• If someone asks me to do something that I know needs to be done the same day, I write it on a Post-It note. I usually just stick it on my notebook or scratch sheet (see below), but when it's done, I toss it. For some reason I like bright blue or green Post-Its (I have weird work superstitions!).
• Things that need to be done "soon" go on my scratch sheet. I have a drawer full of used printer paper, and I always keep a couple sheets on my desk. One is for random scribbles, and the other is for listing things I'll be working on in the next few days or weeks. When I finish something, I mark through it with a highlighter. I like using a highlighter because I can still read what I did! The highlighter must be pink! I have no idea why, but my brain knows that when the whole page is pink, then it's all done and I can toss it.
• Long-term jobs go in my notebook, which I also use for planning how I'm going to make those jobs happen. I always use 9.5 x 6 inch size, spiral bound, and use them until every page is full. I keep these notebooks like an archive, since sometimes the things I figure out in them become useful later. It takes about a year to use a whole notebook (of course, I go through many scratch sheets in that same year!).
• Finally, every few months I go through my notebook and type up a kind of project list of all the big things that haven't been done (usually major projects or ideas that just didn't ever get to the "top"). This is the only task list I keep electronically, and I still print it out so I can refer to it on paper!

Labels: decluttering, life