Lately I’ve been feeling very lazy at work. I’ve been putting off accepting this definition because it’s not a very nice word, laziness. But that’s what it is. And I want to change it! No use trying to convince myself that it’s just because of lack of clear instructions, not feeling motivated or some other thing that is not my fault. So I googled a bit and found a couple of nice motivational resources and methods for organising yourself in order to optimise productivity, some involving paid booklets or coaching. But then I found this article and remembered that I do know how to get things done, I’ve known since a long time.

I agree on what Mark Wieczorek says about digital to-do-lists, and that by writing something down you are much more likely to get that thing done, and my method overcomes both issues. It also interlinks the events and notes you need to remember to a calendar, which is very good (for me). I learned this technique from the very clever administrative assistants working for some very v.i.p. busypeople at my first job, not going to say where that was though. It’s a slight variation on Mr. W’s take.

Here’s what you do:

Take one notebook. Add page numbers on all pages, then draw margins on all pages with the help of a ruler. You are supposed to keep the notebook with you at all times. Each morning, you note down the date, so everything that comes after that is attached to a day in your life. Then you start noting things down. Whenever your phone rings, you take a pen, open up your notebook and note down what you need to do or what needs to happen based on that phonecall. Whenever you’re in a meeting, you write down what was decided and notably what you need to do. You are also supposed to note down all other incoming information flows that require some action from you. Basically you note down everything you should do and also everything you do do. In the end of the working day, you’ll have a nice record of what you’ve been up to the whole day.

Now, during the day, if you accepted new meeting requests or arranged others, you have hopefully noted them down in your calendar. It is very possible that you have made some supporting notes in your notebook about the meetings. In your calendar, whatever format you are using (paper, pc, online, palm), you now note down the page number of the supporting note or notes with the calendar event. This way you’ll always be able to track back what was said about that event, or whether you’re supposed to prepare something for the meeting and when.

You can also use the page numbers within the notebook. Let’s say you work on something during one or two weeks, so the notes concerning this thing are scattered across several pages. In this case it’s handy to note down, with the latest entry for that subject, the other pages where you can find information about it, making it less likely that you forget an important detail. Whenever you get something done, you just cross the corresponding note out. You are supposed to browse backwards from time to time to check you haven’t missed anything. I’ve found it helpful to flag information that is pending or otherwise not dealth with using sticky flag markers like these, especially if lots of time passes between the note-taking and the time you act upon it. And there you go! Your own event-tracking system ready to serve you.

It seems like a lot of hassle if you’re only working on one project at a time or with a very small team with little external influence, but as soon as things get busy, you’ll appreciate having a full record of all your interactions.

Also, I’m probably the worst person to advocate this type of system, because like I said I’ve been feeling very non-productive recently. But I’ll give it a try. I wonder why I forgot about it in the first place. I remember it always served me very well indeed. I’ll report back with results.

Above: one of my very creative achievements, Herma stickers I coloured in using crayons. You can fold them in half to form a cool tabbing system for a notebook.

P.s. Kiitos SirpaLe kunniamaininnasta, se lämmitti mieltä!