helped me out lately is Merlin Mann’s (10+2)*5 method (http://www.43folders.com/2005/10/11/procrastination-hack-1025).

I’d really REALLY like to see your method.

I work from a simple to-do list, previously maintained in a text file but now using Things on the Mac. It beats text because it allows for easy categorization and tagging, as well as saving history in case I’m ever curious enough to look back. Scheduling is never more granular than individual days (appointments excluded).

I’ve never found more elaborate systems (GTD) appealing–they just seem like overkill.

I sometimes struggle with prioritization, frittering away time on less important tasks. Thankfully, that’s not always the case.

Curious to see how your system functions.

Take care,
Isaac

I’ve had to personally define a system for myself since I’ve launched my new website. As anyone who knows, getting a blog/website off the ground, takes ALOT of work and output in the beginning.

I do use Outlook. I was using the tasks function, but have since been making list of things to get done in the “Notes” area. I have notes categorized to different subjects like sound, web, visions etc.. I’ve got a priority list in each that I scan over looking for the things that stand out as most important to get done, which is what I used to do with “tasks”.

Taking a cue from Problogger, I’ve begun to schedule posts in Outlook Calendar area. I like that I can make an appointment with no time, (all day event), and drag it around to different dates. That way I get an overall look at what I may be posting, and can work on the order things are released and things like that, patching up holes, or seeing the overall flow of content type at a glance.

I will probably go back to Outlook tasks soon, but the web thing has SO much taken over my day, I’ve become single pointed and I find I have little time to spend on my other interests at the moment like music composition, (my first love).

I keep a moleskin notebook with me and use it as a place to put anything I think of. I date each page so I know when the idea and/or task was written down. In the front, it has a small list of my major life goals. I review the goals as well as past daily lists fairly consistently and do my best to make sure my actual tasks that must be completed that day are somehow, in some small way, related to the main life goals.
I also cross things off as they’re done. I used to be much more stringent with how I made a to-do list, but now I allow myself to sketch, draw mind-maps and just play inside the daily to-do list. Sometimes it fits on one page, sometimes it stretches over several pages.
I learned a lot about organizing my thoughts and efforts from the book: Pragmatic Thinking and Learning. This method is only a few months old for me, but it’s the first one that’s ever worked. I used to make text documents with to-do lists and would just end up with a bunch of different files named ‘todo’ and ‘todo-date’, etc. I would rarely review them since they’d fall into a folder with a bunch of other random stuff.

I use Google for everything. God I love Google. All of my important dates/meetings/appointments/what-have-you end up in Google Calendar. Everything else I need to do ends up in one of my to-do lists I keep in Gmail’s Tasks Lab. Did I mention that I love Google? It’s great.

I use just a basic pad of paper to make a ‘to do’ list. One thing that helps is when I am busy to write every single thing down on the paper to get it out of my head. Then I label each task on my list A, B, C or leave it blank in order to prioritize. A’s must be completed soonest, B’s can be done in between A’s if their quick and easy and C’s may not come till later. I try to do the list as quickly as possible because its best to jump right in and update your list as you go.

I write everything I want to do for a day on a piece of paper and carry it with me in my pocket. I also write what needs to be done over the weekend.

I use a system that incorporates paper, electronics, and my own memory without placing too much demand on any one. My methodology is highly inspired by David Allen’s GTD philosophy, including the principles of keeping regularly accessible reminders of open loops to conserve mental RAM, maintaining a general collection bucket, and keeping inboxes to zero.

Phone communication: I use google talk (formerly grand central) for my personal phone line, and Ringcentral for business phone lines. I have a regular cell phone, not a PDA, and I don’t keep any numbers or data in my phone. Numbers I use frequently I automatically memorize, and ones I don’t I look up in my rolodex (which is a spreadsheet).

I use spreadsheets, mostly stored in google docs, for tracking all kinds of personal data and agendas, including finances, projects, web account data, contacts, and goals, as well as business prospecting lists. I like spreadsheets because they are flexible and can be customized for many different uses. The fact that they can be stored remotely and safely on google docs is a plus.

I organize all of my email through a single gmail account with multiple inboxes because I like having all of my data centralized and only having to log into one account to access it. I filter relentlessly, and have a system of over 100 folders organized according to the GTDInbox hierarchy system (although I don’t use GTDInbox). Among other things, I use this system to stay up to date with job alerts for the different types of work I do. Outside of that, I aim to keep non-personal email to a minimum, and minimize processing time. I don’t usually keep thing to read in my email; most feeds worth reading I subscribe to with RSS, which provides a good deal of my educational reading. I also don’t use my email as a personal organizer, but instead transfer tasks either to my calendar or to a separate project tracking, next action, or incubating list.

