Over the last few days I been on a trip getting things done. It’s been totally cool to know there’s a bunch of things I want to get done and I’m just working my way through them.
One of the keys was to get going with iGTD. I cruised through the tutorials, read some other articles, created some contexts and projects. I use Quicksilver to quickly add a task and get it out of my head.
My favourite articles about iGTD were Michael Buffington’s “How I use iGTD” and My Personal iGTD.
Some of the small things I was able to note away and come back to later include:
- Updating my software links in the sidebar – I should add iGTD!
- Adding a link to All Mankind in the sidebar
- Removing that annoying Sociable tooltip – the one that obscures the bottom of the post when you accidentally hover over it
- Making the font size bigger on my photoblog
- Subscribing to Grammar Girl on iTunes (did you notice I spilt an infinitive earlier?)
- Fixing my .htaccess so that the rewrite from /blog/ wasn’t mixed in with the WordPress permalink rewrites
I’m still working on the bigger tasks! By “jotting” things down and coming back to them I feel like I can get more done. I also don’t feel guilty about doing other things when I’m supposed to be studying and doing assignments because I’m not. I set asides segments of time for studying and other stuff. I also get a bit more reading of my RSS feeds done.
Some interesting things I’ve read lately:
- The Annoying Productive Guy At Work: Shaming Users One Color At A Time
- Image is Everything (only interesting if you want to know about image editing software for Mac)
- Htaccess, Apache, And Rewrites! Oh, My!
- Finally, the Information Revolution (below)
Sometimes reading all these tips and tricks scares me off big time. I mean, the more I read, the more I realize I am not doing what I should be doing.
And also, the more I read, the more I want to read further. So there goes all my time, LOL.
“should be doing”… pelf, I think that these GTD (getting things done) ideas and all the concepts of what you should be doing are just recommendations from people that have done well. None of it is prescription, none of it is divine.
I got into it because the sight of my inbox made me sick (metaphorically speaking). If I’m on my computer I use iGTD, if I’m out I use my notebook. I always avoid systems that make me feel guilty for not being perfect.
Things like inbox zero are a guide, you can adopt the system, you can spend the time going over everything you have to make your system look right, or you can make a folder to dump your old non-system in and start using the system… whatever works for you.
What I’m trying to say is that life without growth would seem pointless to me. Self-improvement is good, but it’s gradual. No one should ever make you feel inferior or stupid or not good enough for any reason! (I guess this is one of my soft points :P)
Actually, I’m also a HUGE fan of tips on GTD (in case my earlier comment didn’t reflect this point) but what I was trying to say was that all those long list of “recommendations” sometimes overwhelm me, that’s all :angel:
Oh woops! :woops: Well, perhaps you could star these things in google reader, or flag them in your rss reader or whatever and read them when you’re finished with your thesis? Or ignore them! I don’t want to distract you :blush:
Good luck!
You know Kristen? I never realised you were such a nerd 🙂
Been reading your blog since you posted it on facebook (and lurking in the background) – but seeing you talk of Quicksilver, opensource software, time management – total nerd!
I love it! Why aren’t you doing computer science or something like that?
anyway – as a Mac Man myself (and recently upgraded to a MacBookPro) – I love the tips 🙂
Mike
Haha, and proud of it Mike!
I wasn’t as into computers until after I started uni, so I guess that’s part of the reason… I wonder if doing something that’s a hobby at uni would suck the fun out of it? Maybe I’d just have a good excuse to learn more about it, but then I’d have to learn about things I don’t care about too!
Cool cool – glad they’re useful for someone!