Sorry I've not posted on here as much as I would have liked to recently but it has been both a busy and difficult few months for me. I've been battling a to do list as long as anything, enough emotional stress to make my world feel a pretty dark place and a health status that was shall we say less than healthy.
However 2014 is here and things are changing for me. I'm getting myself up to date, arranged and organised like never before. If I am going to get to where I both want and need to be this year, I've got to use my time productively and with a focus. Oh and stick to things because I am rubbish at that.
General organisation
For personal use in my own life I rely on my Remember the Milk app like no other. It's just what I need to prompt me to do everything from sending my nan a regular letter to checking when my mentee is available. I love having the app to see a whole week at a glance and it's great at reminding me to do the basics, e.g. take tablets every day too.
For work I've just transferred my to do list to my outlook calendar because not only is this visible to me on my laptop but it syncs to my work blackberry too so I can do things whilst I'm travelling. Especially useful as South West trains are frequently delayed so I've always more time on my hands commuting than I would have wanted.
Writing
For my writing I've adopted the use of the Tasks n Todos app for android as this combines my multiple to do lists from my writing email account to an easy to use app on my phone. I use this to track tweets I must send, blog posts I must write, courses and networking opportunities to follow up on and also my scriptwriting progress of course. This is a useful way to track things that aren't as easy to remember as what project I'm working on and the irritating reminders are actually making me work harder to make them go away.
In addition I'm putting all my deadlines on a wall planner so I can start to track back and set smaller goals to ensure I achieve them.
Resolutions
This year I've a number of key resolutions that I'm trying to achieve and I'm using www.getgoaling.com to manage them. The site encourages you to set targets and tasks to help you achieve the major goals and is set out so I've a combined weekly schedule.
My resolutions for 2014 are split into three categories:
Financial
This encompasses buying a property, being financially stable and saving for a number of significant holidays. No small amount of pressure there then.
People I love
In light of recent tough times with Emma I've realised my priorities have been so screwed up I've neglected people around me therefore this encompasses strengthening my circle of friends and spending more quality time with family, especially my sister Tink, as I don't see her so much these days.
Health
My health has deteriorated in the past twelve months to the point where I've numerous diagnoses but am nowhere near feeling any better, therefore I endeavour to manage my health, diet, exercise regime and sleep cycle more proactively to change this for the better. Anything to feel well again would be good.
Daily checklist
Additionally to all of the above I've also adopted a goals tracker calendar for daily monitoring of some contributing factors. These were selected as they were not things I would never or always do but I wanted to make a significant change on that I could see progress against.
Eat at least one proper meal per day - 25 days per month
No fizzy drinks days - 15 days per month
No takeaway days - 25 days per month
No alcohol days - 25 days per month
Write at least 1000 words per day - 20 days per month
Three days into 2014 and I've managed 3, 0, 3, 3 & 2 respective label so doing well on all except giving up fizzy drinks. I might add more as I monitor some of my other goals and resolutions.
Summary
There you have it. I'm all good to go for 2014 and not only that but I've got technology to support me, monitor me and hunt me down when I don't stick to the rules.
This has got to work right?
Now I just need to locate my pomodoro app to coerce me into doing more than just writing lists about all the things I'm going to do!
All sounds positive, especially the idea of you getting more sleep - and more profitable sleep - in 2014. That underpins everything else. Giving up fizzy drinks might come along with that, if you get into a decent cycle. But, then again, it might not. I doubt I could give them up ever!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, hope the organisation pays off.