I keep one full-sized notebook for head clearing and brainstorming, creating daily agendas, and organizing plans before I record them electronically. I keep a medium-sized notebook for personal development-related notes, and a small notepad for collecting random snippets of info to be recorded elsewhere. Among the info I record are money I earn and spend, food I eat, and when and how much I sleep and exercise. Monitoring these variables helps me stay on top of my physical and financial health.

I regularly transfer data from my collection bucket to my electronic system, but I don’t make a point of recording everything electronically, because this leads to inefficiency and too much time spent managing the system. If an item will take less time to process than it will to record and refer to later, then I don’t bother recording it. Similarly, if an item pops up on my radar that will take less time to deal with than to write down and refer to later, or if writing it down will interrupt something else I’m doing, then I don’t bother writing it down, but either execute it immediately or wait for it to come up on radar again.

I live in a small RV and don’t tolerate clutter. Everything I need is stored in an easily accessible but out of the way place, and I keep my physical space at a high level of organization, so that when my brain is scanning for things to do, it doesn’t get distracted by clutter in my immediate environment.

I use OneNote for organizing and keeping track of pretty much everything in my life. That includes a to-do list, habits to implement, things I learned, checklists, ideas, goals, vision, etc. Before OneNote I used to use EverNote, which was also pretty good. For future reminders I use Outlook.

I always begin my night before the traditional way with a list of what top 3 things i need to get done the next day. It is based of the Zen to DOne by Leo. Also, batch process almost everything I do, including my meals. If I don’t, then I end up being extremely lax about it.

Am excited to hear about your accountability site!

I use Macjournal (or a PC Equivalent) for recording data pertaining to daily progress. This is because it allows me to have multiple pages for different tasks/skill progression.

I have a list of things I MUST do every day (which atm include guitar for 20 minutes, 1 French lesson, studying 1 class worth of work, exercise regime, practicing speed reading for 15 minutes & writing 300 words). These are all daily minimums which are simple and undaunting to achieve.

I record my progress in separate entries for each skill or task within the journal. So one will entry will be titled Study: and will contain all the classes I have completed and all the classes I still have to do notes for.

Additionally, I have a “Grand” Entry which contains the full list of my daily tasks. I count the days that I have been completing my “dailies” in a row. This way I am motivated by how many consecutive days I have been completing my daily tasks.

I also have a section entitled “weekly” to do lists (for more long term stuff).

I also have a section for tasks I would like to implement at some stage in the future (e.g. I want to get my skydiving license and teach myself flow-based notetaking).

Definitely mostly a meanderer, but I keep my Google Calendar relatively updated with the monthly due dates and such. At the beginning of a given day, I tend to mentally plan out the urgent things for doing, realizing that circumstance will more than likely force the plans to be altered.

When I was working in an office we used the scrum process, which is more or less a list of tasks to be done, but within a controlled environment. Now that I’m doing my own thing, I have a pad with a list of tasks which I break up into days. When a task is complete I score it off and if it’s not complete it moves across to the next day until it gets complete. A lot of my work is deadline sensitive so the peiority list comes from deadlines which helps to manage the work load. Being realistic about what I can do is another control as well.

Although the paid high priority work is important, I like to mix it up and include smaller fun to do items such as creating videos and taking time on forums and such.

I use Gmail, Google calendar and Google Tasks, as I do all my work online. iGoogle is my browser startpage, so I have everything (bookmarks and docs as well) on one page. Appointments and stuff that has to be done on a certain date go in Gcal, e-mails that contain an action get a label (with a ! prefix, other labels are just for reference) and other tasks (especially if I have to prioritize them) go on a tasklist (@work, @home, etc.). Gmail works so well for me that I’ll often send myself an e-mail with a task.
Besides that I use evernote for long term planning and collecting interesting stuff I encounter online.

I have a three-layer to-do list.

Layer 1) Things that must be done NOW or tomorrow.

Layer 2) Things that must be done this week or the next.

Layer 3) Things that must be done or *should have been done* somewhen in time.

All these lists are kept on a .txt file on the desktop.

Then I use Google Calendar to remind me birthdays, appointments and stuff.
I dont’ like Google Calendar but it’s the best I could find, and I tried every single similar service.

I would be glad if you implement an email reminder.

I’m big on lists… used to be in a small notebook, but now in my smartphone.

I’ve just started using one of Brian Tracy’s methods.

