MentalPolyphonics
Where have all the plumbers gone?
One thing that was sad was people emphasizing...January 28, 2010 at 11:13 am
Tagged: life, productivity
Every morning I wake up surrounded by objects. Some of these objects have to be manipulated before I leave for work. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Some of them have to be manipulated in a specific order. Don’t put your pants on before you get in the shower.
I take objects with me when I leave the house. Some are to get to work. Bicycling is more fun in tights. Some are to use at work. It can be hard to keep an ironed shirt crisp. Some are to use during my breaks. Run! Some are to use after work before I get home.
All of these objects need to be transported. How do I handle all these “moving parts”, as David Allen calls them?
One thing I don’t do is check my next actions list. Maybe I need another list for small recurring tasks, organized by phase? But it’s hard to imagine technology that would be seamless enough to not get in the way.
I miss some opportunities to complete next actions. I won’t be dropping my pants off at the dry cleaners today – they’re still in my closet. I forget a few nice-to-have objects per month but so far nothing catastrophic. I don’t worry that much that I’ve forgot something. But I do feel it is a stressful burden to keep my life on track.
Would driving to work help? Is this another sacrifice I’m making for the environment? Can my life be simplified? Can I use more external cognition? Can I do the same actions but interpret them differently to manage my stress?
tara
First, I’d like to say, I like your prose style in this post.
Second, what is it that makes managing your life stressful? You say that you don’t forget essential things often, so it seems everything is under control, right? These are genuine questions, coming from someone who is just as obsessed with organizing stuff as you are.
Simplicity is key and I think these 4 points of David Allen’s are useful. Every object I own or need has a “home” and keeping things in their place is such a habit for me that I don’t find it stressful to manage them at all. I rarely misplace, lose, or forget things because their homes are in logical places depending on their use. I never forget my keys – partly because I couldn’t lock the door behind me without them, partly because they’re hanging on a hook right beside the door. I’ve cultivated a habit of putting them there, so I don’t even have to think about it anymore. I never run out of toothpaste because I always have at least 2 or 3 backup tubes in my bathroom cabinet. When I get down to only one backup, I add toothpaste to my grocery list. If I need to bring something out of the ordinary with me to work, something I could forget because it’s not part of my routine, I usually write it on a sticky note and stick it to my door or something I won’t leave without (like my coat, or my bag). Driving to work doesn’t necessarily help. I used to always keep a shopping bag in my car, but I often forgot to put it back after I used it, and then I wouldn’t think to bring one when I needed it cause I was used to having it in my car – breakdown in the contingency plan.
If you find it genuinely stressful to manage things, maybe you are dealing with too many of them. Is there something non-essential that can go?
I can say from experience that the more lists I keep and management tools I use, the more stressful and chaotic my life becomes. Too much organization works against you. Simplicity and habit keeps stress down.
tara
Oh, and also: “Can I do the same actions but interpret them differently to manage my stress?” I think you’re on to something there.
Jared
Just to clarify, planning isn’t just a problem getting ready for work, it plagues all of my life. Like today at lunch I went running: it took me 3 trips from my desk to the change room to get all my running stuff together.
Maybe I have some kind of disability? The scary thing is that I plan and manage processes with lots of twisty little parts for a living. But all of the actions are delegated either to someone else or a computer. So maybe my problem is implementation? Or maybe I’m not being rigorous enough at planning my personal life?
tara
How about keeping the things you need in packets of some kind? For example, I have a travel bag of toiletries always and already packed that contains everything I need for trips any longer than one night – I sometimes add things for particular circumstances, but, for the most part, I know I can just take it and go without even looking. Granted, it’s taken me years of traveling to refine the contents of said bag; but once the packet is complete, life can be so easy. What if you were to take the things you need for running in a bag of their own – a bag in which they live all the time, unless they’re being washed – then you could just grab that from your desk and know you’ve got what you need.
And sometimes (often times?) you’ll just forget stuff and have to make a couple of extra trips. Can that just be okay? After all, I’m sure you didn’t suffer any drastic long-term consequences from your having to go back to your desk 3 times before running today.
tara
“Or maybe I’m not being rigorous enough at planning my personal life?” Life is probably too complex to be able to manage every aspect of it perfectly. You show up to work, right? And you show up to your dates? And pay your bills? And feed yourself when you’re hungry? The rest is a lot less important. You should give yourself a break!
stewartworks
Jared, I think you have hit upon the critical failure behind modernism and its quest for efficiency. why does it matter that you took three trips to the change room to go running? what are you ‘saving’ this time for? do you feel that there are parts of your life that could benefit from the time you saved? are you able to leave work earlier/accomplish more because you saved that time in the run?
constraints on your time and your concerns around the organization of your day are more likely related to the external social/economic/political structures you allow to govern the parsing of your time.
maybe in not having the things you think you need always available on a rational basis you could encounter some element of the world that will actually enrich your life? maybe these things will be provided, if you just let them happen to you.
Jack
I also like your style in this one — good writing!
Edited to add to the “productivity” cloud.