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I am a big believer that it is important to develop your own organisation system that works for your lifestyle, so I have spent a lot of time developing my own organiser.  In the last two years I have tried both paper and electronic systems and finally settled on a system using Rollabind discs and a page a day sheet I developed.

I like my diary to show time slots so I can clearly see when appointments are to ensure there is enough travel time and no overlaps. Instead of having a long home task list the idea was to provide a task list a day where repeating items could be added after they are last completed and other tasks added following the ideas of Do it tomorrow. Making use of the flexibility offered by Rollabind, I developed a second task form for my work tasks that covered the green area shown, enabling me to separate my home and work tasks, but using the same diary.

It can be difficult to get back on track when you’ve lost momentum. This is certainly the situation I’ve found myself in at home over the last few months. However, I feel I have finally started getting there.

I think the key is in repeating tasks. By their nature these are tasks that are done on a regular basis, and I have a mix of tasks that I ’should’ do and those I want to do. What I’ve done over the last couple of weeks is to focus on those ’should’ tasks, because although they are chores they have a big impact on my surroundings and therefore my emotions. For instance one of these tasks is to tidy the house and I know that by having a tidy environment my brain finds it easier to focus on achieving the things I want.

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?

I really like my current organisation system, but I have noticed one serious flaw recently; it is very easy to procrastinate when I’m selecting tasks.

My energy levels have been very low over the last few months so I am frequently coming home and going for a lie down followed by bed. This change in my evening activities is becoming noticeable in what I am not achieving, such as writing blog posts, tidying the house or, I have to admit, completing anything off my list. Although things are better at work I am also finding it more difficult to focus there than usual.

I need to develop a new system that quickly highlights the next task I should be working on, instead of my current approach of looking through sheet after sheet of written actions. However I’m not thinking of replacing my system because I think the fundamentals are good, I am just looking for different ways of using it in a more efficient manner.

Getting Things Done has a huge global following amongst people working towards improved productivity, while Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management appears to be rising in popularity. I used ideas from both of these books in the development of my organiser and it is working very well.

I’ve been interested to notice over the last week that discussions on how the two systems can be combined have taken place on both the Getting things done and Mark Forster’s fora and of course I’ve provided my comments on both.

If you are interested in either of the systems I would recommend having a look. I’m always interested in knowing what other people think, so please let me know any thoughts here, or I’ll see you in one of the discussions.

Popularity: 11% [?]

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 am a big believer that a good organisation system should work in the office as well as at home. So when I first created my day planner for work I used the same format at home.  It was successful, however it took a long time to plan a work day evening reducing the available time to actually get things done. I also became aware that many of the tasks that I was completing were of a similar type and not reflective of the range of tasks I wanted to do. So I wanted to develope a system that is easy to complete and ensured a good mix of tasks.

Everyone is used to a task list that grows until it is overwhelming, but since introducing concepts from Getting Things Done and Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management I have noticed a large improvement in my task management. However over the last few months my task list has grown and grown and at the end of December I was overdue by 93 days. I knew I could reduce its length (12 sides of A5 paper) as I have done previously , but I felt it was time for more serious action.

There are some tasks you’ll never get to – and holding on to them generates a constant state of guilt and disappointment, feelings that have an adverse effect on your productivity.

Julie Morgenstern – Never read emails in the morning

As the most popular post on my blog continues to be How I successfully plan my day I have realised there is obvious interest in my planner incorporating ideas from Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, Get Everything Done : and Still Have Time to Play and Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management. Therefore I have decided to offer my planner as a download (and this will be a test for my free hosting ).

I developed the planner for my own organiser so it is not pretty. However now that I know it works for me I am intending to improve its appearance, therefore please let me know of any ideas you have on how I can improve it and I will consider incorporating them.

A5 day planner (148mm x 210 mm)

I think organising bookshelves can be either very exciting or very dull depending on your mind set going in to the task. I like to think of it as an adventure to rediscover the treasure that exists on my bookshelves. As I mentioned previously, I love reading and therefore have plenty of books. In fact, my shelves were overflowing with several piles on my desk and floor, not only was it looking untidy, but I was finding it difficult to find the books I wanted. This is the process I went through this weekend to reorganise my books.

Split fiction and non fiction

I think it is easier to start by splitting the books into two categories fiction and non fiction. I don’t take the term fiction too literally though and use it describe the books I use as escapism, for instance it includes biographies and some history books.