Thoughts at work the last couple of days

- "Tell me again why I'm doing this?"

- "It's raining outside. And it's dark. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was November. It makes me grumpy."

- "It's so bright and sunny outside. Perfect summer weather. And I'm indoors. It makes me grumpy."

- "Should I make up my own pattern for the cardigan I want to knit? Or should I make it simple and use something that already exists? But then again, I'd have to change it a lot anyways to make it fit so I might as well make all the calculations from scratch. Right? But then, what do I want it to look like? Stripes. Definitely stripes. All over or just the body? I wonder how much of a cardigan I can get out of the yarn I have. 3 hanks of blue and 2 brown ones. Well, that makes for 2300meters or so. That's a cardigan. But should I knit it from the top anyways, to make sure I'll get something decent out of the amount? Maybe I could do some kind of interpretation of Cobblestone and make the yoke in garter stitch and the rest in plain stockinette? But then I'd like the garter yoke to cover my boobs, as I'm not very fond of changing patterns right there. Seems awkward too me. Maybe I could make it A-line and have some schwung to it. GAther it around a yoke. Somehow. What about the stripes? Horizontal or vertical? Vertical is supposed to make you look thinner. But vertical means knitting intarsia or stranded... Or knit it flat with horizontal stripes and then sew it on sideways to make the stripes vertical. But can I sew that on nicely?Or should I just go simple and let the colours do their magic? Just plain stockinette. Horizontal stripes. And then do something fun with the sleeves. Maybe bell sleeves? But then again, that might look out of place if nbothing else is "frilly" and pretty. After all, I'm using kind of rough and thin wool. Nothing silky or shiny or girly. Maybe I should just find a pattern that someone else put thought into? And not come up with something myself from scratch. But then again, I have to recalculate every number anyways... I don't know. I'm lost."

- "I'm real hungry. I wonder if the salad I brought will be enough for me today?"

- "I love my little boxes with index cards. I love having themon my desk. Knowing that I'm organized."

- "There's a 6km-race organized at the end of October. Hmmmm.... I could sign up for it. Use it as an inspiration to get me moving. It wouldn't kill me. Unless it was real cold and I got lost in the woods. 'Cause I'm not much of a Skogsmulle and wouldn't survive being left there on my own. I wonder what Skogsmulle would be in English? Well, anyways. Maybe I should wait 'til spring. Find another race. Or not. Maybe I should just do it in October. Hope for me being able to train without messing up my back and hips. It's more than 10 weeks 'til then. I can do it. I think."

- "This Tracy Chapman-CD is really good. Maybe I should place an order for the two albums I don't have?"

- "I feel like getting a massage. And a facial. I deserve it, don't I?"

- "Italy. Just 7 weeks and some odd days 'til we're going. I truly need a vacation. This summer has been tough with just three "long weekends" off from work. Next year, I'll make sure to get 4 weeks in a row. But I'm going to Italy before then!"

- "Why do at least two of my new (and female) colleagues leave the toilet seat up in our restroom?"

- "Work. Oh. That. I guess I have things to do. Things I get paid to think about."

Daily reminders in my tickler file

Remember my posts last year about Getting Things Done? (You find the two more elaborate ones here and here.)

I actually did have a pretty good system working there for a couple of months. I was up to date on how my projects were going, I was prepared for meetings, I was more efficient during my days managing to do more tasks, I had an empty inbox (both the physical and the email one) every day when I left work. Every Friday I "closed" the week and prepared for the next one so I knew what to do on Monday morning.

But then... I don't really know what happened. I started to get sloppy. I felt overwhelmed with everything coming in and some of my handling procedures were a bit too complicated. I started missing out on the crucial Friday afternoon review and things started to fall apart. This whole spring has been a bit on and off trying to get back to my system (with a few changes) but it hasn't been wholeheartedly. Not until now.

I've started my gathering to set up my system from the start again.

And I've come up with a way to keep me motivated and to not lose focus on my system. And the reason why I write "next actions" on index cards, keep a "@waiting for"-folder in my email and have an archive system based on hanging folders instead of binders.

