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Post by mccutcheon on Nov 17, 2011 12:19:45 GMT
Because dizzy asked me about my to do box, I thought I'd start a thread where we can share the way we get organised (or failed to do so ) Maybe we can help each other out with ideas/inspire each other. I'll start: It's pretty simple: To Do BoxTo do items go into the To Do Box - things that need to be filed away, phone calls to be made, emails to be written, things that need to be done - if they do not fit or are metaphysical I write them down on these little quadratic note papers I keep in my desk and put those in. Once a week I have an appointment in my google calendar that says "to do" - which means I have to work through the box. File things, make calls etc. ReferencesThings that will be needed at a later point in time go in there. My la redoute catalogue and vouchers I get for it, the endless password for our router, receipts that are irrelevant for taxes but that I like to keep for a while in case anyone complains I haven't paid yet (I always note when I've wired the money on the receipt) Film School Obvious: Handouts I get at school. Creativity 1Concrete projects get their own file hangers in here, things I am actually working on. Quote my wife: "if the box is too full you're working on too many things at once." Creativity 2Here all the random stuff goes: still vague ideas, snippets, sentences on scrap paper, photographs and images I took that could inspire something concrete, poetry, blog ideas - The boxes are PRĂ„NT from IKEA, I like that they're wooden but luckily still fit the file hangers (those plastic file hanger boxes are fucking ugly!) - To do box is the smallest SAMLA box from IKEA, clear plastic so I can't ignore them that easily (Out of sight out of mind) - Archives are file folders under my desk. My wife helped me come up with this system a couple of weeks ago, and so far I'm really liking it. I like knowing where everything goes now, and that putting stuff away consists of the simple process of dumping things into the correct hanger instead of opening a folder and filing them away. Now I only have to do that once a week when I dive into the to do box. how do you do it?
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Post by twix on Nov 17, 2011 13:57:28 GMT
I use my phone for most things, www.mobisleapps.com/blog/mobislenotes/ how cute is that a little notebook! It's free, my favourite price. My phone also has my Google calendar and my email and texts. It has an egg timer so I can set it to go off in an hour so as not to lose track of time, or 10 mins to do a quick tidy up flylady style. It has multiple alarms that can be set everyday or not, and the calendar has alarms too. I also write on white boards, or walls in the rooms that are not yet decorated! I have files and boxes for paper but I'm not great at filing. General I have piles of stuff which stack up in roughly date order.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2011 17:47:04 GMT
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Post by kakema on Nov 17, 2011 23:33:36 GMT
OMG, Audrey - how do you keep your nest so tidy???
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Post by mccutcheon on Nov 18, 2011 10:00:10 GMT
audrey, that's what it looks like here too when I don't know where things go I can really really really recommend getting someone to help you. someone who's good with this priorities shit and filing and making sense of things can help you figure out a system. I think part of avoiding desk chaos is not to have anything on the desk you can dump chaos into. i.e. on my desk there's my mac and a pair of bluetooth headphones in their loading station, a box of tissues, a coaster and a paper weight. and that's it. This way when I dump stuff here I notice immediately that it doesn't look right and drop it into one of the file hanger boxes. Because I do like order. I just never managed to achieve it before. oh man, I really wish I could help each and every one of you with this because omg I love my new work environment (I work from home) :-D twix, I totally adore mobislenotes because I can sync it (well, when it works lol) to all my devices.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2011 11:20:14 GMT
OMG, Audrey - how do you keep your nest so tidy??? Well as you can see, my organisational skills are a wonder to behold!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2011 11:48:38 GMT
I can't believe that photo mccutcheon. Even if I managed to get to that level of organisation, it would stay like that for approx 3 weeks. Currently on my desk there are about ten tonnes of assorted paperwork/chapter drafts/articles, eight cups, five with mould inside, three plates, two forks with cat fur stuck to them, several empty packs of fags, two empty beercans I've been using as an ashtray, four empty dvd boxes and 6 dvds (none of them match), one of those sticky roller things for getting fuzz off clothes, some socks, about 300 pens (some work, some don't), a book I've been meaning to take to the post office for three weeks, a can of deoderant and some tampons that were in my bag and have never made it back to the bathroom.....you get the idea. And somewhere, SOMEWHERE under all that crap is, I am hoping, my credit card which, inexplicably is not in my purse where it should be, but a cursory examination of the desk has not yet disclosed its whereabouts. So was it your wife who helped you sort out your study? Perhaps I could borrow her for a few days?
