Tips for Getting Things Done

[Amaranth]

What are your favorite tips for getting things done?

One of mine is to try to increase the amount of things that get done in one event. For example, it only takes a few extra minutes to double or triple a recipe. Then the extra can be frozen for later.

Likewise, if you can get enough of something nonperishable to last a month or three months in one trip, that saves a lot of time over multiple trips.

[Chicken lady]

Currently I'm discovering my best tips are "underplan" and "procrastinate"

i have two lists - one for all the things I can't get out of my mental "to do" list, and one for things I am ACTUALLY GOING TO DO.

The new (week old) system is i make a plan for each day with the things that are important and I know I have time for - including time to sleep, relax, and feed my soul. If there is time available, I dovetail those piggyback items (like maybe I'll drop some stuff off at goodwill on my way to class) but if not, I don't try to rush and cram it in. Anything else that isn't an emergency gets put on the other list for later.

i am doing less housework. So maybe the sheets go a few extra days, or the towel load barely fits in the washer, or the rug is too dirty to lie on, or stuff is piled on the table by the stairs to be put away.... I am getting more important things done. And it turns out those things aren't important to dh either, because the guest bed has been unmade all week, the rug is still dirty, the pile is still by the stairs, and he is watching football.

[razz]

If I don't make a list of to-do's or must get etc., I easily drift when I have some time.
Set a routine for the day at the start or do something on a regular basis to ensure it gets done
ETA:
When I go out for any reason, I plan my route and see what else can be done at the same time. If i fail to do this, I am so annoyed with myself for not remembering to include an item or need.

[creaker]

I figured "there must be an app for this".

I have an Android, I found an app called "Regularly" a few weeks ago - you just put in chores and the frequency they need to be done. It will try to sort things based on what needs to get done first based on frequency and how late something is. So I just go to the top of the list and start trying whack them out - sometimes I fall behind, sometimes I catch up, once in a while I'll actually tackle one early.

It is teaching me what happens when you're actually on top of something - like rather than digging out the kitchen, it is only taking a few minutes since it was done yesterday and I picked up going along since I knew I'd be cleaning it today.

[Gardenarian]

Creamer, that sounds like an excellent app - thanks!

Brainstorming and making mind maps is my favorite tool. I don't come out of it with a list or anything, but it helps to clear the cobwebs and regain my focus.

[19Sandy]

A written list is a necessity.

For instance, I put some stuff in my mind to do at the library on the computers, but then I forget half of it.

I used to laugh at my parents needing a written grocery list - now I get it.

Maybe this is how dementia begins.

Yet, I am like the Rain Man with a gazillion bits of information in my brain.

[TVRodriguez]

I make a list for the work week--either on Friday or on Sunday--for work items that I will do that week. I include appointments and work projects. This way I have one list all week. I include work and personal things on it, but it's mostly work stuff.

For weekends, if I remember to make a list before the work week ends for what I want to do on the weekend, it's much more likely that those things will get done.

For weekdays, with personal stuff, I try to start each week with exercise on Monday morning. Then at least I've done it once in a week! The goal is to go three times but with one down, two seems so much easier.

I aim to leave the house with the kids in the morning, leaving the kitchen in fairly good shape so that when I get home with the kids from work and school, I start with a fairly clean slate. That is, breakfast dishes done if possible, table cleared at minimum, main counter empty and ready for food prep for dinner.

I set the table for breakfast at night sometimes after I put the kids to bed. Takes less time when I'm still awake vs. when I'm groggy in the morning and stumbling around.

I also have a FlyLady timer telling me "you can do anything for 15 minutes!" I sometimes use that idea to get started on work or housework when I don't want to do it. As Mary Poppins said, "Well begun is half done!"

Now I need to get off the internet and get something done ;)

[Chicken lady]

Also, that thing about the big rocks - you know, put the big rocks in first, and then when it seems full, you can add smaller rocks, etc, until the guy poured the water in?

that's what my list is for - the big rocks.

[Float On]

I bullet journal and make tons of lists. If it's not on paper it's hard for me to get started. Sketching out a project is helpful too. I was heavily inspired by my dad's farm journal. I hope I inherit it.

[greenclaire]

I try to use the pomodoro technique. Basically involves chunking tasks into 25-min sections, then working on one thing for 25-mins at a time.