I make a list of everything that needs to get done that day. Then I mark each one A – E in order of importance.

And the focus of the day is to get all the A’s crossed off the list. I do the lesser important items as and when I can fit them in.

The Golden rule is never do a B item while there is an A item left undone.

It’s working pretty well so far.

I’m hardcore simple. I’ve been creating To Do lists using windows notepad for a long time now.

Each day I create a list before 10am.

The key to my system are scheduling and sharing.

I figure out a time for each activity to occur and that way I can see how much I can fit in my day. Then every morning before 10am I send my to do list to a friend.

The next morning when sending my new to do list I tell him what I have and haven’t done.

A lot of this has to do with our commitment to living by our word – so if we break our word we look to see why and how it affected us. Seeing the impact of breaking our word allows us to move forward and be unreasonable in our endeavours the next day.

All in all my system is experimental. I learn a little bit more about scheduling each day.

I schedule my day first thing in the morning using my small Moleskine.

Blocks of time work best for me instead of simply listing tasks. I’ll allocate time for each “task” and when the time is up I move to the next task.

I’ve tried google calender, day planners, to do lists, but a regular journal works best for me.

Wake up…look at the mirror…feel in tune with my surroundings…close my eyes and then i just ‘know’ what to do during the day….we always know what we must do…we try to run away frm it by hiding behind organising and making long “to-do” lists….i prefer a “done” list for me….

Three things…

1. Write down 6 things that I MUST get done the night before.

2. Outlook reminders! Lots of ‘em.

3. I keep a pocket-sized note pad on me at all times for the little things that come up throughout the day.

I’m A.D.D. and prefer not to take meds so these things are vital to my… omg look, a turkey!

I keep a digital “to do” list in my Gmail, and typically add/remove items from it daily, as well as re-prioritize every few days. It works for me, but it’s also become quite a system in itself, since some items stay on it too long and never get done, while others I do immediately and end up wasting time adding/removing to/from the list. I’ve kept pads and papers in the past, but digital seems to work the best since I can access email so often, though I’m definitely interested in seeing your way, especially if it adds accountability to my tasks.

Whoa… that’s a lot of responses. THANK YOU!

I was actually expecting less people to have a system that would be compatible with mine. I think a good 70% of you will be really psyched about my web app. 30% have something else that I can’t improve on. And ONE of you has the exact same system I had, which inspired me to make this. :)

Tynan

I use a combination of remember the milk,basecamp, and various google apps but I still can’t keep things together.Sad :(

I keep a running To Do list on my phone of big projects that I need to get done, and every night I write down what I need to do the next day on an index card.

I use two docs in google docs that I can access at work/home. one is “quick-action items” and the other is “projects”. They are constantly updated as I think of things throughout the day.

Good timing – I need to overhaul my system – all these comments should give me some ideas!
I agree with and like the GTD system, and tried Thinking Rock software, but didn’t keep it updated:-70% of the trouble was with the tools to collect and process the To-Do items, and 30% was just my laziness.
My current system is to have an Excel file for each different project I’m working on, then just list all the different steps. Columns can be used for dates, costs, hours taken (or even assigning a Quadrant number when I dabbled with the Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People system)
All the Excel files are kept in my computer’s Dropbox folder so I can access them on any computer.
Each morning I write a paper list of the things to do that day – usually the ones on the critical path to keep the projects on the boil. I like crossing the tasks out as I’ve done them.
Any new system I try will probably use a PDA/Smartphone to enter tasks into the system – so I can do that when I think of them rather than if I happen to remember them when I’m at my laptop.
It’ll be interesting to give your system a try!

I’m a basic GTD guy. Lists, with context help me keep it all straight.

I have tried for years to find a system that works but time and time again I fall back on to “procrastinating everything to the last minute” routine. I believe this works because it leaves me with two clear choices, Do or Die. However this method is also quite stressful most of the time and I am always willing to try new ideas.

One thing I forgot to mention: There’s a period in my consulting process when I have my clients explain their time management/productivity system to me. It’s one of my favorites, not only because of the variety of responses (as seen here) but because I can invariably demonstrate to them how converting to my system would prove to be more efficient.

Using Zyon’s response as an example: I get TONS of people who only use pen and paper. There are so many problems with that system, but I’ll just offer up two: you can’t set up recurring tasks on paper systems without significant effort, and setting up future tasks gets messy fast.

If you have a plant that needs to be watered, recurring tasks allow you to set an “every 4 days” task to “Water the plant” and completely put its watering schedule out of your head.

