Organization, how do you get it done? (Ps welcome)

[bluebell]

I'm good with making systems. I'm not so great at keeping them

Yep. I've lost count of how many systems I've set up to keep my desk at work vaguely organised. They only work when my workload isn't too high. As soon as I get overwhelmed, even for a day, it all goes to shit and the organised chaos starts to get a bit disorganised. Then it stays that way until a) I have to move desks or b) I get a new job. I think part of me believes that once I find The Perfect System, then my desk will stop looking like it's been snowing paper.

Things are usually pretty clear in my mind, though. I remember the dates of all the big upcoming meetings and mostly can remember what I need to do. I'm usually juggling a few too many things, though, and I still haven't found a way of reliably keeping track of my short and long term to do lists. I think my current system is occasionally dropping reminders into Outlook calendar for the random stuff, like conference abstracts or whatever, and hoping that if I forget anything that's really important, someone will yell at me and I'll do it then.

Electronic files at work are organised despite the chaos of my desk. It's super easy for anyone else to use and my system for that has actually survived the overwhelming workload days.

At home, bills get stuck on the fridge and the due date gets stuck in my mind. I have a calendar stuck up in the kitchen where we write down appointments or invitations to stuff. Occasionally I remember to look at the calendar. We mostly do this so we don't end up with parallel timelines when we both need the car.

 

[FDG]

Uhm. I see what things I have to get done, and allocate some time each day to do them. Alternatively, if it's something that has to be done at a precise time, well, I remember to do it and do it. I never get why people need to actually write things down.

 

[Cenomite]

I don't.

My backpack is literally just papers thrown in and a notebook.

 

[Mitzy]

youre all a bunch of filthy and messy cochinos!

i agree though, everything just piles & piles up until i get "inspiration" or when i cant take it anymore because it becomes gross.
usually someone ends up doing it for me though before i even get to like my mom or someone who thinks it too much.
i even make my entj friend do everything for me
after mins of going back & forth
"you do it"
"no, i dont wanna"
"i dont want to either"
"so?"
"its your room"
"i dont care? go do it!"
"ahhh fine!...."

bahaha

 

[garbage]

I never get why people need to actually write things down.

Horrible memory, but I'm getting better at it. I also have way, way too much to keep track of at any given time, so I probably couldn't trust my memory.

I don't just write things down, though. My system instead involves synchronizing my phone's calendar with my work computer, an online calendar, and my home computer automatically and in one fell swoop so that I always have easy and ready access to my schedule and tasks. I also wrote a small program to email my schedule to myself every day. When I'm at any of my computers, my schedule is embedded in the desktop so that it's always visible.


In general, I use a lot of small computer programs and scripts that I've written to automate the process of keeping me informed, organized, and efficient as well as keeping my records up to date, including my schedule and finances. With other records, I just keep folders or files, often color-coded and labeled.

 

[ajblaise]

I have lots and lots of 'notepads' opened on my computer. 15 right now. They save my life.

 

[JRT]

#1 BLACKBERRY...if I didn't have password keeper I would be royally screwed.
#2 Laptop folders
#3 Memory for details

If I didn't have my blackberry I would probably go insane. I don't get much use out of calanders and day planners because my life is on a day to day basis.

 

[nightning]

Uhm. I see what things I have to get done, and allocate some time each day to do them. Alternatively, if it's something that has to be done at a precise time, well, I remember to do it and do it. I never get why people need to actually write things down.

Horrible memory, but I'm getting better at it. I also have way, way too much to keep track of at any given time, so I probably couldn't trust my memory.

Same for me. Also sometimes I get so wrapped up with one thing that I lose track of time/the fact that I also have other things I needed to do that day. I need plenty of reminders and computer apps are quite helpful for that.

 

[Ardea]

As soon as I get overwhelmed, even for a day, it all goes to shit and the organised chaos starts to get a bit disorganised. Then it stays that way until a) I have to move desks or b) I get a new job.

Me too! I like moving. It keeps me "organized".

 

[GargoylesLegacy]

Normally I know what I have to do, but never the less I make a "To Do List", just because I like to *organize* my schedules; also I love to strike out the things I have done. It's almost become some sort of finishing-ritual. I even mark if I started things already. I just like to use lists. With all the 100 ideas I always have (even when lying in bed; makes it impossible to sleep) I seriously need a notebook and a pencil pretty often. Also it reduces my stresslevel, because if I actually start to feel stressed and like "I have so much to do" I just recheck my list and see if that is true or if I am just being paranoid. Works good for me. Lists are fun.

As for finances: I have it all in my head. There is not too much going on anyways, so my head is enough to keep track. In case I ever forget something I still have the print-outs that my bank sends me every 2 months or so. I always put them in a folder ordered by date. So in case I need to look something up it's all there.

 

[Kasper]

I captured myself an SJ and promised to let them go once I'm organised, poor bugger is working frantically under the delusion that will happen one day.

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

*coughHIPSTERpdacough*

 

[pippi]

I'm curious about other people. How do you keep yourself organized? This can span from finances to your daily life. You don't have to get too detailed if you don't want to.

For me, I keep track of all of my finances in spreadsheets. I just got a new day planner right before this semester started that was very simple. It has a calendar for each month, and then a column to write notes for each day. That's all I want. I only wanted a place to write down things that pertain to each day. I didn't need an appointment listing. I don't need a to do list.

I think I'm not as high of a J to really make use of a day planner. My problem with planners is that I am so used to just....remembering everything I need to do, that I don't want to write it down. I feel like I'm making note of something twice. It's redundant. It's still useful, though, since I found a planner that works for my style.