[JaneV2.0]

I like to set a minimum action time for five minutes; often I exceed that.
Also, I give myself a daily minimum for chores to accomplish. If I get more done, so much the better.

[ejchase]

1. to do lists and prioritizing them with numbers (1s most urgent, 2s less so, etc.). Breaking overwhelming tasks down into a list of baby steps that I write down on the list.

2. Setting a timer a la flylady. I do this now for so many things - at work when there's a task I'm procrastinating on ("I'll work on it for one hour and then I can stop," at home when I've let dishes pile up ("just 15 minutes!"). It totally gets me over the "hump" of procrastination, and I'm always surprised by what can be done in a relatively little amount of time. A therapist I know once told me this technique capitalizes on principles basic to rapid eye movement therapy - something about using both parts of the brain. I don't know. It totally works for me.

3. In the last year or so, I've started giving myself time deadlines throughout the day. I'm an English teacher, so in the thick of the semester, I often on the weekends have a goal of grading a certain number of papers each day - usually ten. But I can put them off. So now sometimes I say to myself (and write down), "I have to do four papers by 9 a.m., seven by 11 a.m., and ten by 1 p.m." That forces me to get them out of the way so that I can enjoy the rest of my day. I do that sometimes with tasks on my to do list too.

[ejchase]

One more: I've started using the Sidetracked Home Executives' card method. It's a lot like the routines everybody has mentioned. I put all my routines on cards, then file the card into the file for the next day it must be done when I've completed it. The app mentioned earlier probably is the virtual version, but I really think the physical cards make my accomplishments and my to dos really concrete and somehow help me not get overwhelmed.

I don't get all my cards done every day yet, but when I do ... oh my gosh, I'm so much happier. And I've started off with really light routines so they're totally doable. I really do believe routines are the secret to organization, and this is the best method I've found so far for sticking to them.

There's more info on the system here:

http://organizedhome.com/shes-organized

I think I'm going to set up some routines in my office too to keep it decluttered.

[azurafates]

My son loves video games, and I read somewhere that listening to video game music helps you focus on tasks better. I asked him to find relaxing video game music for me to listen to and surely enough it's helped me get my cleaning done!

[catherine]

My son loves video games, and I read somewhere that listening to video game music helps you focus on tasks better. I asked him to find relaxing video game music for me to listen to and surely enough it's helped me get my cleaning done!

Interesting tactic, azurafates! And, welcome to the board!

I love my dry erase board to just put the most important daily tasks and appointments. I really think I'm a bit ADD so I tried the David Allen Getting Things Done program, but having to look at ALL THOSE LISTS!!! OMG. Totally overwhelming. If I list about 3 things a day on my board and I get them done, that's a success to me. Then it feels SO GOOD to erase them!

I also like music, and I think it centers me (although I've never tried video game music). I go for the classics, like Mozart or 60s folk.

[Ultralight]

Did someone already suggest having fewer things to do?

[iris lilies]

Interesting tactic, azurafates! And, welcome to the board!

I love my dry erase board to just put the most important daily tasks and appointments. I really think I'm a bit ADD so I tried the David Allen Getting Things Done program, but having to look at ALL THOSE LISTS!!! OMG. Totally overwhelming. If I list about 3 things a day on my board and I get them done, that's a success to me. Then it feels SO GOOD to erase them!

I also like music, and I think it centers me (although I've never tried video game music). I go for the classics, like Mozart or 60s folk.

During the last few years of work I put up a dry erase board (after using big pieces of art board taped on my walls) and how I loved Fridays when I would erase items from my To Do lists. I called it Get it Done Fridays.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Did someone already suggest having fewer things to do?

I don't think anyone going to school and working has much to say about that.

Oh lordy is that hard. Harder than I could DO long term probably. Me, I'm just taking a class at a time hoping for a mere certificate while working and oh geez is it hard, granted these are very hard classes (not subatomic physics but 80 pages a week of very dense technical material hard - not light reading). Almost done with that, but I don't think I knew what I was getting into ...

But yea at a certain point it's not about organizing but doing too much. For instance I think about cooking, and how I could make easier meals etc. - is a rotisserie chicken always so bad, etc., what if it's organic? Canned beans are ok right? Yea and I kind of *LIKE* cooking. But overwhelm at a certain point. I won't just surrender and eat complete garbage though, no can do.

[Chicken lady]

Apatheticnomore - may I suggest rethinking "convenience food"?

i tend end to eat groceries - apples, pears, plums, peaches, all come ready to eat in edible packages - wash and go. For a banana, discard the package. A pepper can be eaten like an apple. Broccoli can be eaten like an ice cream cone (my kids used to do this) Carrots need only be peeled, green beans and cucumbers need only be washed. Shelled nuts in a bag, I've been known to buy a loaf of whole grain bread and litterally tear off chunks to go in my lunch. You can break off a chunk of cheese too.

my dd cooks an entire pot of beans and eats them cold all week.

not elegant, but nutritious.

[Teacher Terry]

I have always done certain things daily unless I am really sick such as: pick up stuff and put where it belongs, clean up kitchen, etc. If you can keep the house neat then when you do need to clean it goes so much faster and easier. Of course when you have kids it is definitely more of a challenge. I have known people to do laundry daily but really it wastes time because then you need to fold it/put if away or it becomes part of the clutter. Much better to do it while cleaning house and you are getting 2 things done at once. I also try to cook more then what we will eat that day so we can eat leftovers for a few meals. I keep some convenience foods on hand for when I am feeling lazy.

[19Sandy]

I was taught to wash dishes before bed or leaving the house (I miss out on fun doing that though).


My washer broke and my dryer is making a weird sound and the things are too old to fix - so I keep up with laundry by sink washing or if it is too big, I stick it in the tub. I don't do laundry mats - dirty places! (and expensive). You can air dry on a special rack near a window or use a fan blowing on the items. In the winter, I pull the drying rack in my bedroom where a space heater is running. Once, you get used to washing what you wear each day, you get used to keeping on top of the chore. Not doable with a houseful of people though. Works with bathroom and bedroom linens too.

I have gained so much weight that there isn't much to wash for clothing anyway.

This is where the Marie Kondo thing works too because the less you have, the less there is to clean.

But, then I only have to wash my own things now.

[ejchase]

My son loves video games, and I read somewhere that listening to video game music helps you focus on tasks better. I asked him to find relaxing video game music for me to listen to and surely enough it's helped me get my cleaning done!

I read somewhere (I think on this site - years ago!) that baroque music is somehow helpful for decluttering and cleaning, and I swear by it now. My IPhone had a problem in the summer, and I couldn't play music for a couple of days, and it REALLY made it hard for me to clean!

[19Sandy]

What every helps you to clean works IMO.

Marie Kondo says silence is best to get in touch with your feelings about discarding.

However, I think music is better than hearing the noise from outside.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Did someone already suggest having fewer things to do?

perhaps a bit like chicken lady's list, one should make a "to do list" ... of all the things they think they need to get done today (get them out of your head and on paper) ... and then one should quite deliberately cross all but a few items off (not because they are done but because one is deliberately limiting what they do). I think I need to do these 20 things but strike-through I'm going to limit myself to these 2. Edit that "to do list" ruthlesssly.

Some kind of cure is needed afterall for chronic busyness (whether or not it is in the service of chronic business :~)). Write them down and cross them out. I'm actually half-serious, I might try it, set hard limits on busyness. May be badly needed. I don't collect hobbies or anything, that would be more fun, like most people I collect chores, dull, unending, never done.

[rosarugosa]

J.D. Roth wrote a post once about how his wife (at the time) favored lists of things to do, and he favored a "cloud" approach. My understanding of the cloud is "these are things I need to get done at some point, some critical, some not, some urgent and others not, but written down so I don't forget about them." I tend to err on the side of being a bit too compulsive about getting things done rather than too lax, so I've found I do well to have both a list of critical things to get done today as well as a cloud.

[catherine]

For the "big picture" goals, I like mind-mapping. So you have a circle with the "big idea' in the middle and then you just have connecting lines and circles that form a kind of a map or picture of what you need to do to get to that circle. I have "1 Year" mind maps and also individual goals like "Sell the house" mind-maps.