If you get a wedding invitation for a day in August 2010, you’re going to put this on a paper system that could easily be lost or could get messy by then. Whereas with an online to-do list, setting a task six months in the future is as seamless as setting up a task for today.

“Paper” practioners – Let me know what you think about all of this. I don’t claim to have the solution to time management, but I will say that my system has gone unchallenged by clients after they get accustomed to using it. It’s flexible enough to be personalized, but rigid enough to get all of the structure into a schedule that you need. Sorry for the excruciatingly long post.

I am a meanderer I suppose. I never write anything down, be it things to do, homework, finances, whatever. I’m from a military family, and the military emphasizes memorization over writing info down. I have all phone numbers memorized, SSN, birthdays, student id number, everything. I know how much money is in my bank account within 5 dollars, how close I am to maxing out my credit card (never that close), how much I have in my IRA, etc. All of my upcoming homework is memorized (when it’s due, how many pages are required, etc.) Everything I have to get done, doctor’s and dentist’s appts, on and on. It’s kind of stressful, and when people ask me for an account number or something, I have to actually cycle through things in my head. I also don’t remember things which don’t matter. If someone asks me what I had for breakfast, I won’t have a clue. However, I do have excellent short-term memory. I work at Subway, and can remember around 5 different subs at once (from bread to wrapping) without even really trying, and while still talking to customers and coworkers. Actually, if I do try, to impress someone or something, my mind tends to go blank. I wouldn’t recommend this system though. I have sometimes forgotten things which, while not insanely important, have let my friends or family down.

I’ve tried various task lists and organizers but I keep falling back to using a steno pad because I can take it everywhere. I flip it open and write information (notes, phone numbers, product names, prices, scribbled drawings, whatever) on the bottom page and action items (which I asterisk) on the top page. As action items are completed, I check them off. Each morning I write the date for the new day.

Once a day, usually in the morning but sometimes commuting on the way home, I’ll organize my notes, create new action items, and plan-out work and follow-up for the next day.

If feel this steno pad method is very productive for me but the biggest problem is that it’s not searchable. So if I have to find some notes in the past I’ll usually search email and other documents to identify the date, and then go directly to those pages in the steno pad.

I also tape a business card to the front of every steno pad so if I leave it somewhere it can find its way back to me.

Regards,

Sal.
—
Salvatore Saieva

I usually write down a list and/or create a list in Microsoft word (school work, in particular) of things that I need to get done. I check the list daily to ensure that I haven’t forgotten to do something (Of course, there are times when I consciously decide not to do something on the list). The list in Microsoft word also enables me to effortlessly reorganize the things I need done and the times I need them done by.

I make a small todo-list every night for the things I want to accomplish tomorrow. It works so-so :( Heard of GTD, which seems to be quite promising in combination with the software “org-mode”.

Hi Tynan,

As for me I have a huge TO-DO list on my iphone, and basically every day I write down on a post-it two to four things I’ll have to do on a piece of paper. I do that the night before, or the morning of the same day.

Plus, an article that I’ve read that changed it all :

http://web.archive.org/web/20070613061354/www.structuredprocrastination.com/

trust me you are going to love it, it’s about being a productive procrastinator.

Good luck, can’t wait to here your system.

Thomas

I’ve done the folded up piece of paper to do list in the past.

Currently, my life revolves around google calendar. I don’t schedule times, because a) i don’t like being that rigid and b) it gets lost in the shuffle usually if I do.

Aside from my special calendars that show my work/lessons schedule and a calendar of events and free stuff to do in LA…I have my daily to do.

The problem is there’s no limit or weighted system. I end up with 11 items, some of which will take 2 minutes, some 2 hours…and no way to tell them apart at first glance. I end up not getting enough done because I’m overwhelmed.

GTD by David Allen on Remember the Milk

I have a pretty cluttered system set up right now, i simply make a ton of “notes” in my phone each with different types of things “chores to do” “work to do” “movies to see” etc. as soon as i think of something i tack it on the list, after iv completed something i take it off the list… nothing ever gets done. :P

I believe in complex systems for capture and simple systems for planning. So, as a data-junkie, I have a gazillion running lists and files for everything, but my planning system consists of: todo file (no particular sorting or refactoring like GTD does, I just sort them into urgent and non-urgent), calendar, monthly evaluation/planning of every domain of my life, yearly planning of everything in my life. I have tried GTD and other complex approaches, but it’s too much work to maintain. My current system is not 100% perfect, and every now and then there is going to be edge cases that fall outside the framework, but that will be the case for all but the most byzantine contraption of task management.