One of the things that David Allen mentions in his book Getting Things Done that I really liked is the tickler file. It's basically a system that makes it possible for you to "mail things to yourself in the future". Most commonly this is done by setting up 43 folders; one for each month and one for each day from 1 to 31. By placing "whatever you need reminding about" in the right folder, you make sure you don't forget the important thing when it's time to deal with it.

I chose to use a binder and clear plastic pockets instead of a hanging folder system. I liked the idea of being able to bring my tickler file with me in case I wouldn't be in my room for a couple of days.

My tickler file in a binder with tabs for days and months

Metal clips show me what day it is to make placing something in the right pocket for next week a bit easier and faster

A quick look in my binder tells me that I for example have to fill out a form on Tuesday (the form is in the pocket as my reminder and storage). On Thursday I have to confirm my attendance at a conference in September (my application is in the pocket as well as the number I have to call). The information about theconference as well as my train ticket and hotel voucher is in my September pocket (so when going I know everything I need to bring is in there). In my January-pocket I find a note about booking a vet appointment for the cats. These are some of the things I keep in my binder. My reminders are forms, notes, tickets, brochures or whatever.

I'm supposed to check the binder every morning to see if I have a reminder in there for today. During my sloppy period I sometimes forgot for a week in a stretch thinking I knew the pockets were empty for this week. Now in order to keep to the routine of checking even if I "know" there's no important reminder in there I started something new last week.

Pages with marked hints, tips, recaps and clevernesses. And quotes.

See, the book Getting Things Done has these little hints, tips, recaps and clevernesses in the margin. They're all connected to whatever the passage they're attached to is saying. When I read the book last summer I would mark the things I liked. The things I thought I'd need to remember or think more about. Last week I sat down and wrote all of these in an Excel spread sheet. To each of them I added the information about what chapter it came from and what page. Then I cut them out one by one.

Some of the notes cut out (The one in the middle says "It takes a lot less energy to keep the inbox empty than it does to have it overflowing")

I ended up with 80 or 90 pieces and I have one in every pocket representing a workday these last days of July and then the exact number of workdays in the month pockets for August, September, October and the rest in November. The idea is to read the note in the morning when I check the binder and then read the assigned passage or chapter - or whatever makes the most sense - from the book.

So far this has been very successful as I get to read about things again and think about how I can implement that in my work system. Or I get to congratulate myself for already dealing with the specific issue in a way that works for me. l think this will be a useful inspiration if/when my focus seems to be shifting again and I go for the short term solutions instead of looking at the bigger picture.


Ending with a parenthesis:
(

This card has the idea in the middle and is also marked with the date I wrote it, what box it's in and what category it belongs to (work or private)

Now I get to throw out the index card from August last year that I had in my "Someday/Maybe"-box saying that I was to use the marked hints, tips, recaps and clevernesses from the book in some way!)

I would like to...

I would like to:

• get back to writing on a regular basis
• sew myself a dress
• sign up for a race and start jogging
• bake bread every weekend
• design my own shawl pattern
• learn how to take great shots with my boyfriend's camera
• get my Swahili books out from the shelf and get back into studying on a regular basis
• work through 4 old tasks and projects at work that weigh on my conscience
• be better at keeping in touch with my friends
• feel completely comfortable with saying "no"
• own more exciting clothes and know what fits me and what doesn't
• kick some of my colleagues on the shins
• knit my boyfriend the sweater he wants
• read as much as I used to
• make myself Amy Butler's Weekender Travel Bag and Sophia Carry-all
• enjoy vacuuming the house
• make myself a shirt or two
• be able to speak Swahili fluently
• stop worrying about the new work situation I'm in
• get structured and brave enough to deal with the idea I have for a novel
• get back into shape after way too many months of back ache and no regular exercise
• finish some of the knitting projects I have lying around
• go to the cinema more often
• invite friends to a super duper dinner
• be more interested in the practicalities of our house and garden
• travel to Africa again
• start a crafting business
• bring my lunch to work every day
• have great looking nails and cuticles
• moisturize every day
• sew quilt after quilt after quilt

So, why don't I?

