2013?

Another year done, another one ahead. Sometimes I wouldn't mind taking a break from time! It must be rather nice to hibernate. Sleep through the winter, wake up in the spring. The only problem is that I live in the UK, and no one can predict quite when those seasons will start and end!

So, if hibernation isn't an option, how can I make the most of the coming few months as winter tails off and spring begins to appear? I suppose one thing would be to set some new goals. I'm not big on resolutions because they often lack clarity and measurement. We're all aware of the SMART principles for goals, and it's not a bad place to start, but this year I have a new dimension with my training coming to an end in the next month or so. Hopefully I will pass my final exams by the end of February. I still have my case study to complete before I can book the written and practical exams.

That would make goal number one to complete my case study, and using David Allen's GTD principles, the first physical thing I need to do for that is to arrange the final session with my client. Getting back into the GTD habit wouldn't be a bad thing either. I've rather drifted away from any expression of organisation.

There's lots to do around the house too. I need to tile the kitchen, box in the pipes in the extension, tidy the garage and organise the utility end of it. I need to rehang at least one door, finish the cupboard in the hall and sort out the garage roof!

It seems to me that a few days writing down all the things that need to be done and then setting out  a plan for doing them might not be a bad idea. You don't need a new app or flash bit of software to do this. Years ago I used to take a sheet of A4 and draw three columns. In the first column I'd write down all the things \i was doing and the things I wanted to do. The next column was the rank I gave to all these tasks. The third column was the timescale. This was great for introducing new topics because I could see when time would become available. You could then transfer these things to a year planner if you wanted. I used Excel to create a year planner rather than a paper based one. The key is not to let it get too big. A friend of mine makes great use of project software that allows you to see different layers of projects and plans. i never got my head around that, but something as simple as an outliner light do the job. Perhaps I'll try that this year.

Trying new ways of organising stuff can be a real help because it gives you a fresh start and something new with which to play!

And lastly, it's never to late to start a plan or revise an old one. Just because it didn't work last year, it doesn't mean it can't work this year. Look back and reflect honestly on why things didn't happen, don't get sucked into believing it's because you are inherently bad at stuff, and revise the plan.

Maybe 2013 will be the year that I finally find out what I'm good at! Maybe it will be the year that your plan finally comes together. Who knows.

Evernote and GTD

I can't remember if I've blogged about Evernote, but ever since I got my Ipad, Evernote has been a regularly used app. It's so simple yet so versatile. It's a great place to make all sorts or notes, and the great thing is that they synchronise across my various machines. In fact it's so useful I've even considered upgrading to a paid account. But less of this madness.

Older readers of my blog will know that I encountered David Allen's GTD system some time ago and it certainly helped me improve my organisation. To be honest I've fallen of the wagon a bit and need to get back into the routine. But I was intrigued to read this article about how one person has implemented GTD using Evernote.

No need to invest in expensive and sometimes overly complicated software, just sign up to Evernote for a free account and have a go.

Finally got it filed!

Ever since I read Getting Thing Done, I've been promising myself I'd attack my filing system. I haven't panicked about it because it's been on my someday/maybe list because it needed doing but frankly it wasn't that important personally.

Moving home has given me the opportunity to go through the files and jettison quite a lot of things I'll no longer need, so it seemed like a good time to set to the process of reorganising the system. The main problem I have with files is figuring out where to file a given item. File it of course in a way that it can be retrieved as easily as possible. Filing something is never a problem, finding it again is the challenge!

So, having seen David Allen talk about a simple A-Z system using square cut folders, Ally and I set to the reorganisation. We made some simple dividers from mount board and spilt hanging files. The hanging files provided runners for the tabbed dividers. Then we worked through the files until we'd reorganised them all into folders.

The result is that what occupied two drawers of my filing cabinet now occupies one drawer. And a few things came to light that can now be found very quickly. I'm sure that there will be a build up of things when we move as I collect minutes of new meetings and lists of this or that. But, and it's an important caveat, it should be far easier to create a new file and the space saved by removing all the hanging files can be used for smaller files.

Now if we can do the same to the second filing cabinet, that contains all the home stuff, we'll be really well organised!

GTD style app for Mac menu bar

If you are a Mac user and are thinking of trying an organiser application to take control of all your tasks and projects in a David Allen GTD style, then this might be of interest. It's called Plutopro and I've not used it, but I cam across it through an RSS feed I get. 

It's free and looks quite good. You can read about at MacUpdate here.

I currently use Omnifocus which is a very full and sometimes complicated system, so a simpler solution might be a better option even for me!

Andrew Mason, over at Did I get Things Done intends to do a review some time in the future, so it might be worth keeping an eye out for that.

Other alternatives I know about include Thinking Rock and iGTD, both of which I've used and both of which have their plus points. 

David Allen does GTD

For those of you who know about David Allen's Getting Things Done method for dealing with all the stuff that comes into your life, you might be interested/curious to see what his office looks like and how he does GTD.

If so, there's a video here that takes you into his office!

Back at the desk

Just to prove I'm back at my desk... honestly this is really me sitting at my desk.

I actually took this picture using the built-in camera on the iMac, a nice little feature. Anne, Ally and I will use the iChat video conferencing feature to keep in touch when she's away at University.

Back to work. It was interesting that over the sabbatical I let all the paperwork just pile up, only paying attention to stuff that really needed it like bank statements and credit card accounts. But I did put everything, more or less, in my inbox. So, on Sunday evening I took out the box , which was overflowing with stuff by now, and within 30 minutes I had it down to an organised pile which then got filtered into files and the tickler file. 

I was most impressed that it took so little time to recapture everything. 

If you've fallen off the organisational wagon, then let this be an encouragement, with a little effort it's fairly painless to climb back on. The only proviso is that you don't spend your time blaming yourself and/or others for becoming disorganised again. Simply set your mind to recapturing things.

Personally I still have a long, long road to travel in the organisation world, but I'm going to persevere because, as L'Oreal might say, "I'm worth it!"

Weary traveller returns home

Okay, so I was only away for one night, but the way things pile up around here I felt as if I'd been gone a month! I was actually in Nottingham, the family home (on my side of the family that is), performing the funeral of my sister's mother-in-law. 

These are somewhat strange occasions, mostly because I know a lot of the congregation, they are my family after all, but they are not the church family. Seeing them all sitting there takes a little getting used to. It was strange too being back in the crematorium chapel where I did my father's funeral a few years ago.

After the funeral I called in on Phil and Erica. Phil is another church leader committed to working out this outward focused thing, and it's always good to talk with with a fellow traveller. And then it was the drive back down the M1. It's not a long journey, but at the end of that kind of day it's far enough. Perhaps it was the toll of the day, perhaps my advancing years, but I felt the weariness of driving all too quickly and pulled off the motorway to give my brain a rest as much as anything else. Given that it's only two hours, it was odd to have to stop like this. 

When I got home, there were messages on the answering machine, emails and post. It's taken me until 11:00am this morning to even feel as if I've caught up with it let alone get to a place of control over it. So it was a pleasure to catch up with Jeff Noble's blog and read his post about GTD and David Allen's book. It gave me a renewed hope that all it takes is a little self-disciple and organisation will come, serenity and stress-relief is only a few steps away!

With that in mind I have emptied my email inbox and the desk is next on the hit list along with my weekly review. 

Here's to a more organised life in leadership and ministry.