I'm slowly finding that either I'm getting more things to do, or I'm getting worse at actually doing them. How do you guys Get Things Done(TM)?

I've tried ToDo lists, and I've tried scheduling things in calendars (with reminders), but I just never seem to quite follow them, plus its just Another Thing To Do(TM). If I do use a calendar, how do I decide when and where to schedule things? A lot of personal projects are too big to do all in one go! Do I just assign arbitrary times and dates?

To give you guys some idea of what I'd love to fit in;

• Various projects, both LFS and Apache HTTPD related (upto 8 at the moment.. I think), that I'd love to finish
  
• Various technical articles and books (I'm now upto 24 books, and who knows how many articles I need to read, and I've got 2 or 3 I want to scrawl down)
  
• More quality time with the girlfriend
  
• Something to get me off my arse, swimming once a week just doesn't cut it, and I don't always keep to that
  
• Daily email and mailing lists. I'm fairly good with getting these in tbh
  
• Work. I need to cut down and work my hours. Argh.
  
• Various things around the house that need sorting now I'm the only man in the house
  
• Shopping. We always have utter crap in the house. I clearly need to shop for better food.

Any suggestions?

Don't forget the six P's:
Poor Preparation Produces Piss Poor Performance

I just jump from thing to another, that keeps my interest up and productivy high, I have no way to make anything if I concentrate only to single task (or loose interest), I have this little fault that makes my brain work that way

But I guess that won't work for you?

Quote from the_angry_angel :

I've tried ToDo lists ... its just Another Thing To Do(TM).

This is so true, the only time i ever write todo's (programming related) is when i'm out of things to actually do.

Quote from CSU1 :

Don't forget the six P's:
Poor Preparation Produces Piss Poor Performance

Hmm, I know it as:

Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents P!ss Poor Performance

Just muddle along for another forty to sixty years and then one day the problem will go away.

(Wish I had a better answer, as I know the feeling you're describing all too well.)

Get your groceries delivered! Once you have decent food in the house your brain will start working more efficiently and you'll be able to sort your shit out

I always have ideas but when i try to do some of them i get bored if i dont do another so do the first thing you think about and then if something comes to your mind do it, youll see that you will return to the first thing someday lol

Quote :

I'm slowly finding that either I'm getting more things to do, or I'm getting worse at actually doing them. How do you guys Get Things Done(TM)?

Uggh (uncontrollable shudder). You just read my mind.

I can't get things done, lol. Takes 20 mins to get out of bed for starters . Whether I got things to do or not, I'll just stare at the work for an hour and come up with an excuse to delay it. Too much of Life is spent on chores and stuff you don't want to do..

before anyone comes telling me how I have everything on a silver platter and I should stop whining, know that I'm not actually whining. It's tongue-in-cheek, but true nonetheless, imo

i'll do some cleaning if I don't feel like doing anything, just go through all the various bits in the kitchen, clean them up, wash them, dry them, at the end of the day I will have convinced myself I've done something today so my real work can wait till tomorrow, then I go to sleep.

I just try to do my stuff so that I don't have many project in the same phase at the same time. Starting new projects always means that you need to learn something new, after the start it usually gets easier when you have some knowledge about the stuff, after that it gets complicated and finally in the crunch section you just work your ass off. Now, some of these can co-exist but some can't. You can't start many projects at once because it is hard to learn so much at the same time. And you can't have many projects in crunch mode at the same time because you don't simply have enough time for it.

Back to sleep

Quote from Bean0 :

Hmm, I know it as:

Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents P!ss Poor Performance

Meh! thats 7! agree to differ

Put everything in a list,
Categorize them by importance,
Throw list in bin,
Put feet up and watch a dvd or do a few laps in LFS,


hopefully the problem will go away, (or somebody else will do it!)


Never do Today That which You can Get Somebody Else to do !

I had similar problems, thats why i only get to play LFS 2 nights a week for an hour or 2, if i'm lucky!
I work 9 - 5.30, takes me an hour to get home then i do nixers or self learning stuff for a few hours. That'll bring me up to about 22.30ish. Luckily i can use a 24 hour Tesco for my shopping and i generally take weekend off to spend with the girlfriend.
Works out ok for me now. It's important to take time off to switch of for a day or so, makes the coming week so much easier

Quote from Hankstar :

Get your groceries delivered! Once you have decent food in the house your brain will start working more efficiently and you'll be able to sort your shit out

I reckon thats the best idea yet. Most big supermarkets have online shops and will deliver for free if you order over a certain amount. Just be careful of the "accept similar if not available" option. Its not uncommon to get the value version if those fancy sausages you wanted are out of stock.

Id say review your priorities. You have a limit of what is possible to achieve, dont beat yourself up if you dont meet your expectations because it may be that your expectations are too high.
It does sound like your working to much, that work / life balance can be very hard to find. Even if you love your work, spending more time doing leisure activities WILL make you happier, how about you and your girlfriend go play badminton (any 2 player sport will do) together? 2 birds 1 stone

Quote from mantis9 :

Just be careful of the "accept similar if not available" option. Its not uncommon to get the value version if those fancy sausages you wanted are out of stock.

Noo, value food forever! I will be the eternal cheapskate student.

I like the badminton idea too, not too manly the girlfriend might not like it, not too girly so TAA can still tell his friend(s).

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm gonna give a few of them a go, and see how I get on It's certainly better than trying polyphasic sleep, which is what I was considering

To be honest, I've not tried online shopping purely because the gf likes actually going to the shops Which sucks as theres always too many people (unless you sneak in just before closing time on sundays!)

