Get Everything Done

It has been awhile since I've posted here and I'm finding that this new Pandemic influenced work environment has changed how I need to do things, so I have been more frequently reading the thoughts some of you have shared recently here. Thanks for the good ideas.

Here is one that I've been playing with the last few weeks.

I am a heavy user of digital tools, especially outline tools like Dynalist or Workflowy, but I often find that doing things in an analog way helps me in other ways.

I have recently enjoyed using index cards. I have gotten into a habit starting a new index card for each meeting I have. (zoom is my life lately)

I have also found it beneficial to have a "master card" for each project I have. These projects have multiple tasks and meetings associated with them. . Then with a simple paper clip I can attach the new card from a meeting to the "master card" of that project. When I want to review the meeting notes and the project, I get out the stack of cards and read through it, write clarifying notes, and if needed, I'll transcribe the important stuff into my digital outlining tools or project documentation. This process often clarifies the "chicken scratch" that is so often the case with meeting notes. That transcribing and review is an important step for me with any project.

But I don't always get to that transcribing/review step right away so it is nice the have the index card system as a placeholder.

In addition to using the cards, I will put the project cards and associated stack(if any) into a tickler file that is an index card box with dividers. Rather than the traditional 43 dividers though, I only have 5 dividers. One for each day of the work week. So if I know I want to review a project before my next meeting or deadline on it, I'll put the card/stack in the day I intend on reviewing it. By having only 5 sections. I'm ensuring that I review each of my projects at least once a week. This attempts to accomplish the "Spinning Plates" concept Mark has talked about on this site.

It has been satisfying for me to pull out all the cards/stacks for current day and lay them out on my desk in a sequenced sort of way and then attack the first card on the left and move through them one at a time. Once I feel I've done enough on any given card, I'll put it in to the tickler system knowing I'll pick it up again on another day.

Digitally, I'm starting to match my filing of emails and project notes in my outliner tool in the same way. have created 5 email folders Monday/Friday and in my Outlining tool, I have 5 sections - Monday through Friday. Each workday, I go through that day's folders/sections and review, assess and do as needed and once satisfied, I'll drop it into the next day section I think I'll need. Some things get reviewed everyday. Other's get reviewed only once a week.

Finally, I also have a no-list type card for each day as well. Currently those always stay in in the current day but I try to prune them regularly and I'll make a project card for the bigger stuff so that it can go into the "spinning plates" flow described above.


Thanks Mark for having a forum to share ideas like this. It has been beneficial for me.

Brent

What a good use of index cards. I tried them recently and they were great for notes in a meeting (zoom of course) but quickly turned into a mess for me. The box and paper clips would help with that problem. I used the spinning plates system for the Lent challenge this year and it did help with not adding too many projects.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Thanks Avrum for sending this link. I've been interested in the kick starter, I love that holder, but like you have no desire for a complicated card system, just a way to hold my cards.

@avrum I had actually seen that kickstarter as well and thought it was interesting that my use of index cards increased around the same time. I suspect some of it is a reaction to all of the increase in digital interactions and as a result we crave a physical interactions to balance with. I also had a hipster PDA back in the day (thanks Merlin) :)

@vegheadjones I'm with you in that I thought the holder was nice but the cards were too complicated ...and expensive!.

@Erin, I have to really guard against them "turning into a mess for me" as well. I find that I have to prune quite often and offload the older cards into to my digital outlining tool. So in a sense I'm straddling both worlds of digital and analog but the benefit of keeping things fresh and clarified outweighs the extra effort for me.

Brent

Avrum,

Good question. I define a project as they are more traditionally defined not as David Allen does. I work as an IT manager over 5 Analysts and 5 developers. I usually need to keep 10-15 projects "spinning" at a time. I have 17 "master cards" at the moment

For me a project is often an initiative that involves several individuals or teams and often results in a release of some code. I certainly don't manage the entire project via index cards. From a company standpoint, that is done using the company tools.

I rely on my team members to do much of the detailed management in those company tools. However, I find that I have to keep up on how things are going and I have my own "For me only" notes and tasks on any given project that I like to track. The notes are my way of learning what I need to learn and the tasks are things like "ask Bob about X" or "study up on Y" Those types of tasks don't really fit into a formalized project management tool but it is stuff I do a lot of. Every project seems to have meetings tied to it and I like to organize my personal note taking around the projects I participate in.

