Sticking To It
There is no completion date for me getting my shit together. (When I’m being polite, I say “getting my poop in a pile.” That’s as polite as it gets with me. It probably explains a lot.) I will likely be trying and failing, and occasionally succeeding, at not being an unreliable airhead for the rest of my life, which, I suppose, means there really is a completion date—the day I die. Leave it to me to go morbid on a generally positive subject.
Before I get to the good stuff, it’s necessary to state I’m slow in the productivity and reliability departments. I’m 46 years old, and my poop has only recently started to resemble a pile rather than as if scattered about by angry orangutans. I’m about as close to perfect as I am to an orangutan… physically. (I know what you were thinking.)
So how about we get on to that positivity, why don’t we?
As with most things in life, no single thing hit me with the clarity stick and made me productive and efficient. I took multiple floggings for multiple years with that stick, before clarity tickled my brain.
I could get into the psychology of my denseness, but I think saying I am human is explanation enough. I have finally understand everyone else does not have their shit together either, or I would not have found so much information on productivity, and the self-help section of the bookstore would not keep growing.
Bigger than that realization is getting it through my noggin not to compare myself with anyone.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” –Theodore Roosevelt
It doesn’t matter where I am in relation to anyone else. It only matters if I am benefiting from what I’m doing and making progress toward where I want to be. My progress is my own. My goals are my own.
But it doesn’t hurt to look to others to see how they might be making their way along their paths and borrowing those tools. Since I’ve done a lot of stealing borrowing, I thought it might be nice to share what worked for me, so others can second-hand steal from me too.
Take what’s useful. Toss out the rest.
I used to be under the mistaken notion I would find the perfect tool to organize my life. Since then, I know some things work, some things don’t, and most fall somewhere in between. So simple, yet it took me years to let go of the search for the “magic pill.” 2016 will be my year of sharing what works for me, how I integrate and adapt some of the tools into my life, and possibly trial some methods that work for others. I will not be so naïve as to think I have all the answers. Things can always be better. Perfection belongs in the same fantasy as the magic pill.
Want to explore some of the information before I share my experience? Check out the links below. I make no promises I will review every one. I change my mind a lot. I forget even more. And I am nothing if not unreliable and sporadic. But I’m working on that, and these have helped.
- Bullet Journal
- stickk.com
- Pact app
- DayZero (and 43 Things, now gone)
- iPhone reminders, alarm, calendar apps
- Tiny Habits & Mini Habits
- ZenHabits & Sea Change
- Lists
- My Mom
- Sidetracked Home Executives (S.H.E.) & FlyLady
- Seinfeld’s Don’t Break the Chain technique (which I did before I ever heard of him doing it, dammit)
- Headspace app
- Simply Being app
- Pomodoro technique
- Pomotodo app
- Trello
- Various articles on productivity
- Lifehacker
- Tiny Buddha
- My personal journal
These are in no particular order. There is a lot of connection and overlap between them too. Further proof some things work for some people and not others. Look for proof of things working for me if I can manage more regular posts here. See you in 2016!