How do you guys do it?

I HATE day planners with a passion. Having organization forced upon me externally is a great way to find out just how stubborn I am. My boss tried to get me to use one once, I told him I didn't need it, he insisted. I carried it around faithfully for months, never writing in it once. At my next performance review he complimented me on how much better organized I was than before we all started using the day planners. I showed him the completely blank book.

I jot down notes sometimes on the back of an envelope or a sticky note and they end up in the pile of active stuff I have. Sometimes it is quite a few piles. I know generally where things are. I sort the piles and put receipts and such into the filing cabinet about twice a year. I balance the business books and the checkbook annually. A financial spreadsheet? Yeah, no. I do glance at the bank accounts online every month or two.

I get away with this because I have a good memory so I actually know how much money is in the bank accounts at any given time. I know when all the bills are due, I remember when all the appointments are. All that stuff is just in my head.

My husband is an SJ. He has lists, a synchronized PDA, more lists, and he still forgets half the stuff he's supposed to do and can never find anything, ever.

 

[FDG]

I HATE day planners with a passion. Having organization forced upon me externally is a great way to find out just how stubborn I am. My boss tried to get me to use one once, I told him I didn't need it, he insisted. I carried it around faithfully for months, never writing in it once. At my next performance review he complimented me on how much better organized I was than before we all started using the day planners. I showed him the completely blank book.

I jot down notes sometimes on the back of an envelope or a sticky note and they end up in the pile of active stuff I have. Sometimes it is quite a few piles. I know generally where things are. I sort the piles and put receipts and such into the filing cabinet about twice a year. I balance the business books and the checkbook annually. A financial spreadsheet? Yeah, no. I do glance at the bank accounts online every month or two.

I get away with this because I have a good memory so I actually know how much money is in the bank accounts at any given time. I know when all the bills are due, I remember when all the appointments are. All that stuff is just in my head.

Ahah, I totally relate. My bosses always told me "so, do you have a plan for what you're doing the next week", I'd say "sure", they'd ask "where it's written" and I'd be like "In my head!".
They didn't trust this at first, only after they saw how I was actually the one reminding them to do stuff, the time of their appointments, trains, airplanes - even if that wasn't my task. I have the gift of remembering things I don't want to remember.

 

[kyuuei]

I do the whole "I'll put it on my bed so it gets done before bedtime" bit too

I tend to live day by day, anything planned out I need written down and displayed boldly where I will see it (preferably at my desk) otherwise my mind dumps it..even stuff I like and/or are looking forward to.

Things like finances I'm quite well with, but paperwork on the other hand .. I am not good at this!! but every bill is paid as soon as I receive it otherwise I will forget it.

When it comes to cleaning and such, I am VERY organized and efficient. I love having a place for everything, with not keeping something unless or until it has a place to go. I am constantly re-cleaning areas already deemed 'clean' earlier to sanitize, rearrange, and make it better. I even have a bin of "stuff" that I hide from myself and.. in a few months, if I discover I haven't had a need for it, I dump it.

.. Books are the exception. I have a weakness for books even if I never read them anymore

 

[riel]

Before college, I really didn't think of buying a planner(I didn't even know there's one) until my aunt gave me a hardbound one. I'd list all of the things I'm supposed to accomplish but oftentimes I can't get them all done and I like to keep them all in my head. The problem is I'm quite absent-minded and the Perceiving type...so I have to really motivate myself harder to get all "supposed-to-do" things done in a day.

 

[Qre:us]

I wait until the last minute something has to be done and turn into a fiery tornado of productivity until it is finished. I pay bills on time by memorizing the days they are due, due dates and deadlines are kept in the old noggin, I leave things I know I need to do in conspicuous places [stuff on the bed], and program my GFs cycle into my phone.

I just kind of wing it.

Yup, pretty much my M.O. With an addition of sometimes, I, um, may, in a wayyy, utilize others to *help* ease some burden of a situation.

I also do not like watches (never wear them), my clock currently flashes 12:00 (cuz about a year ago, there was a power outage), tried for 5 mins, using a planner (cuz all my J friends were about the hype), then gave up. I memorize dates (if it's that important, I will remember it). There is not a calendar to be seen anywhere. And, my friends remind me of each other's upcoming birthdays...until Facebook came along.

I try really hard to clock in at work for 9, but, usually get there around 10 on a good day (and a super duper good day, I made it by 9:15. Woot! My colleagues were suprised, such expressions as, "wow, you're early" lol), and on a regular day, I just decide to 'work from home'.

All these impediments, and somehow, I'm still afloat, and in grad school. And, my heritable P trait, from my INFP momma, is not always indicative of failure, since her's still didn't stop her from getting her Ph.D.

Conclusion: organization is over-rated.

 

[Lateralus]

Uhm. I see what things I have to get done, and allocate some time each day to do them. Alternatively, if it's something that has to be done at a precise time, well, I remember to do it and do it. I never get why people need to actually write things down.

I write things down to make sure I remember. I don't go back to the actual paper I wrote on, either. It's the act of writing, itself, that reinforces my memory. With most issues, I don't have to bother writing anything down. When I have something I need to do, it bugs me until it's finished.

As for organization, I just break everything down into steps and work my way through it.

 

[BlackCat]

The way I remember to do things is a realize that if I don't then they will catch up to me and ultimately make the day I have to do them an awful one.

 

[scantilyclad]

eh i just sort of organize things i need to do in my head, like "oh i have to do that today, and that today, and that can wait until tomorrow"

sometimes i forget to do things, but i'm not persistent enough to write things down.


i dont really organize things at all. i even have trouble putting essays into a logical order.