blog to discovery

Things are challenging at work at the moment and it is making me question further whether my organisation system is fit for my job.  Since the beginning of April I have gone from working on two closely related projects for the same manager to four different projects for different managers.  This is proving difficult, especially as they are all urgent now.

My current system prioritises tasks based on deadline and priority level on a last in first out basis, however this does not take into account that I have to ensure I share my effort across the different projects.  I also have different allowances for the amount of time I should spend on each project, so it is not as simple as just working on one task for each project in turn.

So, do any of you work on more than one project at a time in this way?  What has worked for you?  What tips would you suggest I try?

One of the reasons I am busy at work is because I am going abroad soon. I am going to visit my sister in Japan and I’ve had the leave booked since November, so I am very excited, plus it will be a good break away from work. This is part of the reason why I’m writing some shorter posts at the moment as I build up a stash to cover my absence.

The last long haul flight I went on was for my honeymoon to Canada two years ago, but that was only a seven hour flight compared to twelve hours this time.So do you have any tips for a 12 hour flight in economy? And what would you recommend seeing or doing in Japan?

Contexts are a key part of Getting Things Done, in fact they are the first step in deciding what action to work on next. The basic idea is to list tasks by what you need or where you need to be to complete them e.g. computer, telephone, shop.

When I developed my current organiser I did not include contexts because I spent most of my time in the office. I recognised in May last year that utilising the contexts could be very helpful. As things are very busy at work again and I’m away from the office for about the half the time I think now is the time to consider contexts further; particularly as I now have a Blackberry and a laptop that both open up lots of possibilities of getting actions done as I travel.

I’ve started having a problem with my keyboard as the letters are wearing off some of the keys. I understand that old keyboards had the letters printed all the way through, but I admit this is a cheap modern keyboard, it was only bought last November, but I did participate in NaNoWriMo. It wasn’t a problem at first because I can touch type, however now that so many letters have worn away it is sometimes difficult to find the right keys, especially if I’m typing in just a few letters like a password.

I am not keen to replace the whole keyboard because it still works, but I don’t have any practical ideas on how to label the keys and I’m hoping some of you will be able to make suggestions.

Work has kindly given me a Blackberry, so I can check my email when I’m out of the office. I am in the process of writing about my new organisation system which is really working for me so I’m not keen on the Blackberry upsetting it, plus I have read quite a bit about how Blackberries become a distraction and addictive. I am not keen on either of these so I am looking for any advice on how to use a Blackberry productively.

I was given the Blackberry on Friday so I was able to spend a fair bit of time over the weekend playing with it and I have to admit that so far I am impressed. I have a newer model than I have seen before and it has loads of features. The one I am most pleased with is the web browser which enables me to view real website and even view photographs in fair quality. I can also access email folders so if I continue (trying) to keep my inbox clear while I’m out and about, plus I can access my action folder which should help me to reduce my electronic to-read list. Another bonus is the GPS and sat nav, I don’t know whether I’ll ever use it, but it means I should be sorted if I do get lost!