Lists are a great way to focus on the essentials and prioritise what you are going to do, however, the format of your list can create problems for you. For instance, in our connected world, the paper list quickly becomes out-of-date. This may not be a problem if you use it to focus for a short period, but it can be inconvenient if writing it takes up a large amount of time and you have to re-write it frequently.
To overcome the problem of the paper list, some use software and electronic devices to capture and monitor tasks. Again the format creates problems. For example, limited screen-space means you cannot see all of your tasks at once and if you can each one is too small to quickly read. Another problem is that each item has a similar visual weighting, meaning that urgent, important tasks look the same as less important (or even unimportant) tasks. If you have a long list and cannot see all the tasks in a single screen, it is hard to get the essential overview of your work.
To deal effectively with these limitations, you need to have a clear idea of what the list provides:
Having done this you need to decide on the method system which brings you the greatest amount of benefit with the least amount of problems. You need to understand the problem that arises from attaching the information to a particular format, rather than just suffer because of it.
A bucket is a useful metaphor to explain the problem: a bucket is a device to holds things together for storage and transport. The bucket keeps these things away from other things. In this way, paper and writing is a useful way to cluster information for storage and transport.
To overcome the problem of the paper list, some use software and electronic devices to capture and monitor tasks. Again the format creates problems. For example, limited screen-space means you cannot see all of your tasks at once and if you can each one is too small to quickly read. Another problem is that each item has a similar visual weighting, meaning that urgent, important tasks look the same as less important (or even unimportant) tasks. If you have a long list and cannot see all the tasks in a single screen, it is hard to get the essential overview of your work.
To deal effectively with these limitations, you need to have a clear idea of what the list provides:
- quick summary
- focus
- robust support to get the essentials done
- inflexible
- time-consuming
- quickly out-of-date, so does not support getting the essentials done
Having done this you need to decide on the method system which brings you the greatest amount of benefit with the least amount of problems. You need to understand the problem that arises from attaching the information to a particular format, rather than just suffer because of it.
A bucket is a useful metaphor to explain the problem: a bucket is a device to holds things together for storage and transport. The bucket keeps these things away from other things. In this way, paper and writing is a useful way to cluster information for storage and transport.
When we use only a few devices or formats, our world is fairly well ordered and we can cope.Each time you use a different bucket, however, you complicate the picture. Creating separate written documents, or recording information in different formats (such as apps, software or file types) means that you create a problem in which the administration of the separate buckets becomes the purpose of your life, rather than working on the problem that caused you to use a bucket in the first place.
I have found mind mapping a useful way to deal with this issue. Electronic versions allow me to attach information to a map to understand and process it and enable me to translate it to the appropriate format.
The essential thing, I believe, is that you become more aware of the benefits and limitations of the different formats and choose carefully. Choose methods that reduce your bucket problem.
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