Member-only story
It is easy to just tell people they need to get more organized, but for many, this is such a completely alien process that we really aren’t helping much. When I look at my list below, I realise now that it took me many years to use, understand and customise each approach to the point where I feel very confident with my set up.
So for those who might struggle with improving their organisation or getting started, here is my basic structure that applies to both personal and work life.
(1) Using a to do list (Things 3 or TickTick)— The daddy of all tips, which is now frequently criticised as being close to a dumping list. I keep track of many areas and lists in my life using Things 3 and use it as my daily reference tool. If I get a calendar notification, then that is dealt with at the appropriate time, but truly it is the to-do app that I sit down with at the start of the day and when I have some spare time and check for instructions. It is this app that I come to first and only add things to other tools if absolutely necessary. You can pretty much use any to-do app for this as the primary function of them is all very similar, so TickTick is my second choice, but others are Todoist, Apple Reminders, Microsoft Todo, Google Tasks and Any.do.
(2) Pending or “getting back to me” lists (Things 3 or TickTick)— This is one of the most important things I rarely see mentioned, but sometimes other people are an essential part of your organisational process. I feel like I spend my entire life waiting to do something I can’t do right away or waiting for others to respond. This annoys me greatly, but what is worse is to forget about these things and suddenly remember them much later, realising you have added to the wasted time. So I have a Pending section and a tag on my to-do app for exactly this purpose, with deadlines for when these things should be completed. If that date comes, I can chase them up, add a note of having done so and set a new deadline.