I feel like what I am most trying to grapple with is the note taking and attention management side of things rather than task management. With many projects in the pipe, I find that I have to "switch contexts" several times a day and I need a way to jump in where I left off. I do this with a mix of paper notes and digital notes and the flow is ideally paper > digital > do and delegate.

I need to say out loud that I haven't figured this all out even though I've been inIT for 20+ years an management for about that. That's probably why I frequent this site looking for tips and tricks..

..always learning

Brent

Brent, Our work processes, and struggles, with the right personal process sound very similar. Alongside our company’s tools, I am now using two books and the occasional card.

One book is the standard Mark Forster list. And one book is more bullet journal-sequence. With this book, Ive been making a two page spread. One has my schedule and tasks (I’ve been scheduling project time alongside my meetings and do not want to keep that in our company calendar). That runs down a column on the left, the rest of the page for tasks that I need to do today (pulled from the MF list or from the company’s project management tools). The right side includes running notes for the day, including meeting notes, project notes and tasks that arise. Busy days means this becomes two or more pages). At the end of the day (or the beginning of next). I go through the note pages and put them in the proper place, tasks on MF lists, waiting for and agenda items on an outlining app that allows for tags, project tasks on our software project boards and notes in the reference areas.

Index cards are for those surprise calls where I need to grad something quickly and start writing :)

This has been evolving over the past few weeks with good success.Not sure yet whether it will last in the long haul, but I like how it is progressing so far.

Vehgeadjones,

Yes it does sound similar, thanks for sharing. I keep hoping for a single tool that does it all. But like you I think I'm learning that I need to use several tools. I think the thing I'm trying to do now is to make sure I'm not using a screwdriver when I should be using a hammer or vice versa.

But to take a bad analogy further, I think I don't necessarily need a ruler and a tape measure so I'm also looking to make my tool box less heavy! Even though new tools are fun!

3 1/2 years later, I'm back to index cards. Mainly because of the realization that I am activated by physical piles of stuff. I think my wife knows this all to well because if I see unfolded laundry on my side of the bed I just have to sort it and fold it. I also can't stand dishes in the sink.

Relating that concept to index cards and my to do list, if my list is tucked away in an electronic list or in a notebook, I'm less prone to look at it. One of the complaints this thread talked about is the tendency of index cards to get spread out and messy. I realize now that it actually a benefit because it draws me back in to keep interacting with the cards.

I've sort of made a game of it by creating piles or stacks that I interact with. I have a Today pile, a tomorrow pile, and a few deferred piles. Today's pile typically has a card for routines, upcoming meetings, tasks, and projects. I like to line them up as I see me tackling them. Sometimes if I'm stuck I just randomly pick one.

For the most part the rule is one thing per card, but a project may collect related notes and tasks similar to the RTM treatment of projects.

For important stuff, I also digitize notes and reference material related to a "project card" or "meeting card" I realize that makes some of this redundant but the extra time it takes is worth it to me because it helps me think about and process my work.

I think my favorite thing to do is to move the routine cards from todays pile to tomorrows pile as I do them. The goal of each day is to get today's pile moved to a done pile ( which is eventually trash) or a tomorrow/deferred pile because it's an ongoing project but I'm done for today.

Brent

Good idea. That's one other benefit of having one thing per card, it makes it really easy to group as needed. Very flexible.

For context I currently have about 100 cards and I bought this to help with the sorting. https://amzn.to/3u35Jxc

Avrum,

I like the idea of having a few "luxurious" cards. I like your idea of recording the why behind the what.

As I've been experimenting with the index card life, I have a lot of throw away cards. I buy the thinnest, cheapest ones possible for those (or raid the corporate stash) , but I do like having thicker colorful cards for some routines and projects. So I may try your idea.

I started using some divider cards similar to these for when I clip together cards. https://amzn.to/48hw5JD I tend to use one of those per person on my team. It kind of works well for the @waitingfor ideas GTD has.

I can't emphasize enough that the reason I like using the cards is not because it is tidy or portable. It is neither. It can get a little scattered but that's why it works for me. I forces me to stay engaged with everything. At times, my desk looks like a giant strategic board game and for some reason that has invigorated my daily sit-at-my-desk-and-work routines.