Daffy's 'patchwork dreams' diary

Karmacat

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Cheery - Good to read you are getting a good long nights sleep tonight i wanted to say to you as well - the article got posted because it was part of the paperwork i had to deal with - was up until 1am saturday following your instructions on 'getting things done' - still getting the hang of it - although thats always going to be the case with a new process isn't it? so many thanks for those handy hints :D:D

Ooh, I forgot about those - Cheery wrote a few good long posts, didn't she/you .... must remember to go back a few pages and check it out.

I, like KC, am intrigued about the spending diary - although £20 these days does not seem to go far enough (hope you don't mind me saying KC Karmacat - makes me think of TC (topcat - and of course benny the ball!) oh dear i'm rambling which means i'm tired too

Dedicated, I love being referred to as KC! To me, it means I'm sitting on the bench before the game, part of the team, all of that And I used to watch TopCat as a teenager, nothing to do with it at all, no sir, abso-tootling-not :whistle:

MrsMoo2U

Glad you got an early night Cheery. I think your tiredness might also have to do with the amount of cake eaten. I find that If I eat a lot of sugar I have a real low not long after. Ssshhhh but the other day I ate a whole bag of yoghurt coated brazil nuts from Holland and Barratt (couldnt afford them, wasnt hungry but had a foot stomping I want moment). Then I completely crashed out on the sofa for a whole hours sleep in the middle of the afternoon. So unlike me. I could only put it down to the sugar.

DFW - thanks for the Topcat and Benny reminder - I used to love that programme too. So much so I called my first ever cat Benny!

redsquirrel80

Ooh elderflower drizzle cake sounds good! Hope you had a good rest (going to bed when it's still light is fab ) and have a good day in London tomorrow.

On the subject of cameras.. I've got a Fuji Finepix and I love it - it was about £130 I think (Christmas pressie from parents a couple of years ago).

DedicatedDFW

Hi Tricia - that definitely helps with the camera - thank you - i think it is the right one to go for i can't wait :j:j:j - though don't know yet if its a birthday or xmas gift so i might have to wait a little while longer :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Hi redsquirrel - the one i have now is a fuji finepix and i have really had alot of good use out of it - had it about 8years now :eek::eek::eek: - i definitely think they are a good camera but i haven't seen one at this shop with the features that the panasonic one has though - thank you so much for the advice though

KC and Cherisong - i love love love topcat and benny the ball - OH is actually quite good at doing impressions and on occasion i'll get him to say 'hey tc' (a la benny the ball) and then he replies as tc, of course going 'ehhhh benny, benny, benny' :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: it does really make me laugh but maybe i need to get out more? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: *am now thinking when i get a cat he should be called benny the ball *

KC - yes the getting things done was a few pages back - i just copied it onto a word document as i knew it was something i wanted to do and would be really useful. i can copy and paste it back on here if you'd like to save you trawling through for it? and as long as cheery doesn't mind too of course

Karmacat

Dedicated, yes please! Anything that helps bring order to the chaos, and quiet to Cheery's and mine pesky dragons, has got to be worthwhile!

DedicatedDFW

This is what I copied and pasted from Cheery - Cheery i hope you don't mind Oh and i will have edited the final paragraph - Cheery has put the titles of her folders - and the next actions are probably a blend of cheery things (newletter) and just mine (windows) What i have also done because i rush around lots and lots is got a shoe box (actually a boots box as its a bit bigger - fits A4 papers in ) and then any paperwork coming into the house goes in there so everything is already collected together - as per action 1 I also have a pretty paper bag - i always keep the nice bags i get and i've actually got a use for one now I put all my project folders in here so when i move along with a project i know exactly where the folder is

So, there's 5 stages to mastering your workflow (apparently):

1. collecting EVERYTHING you need to do in one place. Don't do anything with it yet - just put in a giant pile.

2. processing. Start with the thing on the top, and don't miss anything out! All you're doing at this stage is deciding what to do with each thing - what is the 'next action'?

* if no action needed now either (a) put in the bin (b) file for reference or (c) put in your 'someday/maybe' file (for projects you'd like to get round to but not right now)

* if action needed either (a) do it (if it takes less than 2 mins), (b) delegate it (and stick a note on your 'waiting for...' list) or (c) defer it (and put a note on calendar, or onto 'next actions' list).

3. Organise - you'd have:

* list of projects (anything that will take more than one action) - every project MUST have a next action on the list - otherwise obviously it'll never happen!
* next actions lists (split by context - so I've got 'office', 'home - computer', 'anywhere - not computer', 'calls' etc)
* calendar (with only actual appointments on)
* 'waiting for' list

4. Review - you HAVE to do this every week or the whole thing falls apart (I can easily imagine! ) Start at 1 again and make sure everything new is included

5. DO! You don't have a daily to do list, but rather use your 'next actions' to choose what to do at any given time - based on time/energy available, priority and context.

