Getting shit done

taktikz

taktikz

WF Veteran
Oct 22, 2008
1,481
13
0
Tampa, FL
Have you ever been in a situation where you have so much to do that you end up in a state of analysis paralysis?

I've started using small notebooks with weekly to do lists, but I feel that this isn't enough. I know there are many mobile apps that can help with this and I've tried several.

What are a few things you do that help you get shit done? inb4 adderall
 


Lists for the win. Make sure your lists are filled with attainable, achievable items. Especially if you're in a rut, busting out several meaningful yet simple tasks will get you rolling.

Or you can say "fuck it" and look at porn. Either is a solid choice.
 
I'd like to add that I've been using RescueTime for the past week or so and it seems to give me a solid look at how my time is being spent on the computer.

Other tools I use:
TeamworkPM
Basecamp
Evernote
 
Lists and apps aren't going to help unless you actually do the shit anyway.

I'm guessing all of us have been there at one point or another. You just have to pick one thing. Do it until it's done. Then pick another. This kind of "paralysis" is only cured by focus.

By all means, make a list of everything you need to do. Then put it in a drawer. Take another piece of paper and make a list that consists of one task. Do it. Throw the paper out. Take another piece of paper. Write another task. Complete it. Throw out paper. Continue until all of your tasks are done, whether that takes a single day, a week, or months.

No app is going to make you get anything done. You just have to do one thing at a time. Then move on to another.
 
taktikz said:
Have you ever been in a situation where you have so much to do that you end up in a state of analysis paralysis?

I've started using small notebooks with weekly to do lists, but I feel that this isn't enough. I know there are many mobile apps that can help with this and I've tried several.

What are a few things you do that help you get shit done? inb4 adderall
Click to expand...


For apps, as in iphone, I like "informant" hooked up with "toodledo."

Evernote, as you mentioned, has a place.



statelizard said:
No app is going to make you get anything done. You just have to do one thing at a time. Then move on to another.
Click to expand...


True.

For whatever reason, I work in very heavy cycles. I'll be a monster for 3-4 months at a time, working 18 hours per day. Then I'll work 10 hours per week for 3 months.

What are your goals, op? Are you writing them down? If you aren't getting anything done, step away from the computer for a bit.

If you're successful in this arena, you might eventually deal with a backward bending labor supply curve - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backward_bending_supply_curve_of_labour

I mostly spend time working 18 hours per day, so I don't have to work later. I sometimes wake up at 5am, start thinking about work, and no fucking way can I go to sleep until I go take care of shit. So then I work from 5-12. I worked 7 hours before lunch. Not slacking on that case.

But if you are staring at a computer screen and nothing is happening, then let it go, and come back later.
 
To do lists are the leading cause of analysis paralysis.

If you're going to use a to do list limit it to only 3 tasks and make them ultra specific "leading" tasks on the list.

i.e. bad to do list

1. Groceries

2. Laundry

3. Clean

i.e. good to do list

1. Go to Krogers and purchase everything on grocery list

2. Sort out whites and put in washer

3. Mop the floor of the kitchen

Rough example but it makes a huge difference. Once you remove something off the to do list add another thing, never go over 3 though.
 
This has been my biggest issue since entering the IM arena. I just keep telling myself if I stick through it, I'll have enough capital to outsource time - consuming bullshit.

Shiiiiiiiiit.
 
Lists, project managers, spreadsheets, mind maps, flowcharts etc. None of that matters. Pick the the most important task to be done and do it. If you finish that task before the day is out pick the next.

Your list of things to do today is sacred. If you consistently put on more that can be done you lose focus and disrespect your time.

Your time in the zone is worth $10,000 per hour. Act like it and make sure other people respect it.
 
EricVonDoobie said:
To do lists are the leading cause of analysis paralysis.
Click to expand...


Haha. I used to do them on paper. They're even easier to lose digitally.



EricVonDoobie said:
i.e. good to do list

1. Go to Krogers and purchase everything on grocery list

2. Sort out whites and put in washer

3. Mop the floor of the kitchen
Click to expand...


I want to modify that a little.

1. Get a girl who cooks to go to Kroger. She knows what to buy and how to cook it.

2. Not sure what that means.

3. What the fuck is a mop?
 
i feel your pain please let me know if you find out. i head events for worldstar full time and have a number of personal projects. I wake up at times petrified going through my notes and to-do lists. successful i am… yet i feel if my time can even be better managed i could increase my productivity.
 
