I am a crazy busybody. Outside of all the things that I have to do, there’s an endless list of things that I want to do. If I’m being honest, I create a lot of stress for myself because the list that contains all of these “to-do” items is long.
One of the things that I want to do in life is reduce stress. This alone is an ongoing project and another item on my mental to-do list as I continue to practice, live, make mistakes, improve, and learn. It’s a constant and layered battle. But, one of the most effective ways I’ve found to combat stress is by staying organized. This is really how you actually get things done and stay happy and sane along the way.
Here are my thoughts on the key things that I do to get things done and reduce stress in my life.
Authors note: Some of the thoughts and best practices mentioned here are from David Allen who wrote the great book Getting Things Done. It’s worth a read.
Commit to being organized
To get started, you have to want to be organized. It’s actually another thing that requires mental energy and it can be hard. It’s kinda like losing weight. If you’re not committed or have the right mindset, it just won’t happen. You’ll just continue being fat and unhappy. So you have to commit to being organized and doing all the right things. This leads to getting things done and reducing stress in your life.
The simple fact is that it’s hard because we’re already busy and life gets in the way. It’s a double-edged sword. We have a million internal things bouncing around in our heads and we have a million external things that are chipping away at our attention, time, and energy. The result is what’s referred to as your monkey mind and it’s the cause of your disorganization, unhappiness, and lack of productivity.
To combat this chaos and static in your head, you need to honestly commit to being organized for the long term. It’s like committing to winning a long battle with an enemy that will keep coming at you over and over. You need to commit to the ups and downs, the wins and the losses, knowing that perseverance and commitment to the process will get you to your goal.
Get it out of your head
Let me first say, that your mind is the worst place to manage your to-do list. Your monkey mind is bouncing around all over the cage and throwing things in all directions. You will never pin it down by brute force of will. Realizing this is critical.
To combat your monkey mind, you need to cultivate what David Allen calls a mind like water. For me, it essentially means that your mind is always in a state of calm, and you have clarity, regardless of what you throw at it. But to succeed, you must have a system that goes beyond just trying harder.
To create this state of calm and clarity, you need a way to take all the things, big and small, that enter your mind and put them in a trusted place outside of your head for processing later. When I say this, it sounds so simple — and it is. But, simple does not equal easy. If you’re following me with the metaphors, this is how you subdue the monkey and settle the ripples in the water.
For me, it comes down to this. When something enters my world, I capture it on a list using my phone because it’s always with me. That way it’s out of my head and into a trusted place. At this point, I can actually forget about it until a later date. I capture ideas, links to articles, things I need to do, things I want to do, and even recipes and TV shows. All of it is captured on a list outside of my head so there is nothing stored or available for the monkey to throw around. I don’t act on anything. It’s all just captured and then forgotten — and this feels amazing.
Authors note: Currently I use Google Tasks. It’s free and very robust. It’s available on your mobile devices and it syncs to your computer so it’s always with you and current. I’m not a fan of writing things down because it’s a hurdle in a number of ways. A notebook isn’t always with you. You need to have a writing utensil handy. Notebooks and pens can be lost, misplaced, buried at the bottom of a bag or even stolen. I like digital. All you have to do is open the app wherever you are, quickly record what’s in your head, and then forget about it for the moment. There are no hurdles. Doing this is a game changer. Some might say a life changer. This is your trusted place to collect and then move on with your day.
Process – The Weekly Review
Now that you have a system to capture everything in a trusted place and get it out of your head, you have to make a little time every week to process the things that you’ve collected.
For me, this generally happens on Friday afternoons so I can close out my week, prepare for the weekend, and deal with any small tasks that I have to get done. This processing step is called your weekly review.
With Google Tasks you can have unlimited lists. I obviously have my temporary collection list that needs to be processed each week. My first step is to empty this list by completing small tasks immediately (if I can do them in a few minutes or less) or I move items to categorized lists. I have various work categories and personal categories. I have lists for things like Home Improvement, Health and Wellness, Books to Read, Shows to Watch, etc. I even have a list for gift ideas. General ideas or things that I just want to explore and consider are put on a list called Someday/Maybe. This list is reviewed on occasion and if I want to take action on something I can move it to another list or just delete it. The point is that I don’t have to do anything with any of these things. But they’re captured in a safe place and that’s a beautiful thing.
Prioritize and Get Things Done
The last step is to prioritize. Once everything is on a list, I review each of my lists and I identify the next big things that I want or need to do. This is the point where I move them to my priority list for the weekend and the coming week. This list can also be prioritized by dragging each item to create a hierarchy from top to bottom. But I digress. The point is, that now you have an actual to-do list of the most important things that you want, or need to do over the coming week.
This might be something like “Respond to email from Bob” and confirm if you’re going to the family reunion. It could be mowing the grass, buying new socks and shampoo from Amazon, going to a movie with a friend tonight, or going grocery shopping to buy supplies for Sunday dinner. (Yes, you could have another list to capture items for grocery shopping!)
By committing to a system to organize your life, you create an amazing amount of clarity in your life. You can become incredibly productive. Quite honestly it’s incredibly satisfying and freeing. Everything is captured and stored outside of your head, nothing is lost, nothing is forgotten, and everything is clear and prioritized. Stress is low. Your mind is clear. Enjoyment and actually getting the right things done is now possible.