Yes, I am alive

This poor neglected blog needed some help breathing so I stepped in for a quickie.

I'm sorry for the lack of interesting activity here lately. I'm not staying away because I feel bad or ill. I'm doing just fine, thank you. I'm not working on secret projects I can't blog about. I'm not "living in a bubble" unable or unwilling to share with you. I haven't lost interest in my blog and my readers.

I'm just sick of it being dark every time I plan on taking pictures for blog posts with some depth in them. It's dark when I bike to work at 7.30am and it's dark when I bike home at 4-4.30pm. I had planned on taking pictures this weekend but got busy doing other things on Saturday and yesterday I made my boyfriend a priority. We went for a looong and nice walk in the snow and sunshine.

I have a mental list of things I want to share with you:
- proper FO-post on my Kauni-vest
- pictures and words on my Amanda hat
- WIP-pictures of my mother's Laminaria (Christmas gift)
- proper post about my mother's birthday gift (a pair of pot holders based on the same Amy Butler-pattern as these) (ETA: posted here)
- pictures of the adorable lining fabric I got for the Birdie Sling I'm making my sister for Christmas (ETA: posted here)
- an update on how I'm doing with my Getting Things Done-project at work
- some flash backs from being an exchange student in Ontario, Canada, some hundred years ago

Stay tuned! And please, be patient with me. If nothing else, I'll get more daylight in less than a month!

Turning off the the notifications

Remember the post on Getting Things Done a couple of weeks ago?

Well, I'm still implementing the system at work and doing my best to get into the different routines. I'll probably write another post about it all later on when I think the system has "settled" more with me.

I just wanted to tell you how freeing it is to have decided to turn of the "you've got mail"-notifications in Outlook. I used to have the envelope popping up down right on my screen whenever something new landed in my inbox. It would, without exception, interrupt my flow and make me curious to see what the email was about. I'd leave whatever I was working on to go check it out. Then after reading, I'd leave it open or marked as "unread" if I needed to return to it, and then when I got back to whatever I was working on, I'd think about the email I got. About the things I'd have to do. What it meant for me. And my inbox would grow every day...

Now... Well, I don't see when an email arrives and I don't get interrupted. I check my emails when I decide to check my emails. And I only do that when I'm prepared to handle whatever email I get. 'Cause I don't leave emails in my inbox anymore.

If I don't reply to them immediately (which I will do if it takes me less than two minutes), I either place it in one of four folders (@action, @read, @awaiting or archive), save it to my computer, print it and place it in my "43 folders"-binder (my tickler file), print it out and save it in my archive, or make an action of it and place it in my "next action"-system of index cards.

(For a month now, I've left work every day with empty inboxes (the one in Outlook and the basket I have on my desk for incoming things I have to deal with). It feels good.)

Try turning those notifications off for a week and only check your emails when you actually have time to deal with them. Believe me, it'll make a difference in your focus at work. It's worth a shot!

Getting things done

This spring I bought a book called Få det gjort! - Svart bälte i vardagseffektivitet/Getting Things Done - The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. I have now found that this book seems to be part of a "movement" on the Internet (try googling GTD or Getting Things Done...) and a short summary of the book (and the action management method) is presented here on Wikipedia.

I started reading the book during my vacation but gave up after the first couple of chapters. It involved way too much thinking about work to be a good vacation book. When I started working again 2½ weeks ago, I took the book to the office. See, I'm always in need of organizaton. I'm not proud of it, but I have to admit to being a sloppy person when it comes to keeping track of my possessions and things I have to do. When I get involved in projects I usually drown in loose ends before we're even halfway through it. My desk disappears under piles of documents I have to file, folders I have to read, notes I've written and such.

It's funny how logical I can be in some aspects of my life and at the same time be as disorganized as I am... And it's funny how I am a perfectionist when it comes to my output at work and at the same time am the worst organizer there is. One would think I'd be very organized as to help myself producing "perfect output"...