You need to develop a system. Something simple that you can get back to easily even if tasks start piling and you fuck everything up. What's been working great for me is a combination of Getting Results the Agile Way, GTD, and the Pomodoro Technique. Getting Results the Agile Way has some good shit about the psychology behind all this.

The apps I use are OneNote for writing goals and journals, Doit.im for collecting and organizing tasks, and Clockwork Tomato for time boxing.

The most important part of it all would be consistently doing a weekly review. Look back not only on what you did well the previous week, but more importantly, analyze what you did NOT do well.

The magic happens when you reflect on how retarded you were and figure out how you can improve for the current week. Do this again and again for enough weeks in a row and you can't help but get your shit together.
 
Read this Why procastinators procastinate and then install Wunderlist. Break down your tasks into very specific small tasks. Spend an hour doing this (depending on your amount of work) and try to brainstorm everything.
What you'll do is you'll create a system, a path to follow and know every time what you finished, what you are doing and what follows.
Apart from this, you'll have the small motivation article I mentioned.
Works for me.
av0y96X_460sa.gif
 
Yearly goals broken down into monthly goals broken down into weekly goals broken down into daily TO DO lists. Half the day is spent on the TO DO list, the other half is for random shit that pops up.
 
After trying Workflowy several times and failing, I finally figured out how to use it properly. Laying out all you have to do in a list with child lists always helps. Workflowy does this. The big step I was missing is prioritizing and assigning items with tags. #DoNow #Urgent #NotUrgent #VAWork #DesignWork

Then when its time to work, search by your tags, and SHAPOW your Workflowy list comes alive. The subsets of tasks makes your massive list into a workable list.
 
statelizard said:
Lists and apps aren't going to help unless you actually do the shit anyway.
Click to expand...

QFT.

I've tried dozens of GTD software, and probably raved about a few in past GTD threads. But for the past year to year and a half all I have been using is Workflowy.com for breaking down ideas and creating monthly and weekly goal lists.

Then I use a regular notebook, $0.88 @ Walmart, for daily task lists. Every night I look at my week's list in Workflowy and break down a couple of weekly objectives into a handful of tasks for my next day. I'm not sure why, but adding a regular paper notebook to the mix helped me the most, as far as productivity. I must like crossing off items as they are done by hand. In fact, I know I do, because I get that small sense of accomplishment every time I cross something off. It's that thing they talk about in GTD books such as Eat That Frog, but I never felt before because I was mindlessly ticking things off of an overly complex multilist inside Omnifocus. Fuck yeah paper.

Oh, and I've logged into WF like 3 times in the last 6 months. That has helped, too ;)
 
In my experience, every single organization app is just fluff unless you are working on something complicated with a lot of steps that you might forget.

Personally I just write down everything I want to do that day in a note on my iPhone. It's almost a game of how fast I can delete the list and make a new one.

I try to make the list right when I wake up. Doing it the night before gets me amped for the actual tasks and then I can't fall asleep - if I do it in the morning, I make the list in bed before I do anything and that gives me a surge of motivation.

I start the list off with easy tasks that don't take very long. "Shower" "Brush Teeth" "Eat a banana" "Make Coffee" etc. That tricks my subconscious into thinking I'm already being productive as hell, so I continue to power through the more difficult, tiresome tasks ("Call client X" "Clean entire house") etc.

Basically the moral of the story is figure out something that works for you, it doesn't have to be complicated.
 
You need to form a habit and you do that by following this simple plan. Trigger, Action, Reward.

A trigger can be a time of day or an event like 10AM or when I am done catching up on email from the day before.

The action is whatever task you want to perform, make this a revenue generating task or something of critical importance.

The reward is what you get once you accomplish this task. Like go out for a nice lunch, have a beer or go talk to the pretty girl in your office.

If you do that day in and day out, your mind will trick itself into wanting the reward so much, that completing the task becomes easy. And getting it done becomes fun, because you know u get your little treat.

After 3-4 weeks, you have formed a habit!
 
Sing this shit in the shower.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKGp1484YNM"]Rhymefest Ft. Kanye West - Brand New - YouTube[/ame]

Or whatever shit is appropriate for your tastes and will trick you into being motivated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom