spikeyxx
Member's not posted much yet
Posts: 30
|
Post by spikeyxx on Feb 2, 2012 12:04:23 GMT
Hi All, I'm wondering of anyone on here uses systems, or tools to manage their time and get things done, i.e. whiteboards, notepads, post it notes, phone / computer apps. I'm looking for what will work best for me, and would like any input other people have. I use a Macbook / iPhone if that helps, (my coach uses android, so the app she uses isn't available on my iphone) Thanks Ad
|
|
|
Post by mccutcheon on Feb 2, 2012 13:19:27 GMT
Hi spikey, I have a mac, and androids when it comes to phones. So I mostly use: - gmail/google calendar with different sub calendars (colour coding FTW!) - any.DO on my android for simple and quick jotting down of things to do (there probably is an iphone app though) - wunderkit for project management (filmmaking, but also for planning holidays etc.) - I send stuff I want to read later to my gmail via www.notesforlater.com (the bookmarklet is in my bookmark bar which I sync to all my computers) or if I see them on my phone I just send the link to myself - I use mobisle notes on my android for shopping lists etc. hope that helps
|
|
|
Post by boo on Feb 4, 2012 11:05:22 GMT
i have a very helpful O/H does that count? ;D at work, post it notes!!!!! when i first started work there, post-it notes were virtually banned, cos the boss (who i am convinced is an adhder btw) didnt like them and thought that people should write anything they would have put on a post-it note, into a book. That way they have a date they noted it down, and could use it to 'cross off' when whatever it was, was done.... but i cant use books like that, firstly, cos my brain goes off on too many tangents when i am working through things, and if i had to 'stop' to write it down, my brain would 'stop' too, quick key words on a post-it note, much better.....and secondly i cant keep a book organised enough, and thirdly, as soon as i turn the page, the reminder is gone...... so gradually, i 'wore him down' in his anti-post-it-note-policy, and now have them all around my desk, post-it note city! ;D tis funny cos the boss does still try and get me to use a book, only the other day, he opened a new one and 'slid' it under my elbow as we were going through some stuff, as a hint for me to jot it down...... and if ever i forget stuff and have to ask him, he will joke about "thats what you get when you use post-it notes"......... but it makes me laugh, cos his 'book' is actually several books and A4 notepads, (anything infact that is to hand at the time........) all left at various places round the office, all with lots of notes and reminders........ all fairly pointless if they aint with him eh (in fairness, he does have one that is always on his desk too) I also email myself quite alot for work stuff.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2012 12:06:21 GMT
i have a very helpful O/H does that count? ;D at work, post it notes!!!!! when i first started work there, post-it notes were virtually banned, cos the boss (who i am convinced is an adhder btw) didnt like them and thought that people should write anything they would have put on a post-it note, into a book. That way they have a date they noted it down, and could use it to 'cross off' when whatever it was, was done.... but i cant use books like that, firstly, cos my brain goes off on too many tangents when i am working through things, and if i had to 'stop' to write it down, my brain would 'stop' too, quick key words on a post-it note, much better.....and secondly i cant keep a book organised enough, and thirdly, as soon as i turn the page, the reminder is gone...... so gradually, i 'wore him down' in his anti-post-it-note-policy, and now have them all around my desk, post-it note city! ;D tis funny cos the boss does still try and get me to use a book, only the other day, he opened a new one and 'slid' it under my elbow as we were going through some stuff, as a hint for me to jot it down...... and if ever i forget stuff and have to ask him, he will joke about "thats what you get when you use post-it notes"......... but it makes me laugh, cos his 'book' is actually several books and A4 notepads, (anything infact that is to hand at the time........) all left at various places round the office, all with lots of notes and reminders........ all fairly pointless if they aint with him eh (in fairness, he does have one that is always on his desk too) I also email myself quite alot for work stuff. I am both you and your boss ;D My desk is littered with post its, some of which I stick to my screen if I want to remember them. Which I sometimes notice. I use a book - several, in fact, write loads of notes to myself and then find them months later, when I open the book at the 'wrong' page (ie, a page I've written on, as opposed to a clean one). Yesterday, I knew I had a lot of stuff on the go, so I gathered up the post-it's and sat down and wrote me a list of everything that needs work urgently. It's a bit long.
