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.
All of this was in place before I finished work to ensure once I was on maternity leave I would have the system to help me get things done. However I soon realised it was no longer suitable.
My days are no longer as busy and I usually have only one appointment a day, so a page a day diary was not necessary. Instead, I am now using a tiny week to view diary (a style I have previously disliked). Although I am no longer working I frequently get less done in a day then when I only had evening to work on my home tasks. With the above template I was needing to freqeuntly rewrite my task list and this was using up too much of my precious time. Fortunately Mark Forster was looking for people to test a new system called Autofocus which I’m giving a go.
I’m sure I will continue to adapt my system, particularly in a few months when I return to work, however it is great to be using such a simple system at the moment.
My name is Kate Davis and I'm working towards a happier and successful life and this blog follows my journey. I work almost full time as an environmental consultant and project manager and I'm the mother to a beautiful two year daughter.
11 Comments
I couldn’t agree more. Some days, I am all over the place with my lists, schedule or reminders… a notebook has been working okay for me, but it’s all about the notebook size. I really like your method… hope all goes well!
Excatly that organization is the basic of a good management but also a way to save time. I can see organizing your like is something that you are constantly looking to optimize! You are doing a great job, your related posts to it are very interesting.
Autofocus system is now accessible to everyone at http://www.markforster.net/autofocus-system/
that is a really good idea. I think i could benefit from an organizing revolution, as i don’t have much of one, a series of post-its and a few other reminders. thanks for the push, i think i might develop something a little classier for myself as well thanks again.
Megan,
I now what you mean about the importance of the notebook size, sometimes I want small so I can carry it with me everywhere and sometimes I want large so there is lots of room on the page. One day I will fine the perfect notebook.
Olivia,
Thankyou for your comment. Yes I am always looking to optimise my organisation system; I look forward to the day when I have the perfect system, but I don’t know if that will ever happen.
Krewetka,
Thank you for the link, I have only just read the email from Mark announcing the public launch of Auto Focus (and yes read emails is on my list).
Good luck with developing your system photography jobs, please feel free to come back and tell us about it.
Staying organized and having a good and productive system of doing so is a great way to make sure you get everything you need to accomplished.
John,
I completely agree that having a good organisation system enables you to achieve what you want, my next task is to limit the number of things I want to achieve at any one time!
BTW I could have done with a company like yours (in the UK of course) while I was pregnant.
Very informative site, and very interesting posts. I have bookmarked your site, and will be back, good work guys.. thanks