Quote from Bob Smith :

I like the badminton idea too, not too manly the girlfriend might not like it, not too girly so TAA can still tell his friend(s).

With regards to badminton, I've tried it and we ended up pissing ourselves laughing as we were so pathetic. After a few weeks it got a bit serious and I didn't find it fun any more, so I stopped

I dont think I got out of the pissing myself laughing stage with badminton. I swear I get more exercise from the laughing than the running around.
Badminton too serious ehh? hmm, thats a tough one.
I guess maybe a sport neither of you have tried before? and just.....try not to take it so seriously? I dunno, skydiving or something

Quote from mantis9 :

I dunno, skydiving or something

In other news, man constructs worlds tallest portable stepladder...

Wow, you guys have it rough.

My day, wake up at 5am, grab a quick bowl of cereal, shower, etc and run out the door. Get on the road, pass the guy doing 40 mph in a 55 mph zone, catch the next one, pass him, lag behind the 3rd guy as there are too many cars coming. Meanwhile, I'm cruising on a 55 mph road, which the majority, including me, do about 70, in 3rd gear because I won't make it up the hill in 4th at 40 mph. Finally, at the last spot to pass, I get around the 3rd guy only to go around the turn and turn off onto a slower side road for a few miles.

Get to work, doesn't matter what time, as soon as I get there as long as it's before 7 am. Work until 3 pm quitting time. Realize I'm going to be there another 2 or 3 hours. Finally get off at 5, catch more slow driving idiots which are even more annoying since I want to get home. Get home about 5:45, dinner is sitting waiting for me.

Gobble down dinner, say half an hour. As I'm trying to finish, the kids are bothering me to go play down in the basement. While they play (won't go down there without me), I get a little forum time on the dialup. Just as I'm trying to respond to a post or something, the wife is yelling to get off the phone so she can call her mom/sister/aunt/grandma and the 3 year old is wanting me to take her back upstairs. You have everything you want to take back up? Yes! Great, upstairs we go. We get upstairs, and now she wants her cars she left downstairs. Back down to hunt all around where she left them all. Carry them up. Oops, I didn't find Mater (you know, as in TowMater ). Back down, there it is, pushed under the washing machine. Now the 6 yr old is yelling because she can't get the golden bubble on her Nemo PC game. Back down to get the golden bubble.

Wife is now hollering down for her to come up and get ready for bed. Argue with her to go up and get ready. 3 year old is screaming and crying because she doesn't want to go to bed. Mom is rocking her in the chair, and I'm enticing the older to brush her teeth, go to the bathroom and get her PJ's on. Now it's bedtime story or talking time and the first period of the hockey game is already started. I'm trying to listen to the hockey game on the TV out in the living room while trying to read in the bedroom. 3 year old is in bed, wife comes in to take over the 6 yr old bedtime routine. I'm flying out the bedroom as I hear what sounds like Crosby and Malkin making an incredible play on the TV. Hear the other bedroom door click open. "I pee'd!" (she won't go on a potty yet, driving us nuts). Change a diaper (pull up) and she runs out the door wanting to watch TV. No!!!!! Back to bed. She's fighting it, Matt Sundin I hear just scored against Fleury to tie the game up. Run out to the living room to see, while the 3 yr old follows. Back to the bedroom. She wants her cars. Go hunt down where she now has them littered all around the living room. Got Lightning McQueen, check, Mater, check, their all there. First period of the hockey game is over. 3 yr old has her cars and is happily falling asleep and staying in her bedroom. 2nd period starts and wifey comes out to start the dishwasher. Kitchen is open to the living room and I'm hard of hearing. So, TV gets turned up. Talbot scores to make it 2-1, FSN broadcasts the cheers louder than the usual volume, while I have the volume of the TV up, plus I yelp. Whoohoo!!!! Click, 6 yr old's door opens. "What are you making all that noise for?" "Go to bed." "I'm hungry." Make her a quick snack missing more of the hockey game because I don't want to cut a finger off cutting the crust off of the PB&J while concentrating on the hockey game in the living room. Wife comes back in asking all kinds of questions about this and that. She bothers me and I miss the rest of the 2nd period. During intermission, the 6 yr old gets back to bed, the wife has disappeared, the dishwasher has finished or is between noisy cycles and I'm finally alone with my hockey game. 3rd period starts and the wife comes out wearing something that I haven't seen since our wedding night. I miss the rest of the hockey game.....

Yea, it's hard for me to get anything done as well. But for all that, getting to that last part is all worth it, LOL.

Quote from mrodgers :

...... I'm finally alone with my hockey game. 3rd period starts and the wife comes out wearing something that I haven't seen since our wedding night. I miss the rest of the hockey game.....

Yea, it's hard for me to get anything done as well. But for all that, getting to that last part is all worth it, LOL.

Wait till you get to MY age...sod the Mrs, I watch the end of the game...If it goes the way of my team, then the Wife gets woken up...(after a celebratory beer or 3!)..If it goes the OTHER way, then Wife gets woken up (after a beer or 3 to drown my sorrows)

Either way I usually get told to "p**s off!" and an elbow in the ribs for my trouble....

Isn't life grand ?

illepall

Quote from mrodgers :

Yea, it's hard for me to get anything done as well. But for all that, getting to that last part is all worth it, LOL.

If I were you, and you got something like that everynight, I surely wouldn't complain either! It does make me wonder how many clothes she wore the wedding though

ROFL, ok, I'll fess up. It's only maybe a twice a year occurance, LOL. I almost never miss the end of a hockey game. Though, last night, I quit watching the game as the Penguins were loosing 6-3 and I dragged the wife off the computer. I was then racing by 11p, hehehe .