Anyways, I brought the book to work. And I've read it while sitting at my desk. I decided that the timing was perfect as almost all of my colleagues are on vacation and most of my projects are moving slowly at the moment. I also thought I could read it (and work it) in my office as my work performance will benefit from me getting more organized. And if I can get my stress-levels down ('cause being this disorganized really stresses me out when I know I have a thousand things to do but can't organize myself (or the project) enough to actually do any of it), I will feel much better and perform better. Simple logic, isn't it?

(And if you're worried - my boss came back from his vacation this week and I told him all about what I had been up to after coming back from my own vacation. His response was positive and he immediately told me to go ahead and order whatever tools I needed for my office to keep this going. He even mentioned new furniture... Should I worry that he wants me to spend money on getting more organized?)

I've read through the book properly once while taking notes. I've skimmed through and re-read more than three quarters of it. More than one time. I get the general idea. I get the concepts. Now I'm working on getting it to work for me. I have started the "gathering process" and have my desk completely full of documents, folders, blue prints, note books and whatever. I'm writing down any loose ends I can think of on seperate pieces of paper. So far I have a stack of 117 of these pieces of paper with anything from "email S" to "clothes behind door" to "build model of M" to "start saving for my pension" on them. (The majority of loose ends that I've written down are work-related but a few personal ones have slipped through as well... When I've organized my work life I think I'll try and battle the loose ends at home as well.)

Next step is to go through each and every thing on my desk and decide what to do with it. This is the step called "processing". I'm looking forward to it!!!

I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing with this system. It's a lot to take in but at the same time it's very basic and logical. It's a way of freeing up space from your memory (read: declutter your brain) and making you more efficient. By focusing on different kinds of "lists" with reminders(could be things like a list on paper, a box or portfolio with documents in or a calender) and the concept of "next action" one makes sure that one always knows what to do today and next. It's not about random "to do"-lists but a broken down system of lists.

I'll give you an example of an ordinary "to-do"-list.

1. Call Anna
2. Email John when Amy gets back to me on the party details
3. Arrange a trip to Canada

Call Anna... Well, whatabout? If you only had a couple of minutes to grab something off of your to-do-list this one might slip through to the next day and the next day if you by looking at the written task can't figure out exactly what to talk to her about.

And "email John when Amy gets back to me" isn't really an action to do, is it? The proper action would be "wait for Amy". So this goes in the "Waiting for"-folder or on the "Waiting for"-list until Amy has reported back and you can take the next action (which is "email John about the party").

Looking at this you'll see that "arrange a trip to Canada" actually involves a lot of different actions (investigate flight schedules and prices, book tickets and hotels, make sure friends are available for a visit, ask for days of at work, make sure the cats are taken care of while you're gone, renew passport, buy a new suitcase, decide on what knitting projects to bring and so on) which makes it difficult to have on a list of things you have to do. Where are you supposed to start? Isn't it possible that the task you've written down will make you feel overwhelmed and therefore keep being pushed to the future? If you only have half an hour, would you start this to cross it off? Probably not as the project would take you longer than half an hour. However, if you had a list of the proper actions you'd have to take in order to fulfill the project "arrange a trip to Canada" you'd probably get more done as you in half an hour could cross off "ask for days off at work" and "investigate flight schedules"... You'd know you had the time to do these individual tasks. So... Put "arrange a trip to Canada" on a "Project"-list and break it down into actions before putting the first action on a "Next action"-list. And that is the list to work with!

Does it make sense?

There are parts of this book I haven't read in depth yet (like the ones on his 6 different levels of focus or the natural planning method for projects) but I might get back to them. It seems this is a book one can read many times and find new things in everytime. And I'm sure some parts will get clearer as I get into actually working more with the GTD-method.

A description of GTD from David Allen:

"Get everything out of your head. Make decisions about actions required on stuff when it shows up - not when it blows up. Organize reminders of your projects and the next actions on them in appropriate categories. Keep your system current, complete, and reviewed sufficiently to trust your intuitive choices about what you're doing (and not doing) at any time. "

Any thoughts on this?