Get Everything Done

I'm wondering how people are handling errands. I've been writing down errands as I think of them, but obviously I can only do them when I am out and about. I used to keep a separate errands list, but sometimes the items languished. So I like the idea of having the individual errands come across my conscious more often. Suggestions?

Hi Margaret

You may find the following threads helpful in answering this


http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/625381

http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/625242

I avoid multiple lists like the plague. (I spent some years in the computer biz so I hold it as religious dogma that there should be only one place that data is kept and data should never be duplicated!)

So after I foundered on the folly of context lists (a la GtD), I decided on tagging. I have the minimum number of useful tags and put those in front of my items (leaving space in those where I do not tag so that the tags stand out more clearly when they exist. For errands I use "[E]". I also have "[W]" for "waiting for". "[T]" for "tickler. And I use '[initials]" for the name of someone I need to talk with this about or who is following up or whatever. So my list looks like:

[ ]..........Wash the car.
[ ]..........Conquer the world.
[ ] [E]...Shop for groceries
[ ]..........Comb the cats
[ ] [W]...Refund from Company X
etc.

(Sorry for the dots. This blog software compresses spaces so I had to mess with it to give you the effect.)

I have that [ ] in front as a check box. While I love to cross through things (it feels so good) I even more like knowing what I have done. On rare occasion I will put a box after an item with the date accomplished:

[x] [E] ........ Mail check for mortgage [1/13]

As I said elsewhere, I'm cautions about clutttering the system so I only do some of these things when they make sense. I don't date the completion of everything. Why bother? I might date an item if my boss might ask when I did something ... in some special case I might even time stamp it ... but these days I have no boss so ... errr, wait, I'm married so ... ;-)

Margaret

I too used to have a problem with errands in Autofocus. They were spread over several pages so if I was going out it would take longer than I wanted, to scan through to find all the tasks that needed to be done. I tried using a coloured dot from a highlighter at the start of each errand task but this didn't make it much quicker.

I finally solved it by having a separate errands list but then having "review errands" as one of my tasks in my main list. The errands list is at the back of the notebook, my normal Autofocus list at the front. This way I had one errands list I can look at if I'm going out but because of the review task they don't get ignored for long.

Hannah - that sounds like a good idea. You are only carrying one book with you. Multiple books would not be for me. I have enough trouble dealing with one book. I think you do need errands noted separately otherwise you are constantly going through the AF lists and then what do you`do- keep the errands in your head? No, you write them down somewhere!! So you might as well have a separate list in the same book as your AF tasks.

The reason tagging works better for me than an errands list in the back of the book is that all of my errands are not done together. IOW, if I need to shop for groceries, I may stop by he post office but will probably not go to the hardware store in that run. So I already have to "cull" from the errands list or have multiple lists. If I am going to have to cull anyway, I can cull from the pages of my master list with the [E]s popping out at me. As it turns out, I'll probably write a separate errands list for that particular run and then I will probably use a page in the back of the book, or perhaps a Post-It stuck on the cover of the book. (Mine is currently a throw away spiral bound book. If I were to go to a bound book with an eye toward keeping a record of everything, I'd have to use a card or something. I don't plan on memorializing my shopping lists ;-)

Thanks for all of these ideas! I like the idea of tagging, and making a temporary list for a trip, although sometimes I end up unexpectedly in a place where I could take care of something on my list. But I'm not carrying my Autofocus book around all the time.

I too put all my errands into my AF list. If I feel I need a separate list, which so far the system itself has prompted me to do, then I use one. I still put the original item into AF though, but as "add x to y list" That not only ensures I don't forget anything but continues to act as a prompt each time I review the page.

Hi Mark,

I was thinking about the implications of this last night, and now after your post ... it occurs to me that the instructions probably need to be changed to cover this case. Something about scanning ahead to see if similar items are on other open pages. I don't suppose this should be done in many cases, just ones like errands, ticklers, waiting for, etc.