Get a collection of folders together ready for each project. Every project has to have its own folder and has to have a ‘next action’ to move it forwards. Gather all next actions onto a list: home, not home, garden, errands, waiting for,... Next actions could therefore range from ‘ring window man re. New windows’ to ‘read newsletter and add dates to diary’

Karmacat

Thank you! I've saved it now on my own computer, and some steps are things that I do intuitively - or maybe because I read this when Cheery first posted it Today, for instance, I've been collecting everything, and making payments - Egyptology, income tax, stuff like that. I *love* that number 5, thats often what I do anyway - my to-do lists can be a bit of a work of fiction, so this is brilliant!

DedicatedDFW

Hi KC and Cheery

I guess we all may have elements of this were things we were already doing - for instance i was great at doing number 1 on the list. You know that feeling when you look around and know the time has some to do something and so i'd get all papers and projects together in a big pile - somehow it felt better that way rather than all dotted about i suppose - then i'd go through it - at first i'd make the mistake of trying to deal with everything on it regardless of timescale because it *all* had to be done and finished - there'd also be those pesky but delightful things that were a someday/maybe project that i had no idea what to do with. I'm going to stick with it for a few months at least - by then it should be habit and i'll know if it works for me

Cheery - hope you don't me rambling on so much on your thread but i *do* talk alot:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Hope everyone has had a fab day

Cheery_Daff

I don't mind at all dedicated! :T :T (you rambling, or reposting that thing!) :T :T Lovely to have other people rambling in here as well as me

I've actually stuck really well to the getting things done list for several weeks now, at work and at home. At last I feel like I've finally found something that works! :eek: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Makes me feel so much calmer knowing exactly what needs to happen next for everything that's on the go at the minute :T :T

Also helps me a lot because I only work in the office 2 days a week, and this week I've been trekking about the place on trains, so with everything organised into folders, and all the actions on the list, I can look down the lists of things that can be done on trains, and grab the right folders, or things that can be done at home etc - makes life much easier! :T :T

Dedicated - your post arrived today, thanks! :T :T :T I must confess to having read the card, started to read the article and then my eyes just started going fuzzy - it's been a loooooong day so I will read it all again tomorrow ! :T :T

(ooh, also got a note about a parcel through the post yesterday, but haven't had chance to go and get it yet! :T :T :T) I think I know what that is too

Another long day today - was on train speeding to london at 8.30, and didn't get back til 9.30pm, and, get this - got in through the door and DID SHRED! :eek: :eek: :eek: Partly in a bid to counteract all the rubbish I've eaten over the last couple of days Gone proper into binge mode - partly sulking because I put on half a pound (going to put on a lot more than that if I carry on like this!). Partly I'd also weened myself off the beta blockers, and I think perhaps I shouldn't have done just yet So back on them again today (they did say to do what felt right, I'm not just messing for the sake of it!). We'll see.

Had a letter from the hospital today - appointment with unprounouncable surgeon (surname has 14 letters, the last 5 of which spell MANIA :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:) - anyway, appointment is next Friday, wasn't expecting it to come round that quick! :eek: So should know more then :T

What else?? Spent a small fortune today Walked MILES round London. Bought a new purse (could possibly be counted as a 'need' rather than 'want' - old one cost 99p from charity shop, the clasp had broken and it was being held together by a mini bulldog clip which fell off everytime it went in the bag, upending all the money :rotfl:) Anyway, new one was £4.99 from Covent Garden market

Realised I was busy saving work money (by getting cheapest train possible) and thus landing myself with 4 spare hours in London (and not getting home til 9.30 when meeting finished at 4) - boss told me not to be so daft, and I really could get an earlier train home

Ramblig on now, bit incoherent :rotfl: Going to drink tea and go to sleep - back in York again tomorrow - and a teleconference in the morning - never done one before - eek!

yawn yawn yawn...

Karmacat

Wow, this job is really pitching you into some new stuff, isn't it, Cheery - and thats great!

It sounds like you actually have *folders*, as opposed to piles of paper ... hmm, going to think about this. I'm still decluttering when I can - my current ambition is to get rid of the *two* filing boxes for current clients and current paperwork, and have just one - I hardly think files that end in 2008 count as current, so thats a start!

I am full of admiration - and horror :rotfl:- at the idea of being out all that time and then doing shred immediately you get in! If thats you when you're *not* on betablockers, I vote we replace David Cameron with you, you'd sort the country in no time!