“No way, I love my planner!” exclaimed my friend Lauren. This is a quote from a conversation I had recently with 3 friends. We were discussing how we each stay organized. Lauren was defending her datebook, but we couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of using one, since it is 2010. In this era of iPhones, iPads, Outlook and Google Calendar, we felt it was such an expired, old way to keep track of your personal schedule. Lauren proudly defended her planner, and it occurred to me that I was guilty myself of staying organized through a varied set of systems and techniques. And many of my own processes don’t involve the latest software or newest technology.

I believe whatever it takes for you to stay organized, do that. Just because there is a new digital calendar app on your iPad or BlackBerry, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best thing for you to use. Filofax 6-ring binder inserts can work just as well as the fancy touchscreen iCal app on your iPhone. Pick your discipline of choice. Do what works for you.

Personally, I like to switch-up my organization systems once every two months, just to keep things fresh. Sometimes just having a new organization system, makes it fun to actually stay organized (yes, i’m that pathetic, it is fun for me). So what do I do to stay organized? Listed below, are a few systems I like to follow. Some of these I made-up, some of them I learned. Hopefully sharing these with you helps you.

The Post-it Note System
This organization technique is visual and interactive. There is one requirement though: a large desk. Here is how it works: grab a pack of Post-it notes. When you think of 1 task that you need to complete, write it down on a Post-it. Then organize them into 3 rows, which will serve as categories:

“Must Do Today”
“Can Wait”
“Not Time-Sensitive”

When you sit down at your desk, scan your Post-its and decide which you’d like to tackle. When you pick one, grab it- and place it in front of you. Do nothing else but this one thing in front of you. I like to put the Post-it note, with the current task, on my computer monitor or laptop. This way if I get distracted, what I should be completing, is right in front of me. Then, when you’re done, comes the fun part. Take the Post-it and toss it in the trash. There is this ‘small warm-fuzzy feeling’ of accomplishment and gratification when you throw it in the trashcan. And it’s really addicting when you get on a roll.

The Day-by-Day Notebook Checklist System
My friend Neal taught me this technique. It’s a good way to scan and plan your current week’s tasks. It’s best if you start this system on Sunday nights or first thing Monday morning. Here is how it works: open your notebook to a clean page. Write down headings for everyday of the week (“Monday, Tuesday, etc”). Under each day, write down the “must do” tasks just for that day. Your tasks for any given day shouldn’t exceed more than 6 tasks. And some tasks are allowed to be “start X” or “begin Y”. Often, there are times when you need to start and make progress that day, but not finish actually the task. I find the Day-by-Day Notebook system is really helpful when you want to see in a given week the things you’ll be working on and when.

Moleskine Journals
Many people swear by their Moleskine journals. They can be used in many ways. I have a very specific function for why I carry mine around. There are several things that are classified as “living lists” or on-going “running” lists. For example, I keep a list of blog post ideas and topics. This is something I will keep adding to time after time. I also keep a running list of video blog ideas, music/songs I want to download, and personal at-home tasks or errands to run. I don’t neceissarily open my Moleskine everyday, but it’s a great for my reference and when I “time quilt” (described below).

Time Quilting
This phrase and technique was created by Chris Brogan. It’s about accepting that you will rarely get long periods or blocks of time to sit down and do what you need to do. However, when you have ten minutes here and there, “time quilting” is when you take small steps forward when you can sneak the time-in where you can. When you start re-thinking about the little scraps of time, 5-minutes you get here and there, it can often be enough time to write a blog post, reply to an email or move a side-project along. What are the best places to time quilt? For me, they are at the airport, in-between meetings, doctor office waiting rooms, coffee shops, after lunch or while waiting for your food, subways and taxi’s. Often, I find that things I put in my Moleskine are the things I will start and stop with the time quilts that open-up for me.

