Getting Started

If you're anything like me, you always have some kind of project that you're working on. Some kind of great idea floating around in your head. Some kind of super awesome, imagination using, adrenaline pumping, brain flowing idea. And you have no idea where to start. Big ideas never seem to work out exactly the way you want them to. You get lost in a mountain of notes on post-its, calendars get squished and overloaded, and your to-do list grows to a mile long. This month is the end of all of that. I'm going to lay out the basics of why and how we so epically fail, and show you where to look for help and answers.

To get started, I suggest doing what many productivity people call a "mind dump". All you need is a cool looking notebook and a pen or pencil that works. If you have trouble finding either of those or you manage to find 50 or so pens that look exactly the same, don't worry about it. I've been there. Boy have I been there.

The main point of the mind dump is to dump your mind. Write down any and every thing that you can think of. Ballet practice is next tuesday. The football game is saturday at noon. Buy new shoes. I need more applesauce. Whatever you think of. Don't censor yourself or leave anything out. Nothing is unimportant. And don't try to orgainze the list. You'll just get distracted. We'll worry about that later. This may take some time, so don't be afraid if you have to sit there for a few minutes, or hours. If you have other things that you need to do, it's alright to get up and do them, but take your list with you. And write down anything you think of while you're doing what needs to be done. While it's ideal to take a weekend or at least a few hours to do this, life goes on and sometimes you can't. Just keep plugging away and soon you won't be able to think of much more that's on your mind or has been bothering you.

Since we're starting with a clean slate, I think now would be a god time to clear your desk and calendar of those annoying post-it notes. They're great reminders. I use them all the time. But they were not meant to be used by themselves. And they are not helpful if you have 20 of them around your computer screen, 30 on the wall calendar, 6 in a notebook, 3 behind the couch, etc. Take all of these and all other random scraps of paper with notes on them and write them at the bottom of your mind dump list.

Now a lot of people suggest also clearing your calendar and email, but that doesn't really work for most people. After all, most of us still have things that we will have to do and places to be while we're getting organized. And emails come in every two seconds at the peak of the day. I find it works best to just keep these two systems as they are and then tweak them as you go along. This way you'll learn how to keep your calendar organized and your inbox at zero without setting aside an entire week to hit delete over and over again.

Now that your mind is clear it should be much easier to tackle the planning and execution of your major project. This calmness will only be there if you have a clear mind. So take your mind dump list with you and be sure to write things down as soon as you think about them. Duplicates are going to happen at first, but you'll realize that the more you write things down, the less you have to remember. And that frees your mind to think about other, more creative and useful, things.

In the next post we'll tackle the to-do list. Until then, dump all that clutter from your mind, clear all your thoughts, and enjoy your post-it and scrap-paper-free life.