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Post by mighty on Nov 18, 2011 17:17:39 GMT
This looks good! Note to self.. get a box.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2011 17:52:40 GMT
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Post by mccutcheon on Nov 21, 2011 14:04:41 GMT
So was it your wife who helped you sort out your study? Perhaps I could borrow her for a few days? Hm... I'm pretty sure she might work for airfare and food But seriously, get a buddy to help you out, like the "You mean I'm not crazy, lazy or stupid" book suggests. Having help really makes all the difference and some people actually enjoy creating order as for things that come out of purses and never make it back to their intended place: I have a "launchpad box" in the living room. When I get home I empty the "regular" contents of my bag into it and put the bag away. Next time I'm going out and need a bag I can pick whichever I want (because they're all empty! neat, huh? ) and go to my launchpad and pack what I'm going to need from there. I also have one of those clear plastic bags intended for air travel where toiletries/makeup necessities are stored, so I just have to grab that from the box and stuff it into my bag instead of loose tampons, lipstick etc. edited to say: The boxes stay in order because my main problem was not knowing where things are supposed to go.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2011 16:00:27 GMT
on my desk there's my mac and a pair of bluetooth headphones in their loading station, a box of tissues Always, keep a box of tissues close to your computer...... !
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Post by adamv on Nov 21, 2011 16:42:55 GMT
I just have posted notes every place i look lol, also the fridge i have them letter magnets that i say things like "remember to ?" with. Also have a notice board/calender (but i always forget to check them)
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Post by mccutcheon on Nov 21, 2011 16:50:35 GMT
on my desk there's my mac and a pair of bluetooth headphones in their loading station, a box of tissues Always, keep a box of tissues close to your computer...... ! if you meant spillage: if I explode coffee over my desk and iMac tissues won't help. it's time to run for towels lol if you meant something else: you dirty dirty mind ;p
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2011 20:01:05 GMT
Always, keep a box of tissues close to your computer...... ! if you meant spillage: if I explode coffee over my desk and iMac tissues won't help. it's time to run for towels lol if you meant something else: you dirty dirty mind ;p So if the tissues are not for spillage.........?! Yeah, dirty mind, you got me!
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Post by mccutcheon on Nov 22, 2011 11:33:00 GMT
if you meant spillage: if I explode coffee over my desk and iMac tissues won't help. it's time to run for towels lol if you meant something else: you dirty dirty mind ;p So if the tissues are not for spillage.........?! Yeah, dirty mind, you got me! psssst... girls don't need tissues
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2011 14:37:33 GMT
psssst... girls don't need tissues Then why have them on your desk, in fact why have them at all? Seems a bit disorganised to me! ;D
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Post by mccutcheon on Nov 25, 2011 7:44:56 GMT
psssst... girls don't need tissues Then why have them on your desk, in fact why have them at all? Seems a bit disorganised to me! ;D ;D
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2011 12:13:53 GMT
I'm a bit like Audrey's pic, with piles of unopened letters and paper stuff in various rooms on all sorts of surfaces. They pile up like this until someone is coming to visit, then out of shame I cram them all into carrier bags and hide them under my bed.
Then I forget all about them for a couple of years until I find them again, by which time it's mostly out of date and can go straight in the recycling. The stuff that can't get chucked goes back on the latest pile, until a visitor is coming...
I've only got into trouble with it a few times.
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Post by Feelingsadd on Nov 29, 2011 13:23:30 GMT
Christmas 2 yrs ago, visitors coming to stay, panic, piled piles of paper in boxes, put boxes in back of garage. Forgot about them. Rediscovered in the summer .
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2011 6:10:35 GMT
Christmas?! Ogodogodogodogod...... Aaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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