What to do on a rainy day in Madrid? Get organised, that's what!
So most Sundays I play 5-a-side football (or soccer if you prefer ;)). However, the heavens have opened a little here, which has impacted that idea. Supposedly, we still play anyway, but some people get a bit jumpy at the site of a little moisture in the sky and try to jump ship.
After a few WhatsApps and not enough players, it was decided that the fixture couldn't go ahead. I'm not sure about the rest of the games, so we'll see if the other teams were a bit more hard-core. The down side, is if it was our decision to cancel the game then we lose the points. Whatevs, I could see this coming since the first WhatsApp of the day, so I got in to organising mode…
Chaos to Order
This weekend I have gone back to using Trello. A lot of you may well know this as a project management type tool. I have tried using it a few times but ended up leaving it. I have also used it with clients at their request and it can work well. I just couldn't figure out how best to use it for me!
With various notes scattered across the Google Docs/Drive/Excel, pieces of paper, notepads, in my phone, diary, calendar and a swarm of activity in my head, it can all be a bit overwhelming… so time to get a bit more organised. I think Trello could be a good answer to that.
I have to thank Mr Phil @teamhumble as he mentioned it in one of his posts last week. As I say, I am aware of it and have used it a little but not as much as I could, and certainly not to its best effect. His post knocked it into my mind again, and I'm glad as it has helped to get things in order a little. I'm also checking out Flipboard due to his reference too, basically news stories in the subjects you have chosen. Flick through at your pleasure and avoid all the other crap that's out there.
Trello - example of a Trello board, pic courtesy of trello.com
Flipboard - Apple app version, pic courtesy of wired.com
In terms of Trello; I'm not going to post it all here right now, but suffice to say there's a SEEMit folder included, with all kinds of wackery contained within.
You can create boards, then lists within those boards, then cards within those lists which you can do all sorts with… and you can move them all around at your behest, colour code, share, add a date, edit and far more, which is great! It's always good to have one main 'portal' to organise your work and life, otherwise you can get a little crazy. Apparently.
Frosty the Snowman?
A little snow here too, although it's unlikely we will get a snowman out of it as it's not settling - more your classic icey offering.
So that was just a quick update on my wild weekend antics. Feels nice to get a sense of order and get into position to attack the coming week with aplomb. And I also got to use the word 'aplomb'… so a great day all round.
I still have all the pieces of paper and the rest of what I mentioned above, but it's certainly far more organised. Most of the time it's about getting things in order, outside of your head. It's not even just that it's set up, but the fact you don't have to think it all through constantly. There's a far deeper psychological discussion there… for another day ;).
Many people recommend making use of a calendar and having a strict schedule down to the hour (which can be altered as you go of course). I don't find that works for me either. I think you need to find out what does work for you and roll with that.
Ultimately, you need to be hyped about what it is you're doing and all systems will 'work'. If you're just drudging your way through, then even the best 'system' isn't really going to be effective. It's as simple as that.
Anyway, just a quick ramble. Do you have any tools, tricks, or apps for getting shit done… or otherwise living a productive, efficient and fulfilling life??
~ Adam
@adambarratt
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