|
|
|
Post by boo on Feb 4, 2012 12:53:54 GMT
I use a book - several, in fact, write loads of notes to myself and then find them months later, when I open the book at the 'wrong' page (ie, a page I've written on, as opposed to a clean one). Exactly!... on the few occasions i have tried to use a book (or several), by the time i see my own notes/comments, its usually well past being relevant anymore Yesterday, I knew I had a lot of stuff on the go, so I gathered up the post-it's and sat down and wrote me a list of everything that needs work urgently. It's a bit long. dont you find though, by not having them in a long to-do list, its less overwhelming, doesn't seem so daunting? once they are there in one big list, my brain definitely has a petulant child moment and refuses to take a step further! (or just doesn't know where to start if it wants to co-operate) I do do that sometimes though, if i have lots on the go, like you have, but i only do it when the list will be several quick fix jobs that i have been putting off and need doing to get out of the way, and free up some space in my head.... a bit like clearing out the temp files folder every now and then ;D ps. if my list becomes longer than i intended, i have been known to break it out into several smaller lists........ transferred onto several post-it notes ...........and then work through one post-it note list at a time (well, at least until my goal posts are moved again, or my brain has gone off on another tangent ) (.............................. or of course it gets covered up by another post it note .... ) ;D
|
|
|
Post by boo on Feb 4, 2012 13:50:56 GMT
actually, i should correct myself here really, i do have lots of the A4 notepads, (or the back of A4 sheets I have printed out, in a messed up pile that needs referring back to at various times) with scribblings and scrawlings and jottings and notes, but the post-its are key word reminders etc, so i suppose in that sense, i do use the 'book', just not in the way my boss intended..........
|
|
|
Post by christvswarhol on Feb 15, 2012 1:20:25 GMT
i have a very helpful O/H does that count? ;D at work, post it notes!!!!! when i first started work there, post-it notes were virtually banned, cos the boss (who i am convinced is an adhder btw) didnt like them and thought that people should write anything they would have put on a post-it note, into a book. That way they have a date they noted it down, and could use it to 'cross off' when whatever it was, was done.... but i cant use books like that, firstly, cos my brain goes off on too many tangents when i am working through things, and if i had to 'stop' to write it down, my brain would 'stop' too, quick key words on a post-it note, much better.....and secondly i cant keep a book organised enough, and thirdly, as soon as i turn the page, the reminder is gone...... so gradually, i 'wore him down' in his anti-post-it-note-policy, and now have them all around my desk, post-it note city! ;D tis funny cos the boss does still try and get me to use a book, only the other day, he opened a new one and 'slid' it under my elbow as we were going through some stuff, as a hint for me to jot it down...... and if ever i forget stuff and have to ask him, he will joke about "thats what you get when you use post-it notes"......... but it makes me laugh, cos his 'book' is actually several books and A4 notepads, (anything infact that is to hand at the time........) all left at various places round the office, all with lots of notes and reminders........ all fairly pointless if they aint with him eh (in fairness, he does have one that is always on his desk too) I also email myself quite alot for work stuff. I put post it notes into diaries or books. Otherwise i do have them flapping everywhere then they fall off everything, they have the added bonus of if you don't get it done (alot) i can just stick it on another day instead of their being lists and lists of things i haven't done... it's not fool proof tho heeheeee
|
|
|
Post by sherry on Feb 15, 2012 19:47:06 GMT
I used to stick post it notes all over my computer screen until some b'stard took it away. Now I tell ppl if they want me to do something they have to email me otherwise forget it. I leave the email in my inbox until the task is done then delete it. I set lots of alarms on my i phone too. My gaffa proved today he knows f all about ADHD, he emailed me to tell me to remind a colleague to do something next week because they both have crap memories and will never remember WTF!!!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2012 11:06:54 GMT
Arse! Feck! I finally had to sort through a stack of boxes of junk that was taking up space in my room (to make room for my latest impulse-buy! ;D). It's only been sitting there for a couple of...few... several years! Now, instead of a stack of boxes, I have a maze of piles of STUFF all over my bedroom floor because I've run out of energy for taking any more 'throw or keep' decisions! Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!!!! I should have just hired a skip and not tried to be clever about it!
|
|
|
Post by twix on Mar 18, 2012 13:37:12 GMT
I have a pile of stuff from boxes on the floor in front of my sofa. I'm taking a break then I'm going back to it. The boxes are now all clean though. Not sure this helps....
