Wednesday 16 March 2011

My Non-Alienating Moleskine Cahier

I use a Moleskine cahier to hold my reminder list. Each item gets a number - because I have a little bit of that obsessive-compulsive thing - and when it's done, I draw a line through it. When every item on a page is done, I put a diagonal line across the page. When I change my mind about an item, I put a cross through the number and a line through it. I jot down stuff when it occurs to me. The List is usually on the left page and the right page is for telephone numbers, odd details, books I want to price on Amazon and anything else.

My appointments diary is on iCal on my MacBook Pro, co-ordinated with Google Calendar and transferred to my phone now and again.

My contacts list is in Address Book on my MacBook Pro, co-ordinated with Google Contacts. And I use Gmail and access that through Mail.

That's it. That's how I manage my life. I used to wish I had a life that needed a Time Manager, or even a bulging Filofax, let alone an iPhone and multiple Google Calendars, but I now don't.

You see, reminders are one thing, but To-Do Lists and Plans and Projects are another, and we should not fall for it. My life is not a project, and I am not a project, even though I undertake multi-part activities over a period of time that have a purpose. It's one thing to plan the re-decoration of your hallway, but another to make it a Project. Projects have budgets, plans, targets, and can fail or succeed. Projects make you their servant, and the plans become a way for you to judge yourself. Make something a "project" and you alienate it from yourself.

Stick to re-decorating your hall. Or re-making the garden. Or writing a series of posts on algebraic geometry. Or finding another job. Those are parts of your life.

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