LifeHackMom.com

One of the reasons I like Evernote for my GTD (Getting Things Done) Implementation is its category intersection panel. I’m at the office right now on a Saturday. I have 123 “Next Actions” to tackle. What do I do first?

By clicking on my “next” items in Evernote, in the bottom category intersection panel I can see different contexts for my next actions. By clicking “Office”, I can then further refine — I know I don’t want to make phone calls. It’s Saturday so that is pointless unless I just want to talk to voicemail. Pick something else.

The Category Intersection Panel can be turned on in Evernote by clicking Tools–> Options–>Categories–> then check the “Show Category Intersection Panel” box.

Some weeks are crazier than usual. Some weeks so many things are thrown at me that I just want to go back to bed and hide under the covers. Father ill in hospital, Major site going live, kids on school vacation, big home remodeling project attracting tv network, large new business proposals in the works, etc. etc. I can’t sort through all of the incoming information fast enough to figure out the “next actions”.

Mind is nothing “like water”. It’s more like mud. Too many things are rattling around in my brain, I can’t even think where to begin my day. Yes, they are in my GTD system (Evernote) or in my inbox , but do I trust myself to actually focus enough to check on them? These kinds of weeks threaten to undo the entire GTD methodology.

To keep me on track and help me to actually START the day, I’ve added David Allen’s “Mastering Workflow” chart to my laptop desktop. It is posted on the wall next to my desk as well, but since I spend so much time glued to my computer, I can’t miss it here. I use two monitors to help organize my laptop desktop, so the chart is sure to peek through on one of them.

This image is straight from David Allen’s “5 Phases of Mastering Workflow” article. You can download it for free by requesting it at his website. My only change was to add a few reminders (in red) to myself to make sure I check:

• My daily calendar so I don’t miss any appointments or deadlines
• My Gmail account, where all of my numerous email addresses receive mail
• My Daily Folders (Tickler file, of papers for things that need to get done that day, i.e. tickets, bills to pay, etc.)
• Next Action Folders (supporting papers and large folders that support Next Actions which are in Evernote)

In this way, I do not waste 15-30 minutes when I go into the office in the morning. I know exactly what I must check, process, and what needs to be started on.

Last night we got 2 1/2 feet of snow here in Western New York. Needless to say, schools are closed and the landscape of my carefully scheduled day has drastically changed. It’s not even a fun kind of sledding snow day — it’s only 3 degrees outside so I can’t sent the kids out to play.

What to do? First things first, get the kids distracted by a dvd long enough to get on the telephone and cancel all my appointments for today. That’s done in the nick of time. The television has started to bore the kids already and their attention is drifting towards me. “I’m boorreed. What can we do?”

Any chance of me doing work at home has disappeared. As soon as I open my laptop, my chatty 5-year-old daughter comes over to ask “What are you doing Mommy. Can I help you?” I’ve been through this before. There is no computer work getting done today, at least not while the kids are still awake.

Turn to my “with kids” context from my implementation of David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD).

My with kids GTD context consist of items that I CAN do when they’re around. They like to help me with these projects. I have the routine @next actions, like laundry and dinner, and I have someday/maybe items, which are projects that are worth doing, but not urgent.

Today’s productive yet time-killing with kids item was Tear Down the Kitchen Wallpaper. This project was something we were told to tackle in the next few weeks anyway, as we are getting our house ready to put on the market. Apparently new buyers hate wallpaper.

Kids love to destroy things, so this one fit right in. In fact, my daughter started her love of tearing down wallpaper in the crib, when she used to pick at the border in her room.

I had the tools, and we had the time today. It wasn’t how I had intended to spend my day, but the kids dove right in, and the three of us finished this task in 5 hours.