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2012 16:42:43 GMT
I have a diary and it comes everywhere with me. I have three colums red, amber, green. Its a traffic light system and I put the most urgent into red etc. At the end of the day I revierw it and change things acoordingling for the next day or whyen things crop up or pop in my head. It works when I stick to it and I dont get so stressed.
|
|
|
Post by mighty on Mar 18, 2012 19:44:30 GMT
Started using this free software called self control. One of the few things I've actually found to work pretty well. You add websites to the 'blacklist' and set the timer for anywhere between 15mins and 24hrs. It then blocks them for the set amount of time. I usually tip half a coffee jar into some hot water, drink up, set the app for an hour and go go go Might start trying to increase by 15 mins at a time actually if progress keeps up! Oh and another thing I do.. sounds really weird but when I get bored of working on a report or essay I'll change the font colour to something that interests me more in an attempt to rejuvenate my motivation!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 13:05:19 GMT
I use Spreeder for reading long boring things that make me drift off. You just go to spreeder.com/app.php?intro=1 and copy and paste the text into the box. You can change the speed - I'm currently on 550 wpm. I use Readlaterfast to stop myself having hundreds of tabs open online And Listthings for online post its I use Pomodoro to make myself take breaks. And the best filing/information storage system I've ever used is Personal Brain. It seems to even make organising and finding documents and files interesting. As for the offline world - I just do one thing at a time, whatever is nearest or comes into my head at the time. Not the most efficient with regard to remembering things, but at least I live in some sort of immediate order. Dx
|
|
|
Post by mighty on Mar 20, 2012 15:30:42 GMT
Wow that spreeder looks pretty good! I find my reading can be very fast when reading short lines or sentences coming up one at a time. Usually get lost on big pages of text though - will have to give this one a try!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2012 9:22:42 GMT
Yeah, Spreeder is the only thing I've consistently stuck with for years. It's a life saver.
|
|
Lame44
Member posts quite a bit
Posts: 207
|
Post by Lame44 on Mar 25, 2012 19:56:01 GMT
I have a few calenders up, a couple of diaries now too. When hospital apts come through I will write them on the calender and in the diaries and leave the letter in 'the pile' that I know should contain all my important things (but they still disappear) so I know where to look.
Today though I had a really good clear out of old clothes, got rid of a few bags, a friend had three bags and some went in the bin and then I sorted all the paper work out and put them in piles in the drawers and some of them into a folder...But I need more folders to put the rest into now. Hopefully that helps the paper work issue for a little while when I've got more folders.
Other than that, my girlfriend too remembers a lot of things for me. I have to set my alarm on the phone sometimes for appointments if I think I will miss them, and my psychologist recently said about using the phone alarms to let me know when I should be eating because even though I'm fat, I don't eat very much, sometimes nothing all day long, or drink, so I'm trying to sort that out.
I actually hate 'post it's' because I don't like pieces of paper like that...weird I know.
Do you have trouble with bills n stuff too Spikey? I do, I usually pay them twice because I cannot remember paying them, so now I keep the most recent statement/letter out and pay online n write on the letter 'paid on' so and so date, time and how much and how I paid, for example if I paid via my online banking, or via their site etc. That has helped a little, but if I get distracted while I'm trying to do it then I might forget to write on it so I try n make sure I'm on my won to pay the bills and make sure I wont get distracted too much.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2012 14:04:01 GMT
I'm ok with bills once I've started. It's getting started that's the trouble. I put it off until I've got a county court judgement, even when I've got money in the bank to pay! My credit history is pants. I've got a letter here from a company called Scotcall who are going to send the boys round and I still haven't got round to paying!!!
|
|
|
Post by sherry on Apr 3, 2012 20:57:47 GMT
I have everything direct debit, cause I got fed up of overdue payment charges. I have two bank accounts one for debits and one for cash with overdrafts just in case. I also have an excellent credit rating now. There is hope.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2012 11:06:49 GMT
From this post and your other one about getting organised I'm beginning to envy you your organised-ness. I'm sitting in a pile of rubble, struggling to type around two cats vying for space on my knee, with no hope of ever being organised! Waiting for Scotcall to call! But accepting it :-) Dx
|
|