prioritize

Which of these things would wait if they didn’t get done because something catastrophic happened, like a car accident or something. Which of these things would be catastrophic if something catastrophic happened, like a car accident or something.

Then do the ones that would be catastrophic first.

Maybe I’m overstating it just a tad… If only it were so simple.

At the moment I am prioritizing quite effectively. I’m not sure why. I suspect it’s because I’m so busy that I don’t have hardly any free time, but on the other hand, I would think that having so many pressing matters would make it more difficult to prioritize. But it’s not. Right now, all of my projects are quite clearly delineated in both short and long term steps. I’m not going to have time to actually do it all, but that’s another goal entirely…

Well, I have several lists, really. Right now I’m using a combination of notes on my palm pilot and a web-based checklist at backpackit.com. On my palm pilot, I try to assign certain projects to certain timeslots on my calendar, so that I know that I will have the time reserved and actually have enough time to do it by a certain date. That hasn’t been working so well. My palm pilot beeps at me and I either ignore it or curse it. Then I have to find another timeslot to move the project to.

My backpackit list is working a little bit better for organization purposes (I don’t have to move undone projects to new timeslots, which is very ineffecient), but it only works if I remember to look at it. Having my palm pilot beep at me is more likely to get my attention (that is, when I’m not ignoring it or cursing at it). Same would go for email reminders – I’d have to be checking my email, whereas my palm pilot is always with me. It also doesn’t help me to make sure that I have allocated enough time for the tasks and that I won’t procrastinate them all until I suddenly have 100 to do all on the same day.

I’m also having difficulty dealing with my list headings. I have a “must do today” heading, but very often things stay on until the next day anyhow. I have a “tomorrow” type heading, but tomorrow never comes… I have a general “sooner or later” type heading, but by the time I look through “today” and “tomorrow”, I rarely get down that far. At least I’m keeping track of the details, I’m not forgetting as many, but the things still aren’t getting done.

I’m trying to find a way to best utilize these systems, or possibly merge them or find a replacement. One thing I know, it can’t involve paper. Paper make me crazy. It also can’t be too time-consuming or overly-structured, or I imagine it would overwhelm me. Anyone have any suggestions or input?

I have a lot to do right now, a lot of responsibilities, and not enough time for them all. Unless I can figure out which one(s) to do first, they’re all going to suffer.