To Do System Update
Since writing my last post I’ve had a few months of using Things to manage my to do system and for my own reference I wanted to think about what’s been working, what hasn’t been working, and how I could try and tweak it.
What’s Worked
Ease of use. I’m always skeptical of new to do applications because you never know what will stick and what will be easy to ignore (RIP all the previous applications I’ve tried), but Things has been working really well for me. I don’t use it exactly as they intended (I’ve never touched the inbox), but it’s functional, easy, and so far isn’t something that I’ve ignored for too long.
Using the different categories effectively. The most successful example of this is my “Cooking” category. By putting recipes I want to make or meal planning inside of Things, it’s become easier to grab options and actually make something for the day.
Having a real daily to do list. Being able to set items for a specific date has actually helped me have a daily to do list that I check regularly.
Flexibility. The system really does feel flexible and easy for me to use now, which is a big win in making sure i keep using it.
What Hasn’t Worked
Life, in general. Since May i’ve been navigating taking time off after leaving my job of 7 years, trying to find a new apartment, moving in with my partner, and preparing for / having surgery. That’s a lot! It’s been hard to maintain consistency is actually checking off things from all categories there.
Balancing the categories. Especially with the move and surgery, a lot of times it felt like I was solely doing the TCB and maybe Cooking categories and little else. I don’t feel bad that I wasn’t always able to hit every box, but I do notice the sense of being “behind” on those categories that maybe I wouldn’t have if I had balanced.
Doing tasks, but forgetting to note it. Cooking and Exercise took the biggest hits here—it was very easy to ride my bike or make a meal I had planned and then completely forget to check it off.
Having too many tasks. I would really overstuff my days (sometimes necessarily, sometimes not) and then feel overwhelmed about the amount of things I wanted to do, which often lead to them not happening.
Not tracking what I’m doing well. Things has a very nice log book, but no other way to really track how successful I’ve been at checking things off from each category and where that has failed.
How to Improve
Be as realistic as possible with what I can do in a day. I’ve been reading a book (The Now Habit) that talks about the psychology behind procrastination. One of steps it recommends doing is getting a really strict (judgement-free) timesheet of you days for a few weeks, to get a sense of how long it actually takes you to do tasks. It’s step I’ve been procrastinating because, well, the reasons you might expect. However, it’s clear that even if I don’t do that, I should be really be reducing the amount of items I start with each day because it’s not accurate and that’s demoralizing. Way better to start light and add things, than start too busy.
Consciously plan more. When I created this system, I had a vision of myself sitting down each night before bed and setting up the next day tasks. That has rarely happened. I have gotten better about taking the time to move stuff around, add tasks, etc, as needed, but I would benefit from setting aside time to really look at what I have coming up and thing about if that’s what I want to do. This would probably also help combat having too many tasks.
Break up tasks into smaller tasks. Just perennial advice for myself.
Look for ways to track my satisfaction. I never wanted to focus too much on the categories I set up or feel obligated to them if it didn’t make sense. However, I do want to maintain more of a balance—having something in each group every day isn’t feasible, but finding a way to note how accomplished I felt each day and what that day generally consisted of might be.
TL;DR
Overall I feel good about how the system has worked so far. It has enabled me to do a lot more of the kind of tasks I wanted to do but wasn’t finding the time for and accomplish more of the things I want to do. The system is offering the structure I need without feeling too rigid or set in stone in a way that makes me ignore it entirely. I don’t think I’ve really put it to the test in some ways (e.g. while having professional obligations) but so far I’ve been happy.