Never Dainty

1. Don't check your email every minute. I think most people would agree that your time is wasted hugely on the fact that you respond almost immediately as soon as something new comes in. If you've worked with email clients, such as Outlook or Thunderbird - like I do at home, then make sure the alert is turned off. It is best to check emails in intervals. To be honest, I check my emails hourly or every two hours.
2. Apply filters. Gmail has this feature which allows you to automatically archive emails and put labels in them. Since my email serves as the command center, I have already set filters into my emails. That way, I can set time as to when I deal with emails that come for which ones. That way, I can easily focus my time into one set of emails - like those that are work related, forwarded, from my mother, from online opps.
3. Take care of each email right away. I am not going back on #1, what I mean to say is that you take care of each email as soon as you've read it. Decide what you do with it: delete, archive, forward-archive, forward-delete, reply-archive, reply-delete.
4. Is it important that you have to read it for information? If so, I recommend you Star it then Archive, or file it away to a folder/label called "Readables" then Archive it, as soon as you have dealt with it, remove the label and you're good. Or you could print it out and have it as a reading material when doing something outside cyberspace.
5. Does the email contain things that you need to do in the future? Take note of the things and details and mark them down in your calendar, to-do list, or somewhere else. Archive email after taking notes.
6. One location. In essence, I have just one folder, and it is Archive. The Inbox simply acts like some kind of waiting room where emails wait to be executed. I merely add labels to make me get organized more. If I ever need something, there's always the search option which has not failed me yet.

Labels: email, getting things done, how to, improvement, Monday Hacks, productivity, time management, tips, work, work at home

Though it seems like a great way to get a lot of things done, at the end of the day, I feel like I have been dragged through every room of the house. That happens on most days. There are days, though, that I don't feel too tired. Perhaps my body has adjusted to the multitasking.

One thing at a time.

After all things considered, I realized that it is best to do just one thing at a time. That way, you can work your absolute best, and concentrate more on what is being done at hand. Scheduling the things that must be done is indeed a good idea. I am trying real hard to do this. Somehow, I find myself almost always short of time. And then these would be the moments where I wish I would be able to have 36 hours a day.

Doing things one at a time allows you to sort out your activities and plan them carefully. Something I need to do. It is most definitely going to be an uphill battle, but from the bottom of my heart, I think this is for the best. God knows, perhaps this is what I needed all alone.

Indeed, the great PoohBah knew a lot when he told me when I was a n00b that burn-out should be

Introducing GTD (Getting Things Done) by David Allen

Have you ever heard of GTD? I have. I've known about this for a year or so now, but I have never been able to put it into practice. I've read a lot about it, but procrastination is indeed a curse, and it has put my goal of learning this into the back seat. All the more that I need to learn it now.

So I renew my goal of learning GTD. I got the following from Wikipedia in hopes of sharing it with you, too. In case you're one dove-tailing person like moi. Read up about this more and let's see what happens. So anyway, here is the process of GTD, and a step towards organization (still under GTD).

Process

When processing a bucket, a strict workflow is followed:

* Start at the top.
* Deal with one item at a time.
* Never put anything back into 'in'.
* If an item requires action:

* Do it (if it takes less than two minutes), OR
* Delegate it, OR
* Defer it.

* If an item does not require action:

* File it for reference, OR
* Throw it away, OR
* Incubate it for possible action later.

If it takes under two minutes to do something, just do it immediately. The two-minute rule is a guideline, encompassing roughly the time it would take to defer the action formally.

Organize

Allen describes a suggested set of lists which can be used to keep track of items awaiting attention:

* Next actions — For every item requiring attention, decide what is the next action that can be physically taken on that item. For example, if the item is, "Write project report," the next action might be, "Email Fred for meeting minutes," or, "Call Mary to ask about report requirements." Though there may be many steps and actions required to complete the item, there will always be something that needs to be done first, and this step should be recorded in the next actions list. Preferably, these steps are organized by the context in which they can be done, such as "in the office," "by the phone," or "at the store."
* Projects — Every open loop in one's life or work which requires more than one physical action to achieve becomes a project. These projects are tracked and periodically reviewed to make sure that every project has a next action associated with it, and thus can be moved forward.
* Waiting for — When an action has been delegated to someone else, or when one is waiting for some external event before a project can be moved forward, this is tracked in the system and periodically checked to see if action is due, or a reminder needs to be sent.
* Someday/Maybe — Things to be done at some point, but not right now. Examples might be "learn Chinese," or, "take diving holiday."

So! Let's get this multitasking out of our system and embrace the Art of organizing and getting things done!!

Cheers!!!

Labels: getting things done, good finds, improvement, multitasking, opinion, personal matters, productivity, tips, women

4:30-5:30 A.M. - Getting ready for work
6:00-10:25 A.M. - Work (sneak in breakfast somewhere)
10:25-11:25 A.M. - Break and extra surfing looking for topics
11:25-2:00 P.M. - Work
2:00-7:00 P.M. - Baby care and Motherhood (some Internet time can be sneaked in if I manage to wrestle hubby away from PC)
7:00-9:00 P.M. - Internet time (money making, blog posting, and among other things [hoping to extend time as per negotiation from hubby])
9:00-10:00 P.M. - Try to put baby boy to sleep, and not try to fall asleep in the process
10:00-... - Wifehood? ;)

Labels: daily, getting things done, motherhood, personal matters, productivity, schedule, wifehood