[Gardnr]

1. do no clutter.......everything has a place. It goes back into place before bed.:D Number 1 houserule!!!
2. Start a load of laundry when we both get home. Washer runs while we plan/make dinner. Into dryer after dinner. We both participate in hanging for drying (I have a clothesline near the ceiling in my quit studio) and/or emptying the dryer for those items that go into the dryer.
3. I load the DW. DH does the dish handwashing. Usually after I go to bed. i put them away in the morning before I leave for work although he will do it when the mood strikes.
4. Snailmail does NOT get laid down. Snailmail enters house and gets managed immediately (well maybe after I make my daily cocktail). Junk to recycle, the few paper bills we get into bill drawer for monthly management. Coupon flyers reviewed, trimmed out and placed in my coupon dish on the counter and the rest recycled.
5. Once monthly banking reconciliation. Enter expense on tracking grid. Reconcile bank and CC acccounts. File. (everything possible is electronic so most bills come through email these days).
6. DH vacuums-- would love weekly but he tends to go 3-4 weeks sometimes.
7. I dust when I can write on furniture :-)
8. We each are responsible for cleaning 1 bathroom. It gets done when visibly needed.
9. During CSA season, grocery shopping is nominal. i'll stop on the way home from work only when we are out of something for which there is no substitute. The rest of the year I do a big trip every 2 weeks and usually on my way home from work.
10. Errands are done on the way home from work.
11. Once home we stay home except on very special occasions. We minimize car use to the extreme of our combined driving was 13k miles last year. Our workdays vary enough that we cannot carpool even though we work 2miles apart:(

Honestly, you have to WANT to be organized and efficient in order to BE organized and effiicient.

The average week, I spend less than 3h on the above list as does DH.

There are 1440 minutes in a day and 10080 minutes in a week. I spend less than 26minutes/day of my life maintaining our home and DH about the same. Chores are not divided equally. What matters to us is that we are equally satisifed with the division of duties. At 36y of marriage we've done this a long time and we still like it this way.

So there's the week in the life of this working couple (and right now we have a HUGE project at work so I'm there 11-13h days until the end of October.

[rosarugosa]

Snailmail enters house and gets managed immediately (well maybe after I make my daily cocktail).

I like your style, Gardnr! :)

[Gardnr]

I like your style, Gardnr! :)

You mean the cocktail of course:D

[azurafates]

1. do no clutter.......everything has a place. It goes back into place before bed.:D Number 1 houserule!!!
2. Start a load of laundry when we both get home. Washer runs while we plan/make dinner. Into dryer after dinner. We both participate in hanging for drying (I have a clothesline near the ceiling in my quit studio) and/or emptying the dryer for those items that go into the dryer.
3. I load the DW. DH does the dish handwashing. Usually after I go to bed. i put them away in the morning before I leave for work although he will do it when the mood strikes.
4. Snailmail does NOT get laid down. Snailmail enters house and gets managed immediately (well maybe after I make my daily cocktail). Junk to recycle, the few paper bills we get into bill drawer for monthly management. Coupon flyers reviewed, trimmed out and placed in my coupon dish on the counter and the rest recycled.
5. Once monthly banking reconciliation. Enter expense on tracking grid. Reconcile bank and CC acccounts. File. (everything possible is electronic so most bills come through email these days).
6. DH vacuums-- would love weekly but he tends to go 3-4 weeks sometimes.
7. I dust when I can write on furniture :-)
8. We each are responsible for cleaning 1 bathroom. It gets done when visibly needed.
9. During CSA season, grocery shopping is nominal. i'll stop on the way home from work only when we are out of something for which there is no substitute. The rest of the year I do a big trip every 2 weeks and usually on my way home from work.
10. Errands are done on the way home from work.
11. Once home we stay home except on very special occasions. We minimize car use to the extreme of our combined driving was 13k miles last year. Our workdays vary enough that we cannot carpool even though we work 2miles apart:(

Honestly, you have to WANT to be organized and efficient in order to BE organized and effiicient.

The average week, I spend less than 3h on the above list as does DH.

There are 1440 minutes in a day and 10080 minutes in a week. I spend less than 26minutes/day of my life maintaining our home and DH about the same. Chores are not divided equally. What matters to us is that we are equally satisifed with the division of duties. At 36y of marriage we've done this a long time and we still like it this way.

So there's the week in the life of this working couple (and right now we have a HUGE project at work so I'm there 11-13h days until the end of October.

It must be really nice to save mileage. I have to drive 62 miles every weekday :(