There, I wrote a reply. Do I get a cookie? ;)

Since I’m a software engineer, I put all my tasks in FogBugz, which is great for tracking bugs, tasks, features, etc. I also put other tasks into a text editor and delete the line when I’m done with it.

Currently, I treat everything as if it were a flash-fire. I beat it back with a rug or whatever is handy at the time. It may not be all that efficient but it sure is semi-effective! :)

“Information overload” is a way of life here. Looking for a better way to manage the madness!

I have real trouble with this!

I’m a focused and productive person once I get going but next to hopeless at keeping track of what I need to do. The biggest risk for me is getting diverted into a creative or inquisitive flow – often unassociated with what I’m actually supposed to be doing at the time…

I’ve tried all sorts of systems but keeping track of everything or keeping everything in one place is tricky as i have 3ish jobs (and a life!)

These systems included outlook tasks (using 3 letter codes in the subject as tags), outlook calendar (allocating times to do stuff – which results in a lot of stuff getting rescheduled) and, most recently toodledo, which seemed to have the best combination of controllability, iphone compatibility (the one unifying tool across all my activities) and iCal synching (although not properly, I discovered.)

I made a concerted effort about 6 weeks ago to prioritise and complete diligently or, failing that, to reschedule diligently. I made a point of doing this regardless of how important or brief the task, in order to bed the system in.

I use folders to separate jobs and personal and contexts to filter the nature of the task (which roughly indicates importance and urgency.)

This worked well for about 3 weeks but when i get overwhelmed i end up reverting to either a notepad or txt file on my desktop (I currently have 3 todo lists on my desktop which really shouldn’t be there – and that’s still an improvement from friday.)

I now face updating and rescheduling about 50 overdue tasks in toodledo and adding more which should have been added but weren’t when i lost momentum.

Despite this, toodledo is the most workable tool i’ve come up with so far and i haven’t given up on it yet.

I have also been through almost every system out there. I love them all. this is what currently works best for me:

- I set goals only for a very short period of time (usually for 21 days) and focus on nothing else. I make this goal/goals just outside of what I feel is “realistic”. This forces me to stretch in every way.

- I announce my intentions on Facebook/ and my blog. I want to be held accountable for my goal.

- I update with my intentions every morning and post my daily results at the end of the day along with a quick blurb about how I “feel” the goal is progressing. This again, forces me to focus and stay locked in on the goal. To progress or die, so to speak.

- I wear a simple rubber band for the 21 days that is symbolic of my commitment to my goal. This never comes off until day 22.

- I experience the outcome within myself in every way possible during a meditation I do every morning.

- I work with others who are doing the same thing (chasing a big goal) and we offer a support system for each other.

I keep a steady gaze on the “Big Goal” and never lose sight that the true beauty is in the journey. I find that the daily steps present themselves in a reasonably orderly fashion. In this way, i only have a very loose framework of what my day to day might be, instead I use the power of our innate desire “to become more” to propel me forward naturally. It often times feels like I’m just along for the ride.

Cant wait to see what you come up with Tynan! I hope i get an opportunity to try it out.

Hi Tynan,
will you do a roundup post of all the useful stuff posted here?

I’m doing well with GTD.

For me, remembering is the big issue – I’ve learned by now that if something needs to be done, I just get up off my booty and do it.

For remembering, I’m very good with numbers (I’ve got about 40 digits of Pi down right now), so if I remember the number of things I have to do, I can usually remember them all.

I do a little preplanning in my head (“Okay, another thirty minutes of checking email before I shut down the computer, then I’ll go do job A, it’ll probably take about an hour…”), but I don’t think I’ve ever had a day scheduled to perfection.

oh, just found your site Tynan, very cool and hope I’m not too late to add my bit. I am a natural do-er, and I bounce out of bed in action, but I never rush, so I stay busy all the time. If it’s a priority then I do any little thing to help it along every day, especially those long term daunting projects.Usually once you get started you’re okay. I have a small thick spiral bound book. the back pages have kids b’days, odd addresses etc. I have no rules for how I use the book other than that a pen must be clipped inside the spiral. I use it for everything (diary,interests,shopping,diagrams,lists). When it’s full I pop it in the shoe box with the others. The other thing I do is choose a focus area of my life for the chinese year (begins after the silly season so time to get my head screwed on)this year is about creativity which is probably why I’m here.

I print out the daily calander in Outlook and have that by my computer each day with my tasks for the day populated. I then write down anything that comes up each day that I need to complete. At the start of the next day I print it again and do the same thing.