The Beginning, Middle and the End System
This organization system is designed to control your focus, and allows you to avoid interruptions and distractions (depending on your job, this system may not be possible for you to follow). Here is how it works: when you get into work, spend the beginning part of your day doing all the small, little, 1-off tasks you need to complete. Meaning, all the emails you can rapid-fire respond to, forward, or delete …take care of that. Call and leave phone messages right away, and do that quickly. Send the meeting invites, and take care of just the tasks that take less than 10-minutes to complete. Then during the hours after “the beginning” (usually around 10AM), tackle the long-form tasks that you need to do. Turn-off all notifications and alerts, don’t check Twitter or Facebook or your cell phone. Then, when you reach the middle of the day, turn-on and activate all the notification systems and programs on your computer again and resume the smaller 10-minute tasks you need to complete. After that, early afternoon should be the time you focus again on the long-form tasks you need to do. Finally, the end of your day brings you back to the short, snippet, quick tasks you need to complete.

Close It, Exit It, Hide It, Turn It
Sometimes you just absolutely have to get that 1 thing done. There are many temptations that can get in the way since your computer allows you to do many other things than what you need to do. When this happens, one technique is to just shut-it-all-down. Meaning, turn over your cell phone so you can’t see the screen, close Facebook, turn-off Twitter, minimize the Outlook “inbox” and just have in front of you a window a blank email draft (or close Outlook all together), exit out of AIM, close gMail and iTunes. This ensures NO notifications or alerts are distracting you from completing your task. You then will have your undivided attention on the 1 thing you need to get done.

What do you think about my systems and techniques? What do *you* do to stay organized? Everyone has their methods to their madness. Share it with me in the comments.
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Have you ever thought about how much time is lost waiting for your computer to turn on each day?  This weekend, the NY Times published an article discussing major computer companies (Dell, HP) who are developing:

“…quick start computers that allow you to access to basic functions like e-mail and a Web browser in 30 seconds or less.”

…obviously a great technical feature I think everyone would appreciate.

However from a sociological perspective, it made me think of my own process and behavior each time I turn on my computer. Do you sit and stare at the screen and watch? I don’t. In fact, I get so impatient with the fact I have to wait — I do everything I can to do something productive while I wait for my machine to boot. At work, I’ll grab something to drink, skimming my project notes or arrange my desk. At home I’ll start my laundry, do quick house/room cleaning, fix a quick snack, fire a couple text messages off or make a quick phone call.

Now I might be the 1% of the population who even care to be cognitive of my time and it’s implications to my productivity — however, I’m still curious what other people do? I can’t stand it. What do you do?

Multitasking. Everyone talks about it. Some people even like to taut how good they are at it. But is it really beneficial and the most efficient way to get things done?

I don’t tell anyone I’m a multitasker. Nor do I think of myself as someone who likes to multitask.

Forget multitasking. It’s all about multi-project and single task. This means at any given time you can handle and organize multiple projects but you focus yourself to work on any one given task at a time. That’s it. No more than one. This leaves you ultra efficient and you’re able to work with a deeper focus at just the task at hand.

This is how I get things done at work AND outside of work. Once I grasped this “life hack”, I realized that I can dedicate quality focus into seeing one single task all the way through. Furthermore, there’s great satisfaction in completing a task than trying to swallow the entire project at once.

Once you’ve adopted this approach — you’re able to utilize what I call “flow”. This is where you know you’ve got a set of projects your trying to complete. Each of those projects have tasks. “Flow” is working at a pace in which you focus your attention on a single task that you feel like working on. Once you’ve completed that task, you move to the next one. However, the next task can apply to a different project.

If you can master “flow”, you’ll be able to crank through tasks related to multiple projects and choose to do what you feel like when you feel like it.

I know I might sound like a 10-step time productivity infomercial or that 4-hour workweek book everyone is talking about, but I wanted to share how I personally think and work. There isn’t a right way per se, you have to do what works for YOU. I’m curious though, do you do something different? Does it work? Are you able to stay ultra-productive?
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