Life of the Planner Challenged

This post comes from from Sonia G Medeiros and Lisa Phillips, who asked about the planner I’m using on Twitter.  You see, I’m planner challenged.  I didn’t use one at all until a few years ago after I managed to scheduled two doctor appointments at the same time.  What invariably would happen is that I would buy a new planner and after a few weeks, it would go to the planner graveyard.

We’re having to make do with less, and I keep getting new things added to my plate, some of them quite diverse and unrelated to each other (time management books tend to forget that the managers are delegating to another person).  It was hard for me to keep track of everything, and standard ‘to do’ lists did not work.  My schedule sometimes was out completely out of my control.  I might have an emergency and suddenly the entire day was gone.  The result was I’d look at how much stuff was accumulating on the list and feel like I’d gotten into a wrestling match with a tornado.

In 2012, I went through 10 planners (while I may have typos in the post, that number is not a typo).  I kept hopping from one to another, trying to find something that worked.  But most of them were different in appearance but really the same thing.  It seemed impossible to keep track of so many different things, some of them quite small.

Which is where the PlannerPad came in.  I’d seen it before, passed on it, but I ran across a mention of it in a blog.  The PlannerPad has a vertical ‘to do’ list across the two of two pages, with each column a category.  From that ‘to do’ list, it funnels into the second row where you pick what you need to get done on a specific day.  Below that is the appointment area.

One of the things I discovered right away was that I had to limit each of categories to no more than 3-4 items, and I could only have up to 4 items per day — and only if one of the items was simple, 2 minute item.  More than that, and I started having problems with being able to do it when the world tilted on its side and went off into crazy land.

Though I should note, I’ve included writing in the categories, and that’s not counted as the 3-4 items.

The black hole of doom

The big change I had to make was putting things into categories.  I’ve always tried to do things as they came in, especially if they were small.  I also do better if I bounce around some.  I’m not someone who can do one thing for hours and hours without feeling like the character in The Scream.  But as I got assigned more and more stuff, bouncing became a freaking black hole of doom!

Initially, I tried sticking post-its in the book so I could just write them down as I got to that week.  But that ended up being overwhelming, so my next step was a simplified ticker file — five folders, one for each day of the work week.  Then I can group stuff with its category in the folder.  The big or important stuff gets on the vertical list, and the small stuff just gets lumped in with it.  But I still have to work to put a new item in the tickler file and wait instead of jumping on it.  Once I put it in its category, I don’t touch it until that day.

Must … resist … must … resist…

Once I get it into the folder and out of sight, I’m okay.  Both the PlannerPad and the modified tickler work together mostly.  I’m still figuring out what works for me with this.  After the first week, I went to highlighters to mark off when something is done, and this week, I decided it would help me to make sure I used to same color highlighter for the week to keep from it from seeming too chaotic.  But what I have noticed is that I don’t forget it.  I take it with me, and I remember to open it.

What’s your planner life like?  I hope it’s not as scary as mine!  What’s worked for you?

 

3 Organizational Tools For Revising

The first part of the How to Revise Your Novel workshop deals with simply going through a paper copy manuscript and identifying problems–no actual marking up on the words or sentences.   But the paper copy is a lot of pages and quite heavy, so breaking it up into smaller sections works pretty well.  I can do that and take a small part with me to work to do over lunch.  Of course, I could just jam it into a envelope and be done with it, but part of the fun of writing is playing around with all those stationery products.  Toys!  Here’s a list of a few things to explore:

• Plastic envelopes.   These are very budget friendly because they only cost about a dollar.  They come in a wide variety of colors and are clear plastic so you can see what’s inside.  So you can buy different colors and associate it with a project or a task, or just pick a color because you like it.  I’ve found these at Staples and chain drugstores.
• Patterned file folders.  Gone are the need for ugly plain folders with little color.  You can pick up packages of file folders in different patterns and colors.  They usually come in packs of five, so you can buy small quantities as the project requires.  I’ve seen them at Office Depot, Target, and even dollar stores.
• Two pocket folders.  These are used for businesses a lot, but you can find a lot of more interesting ones, particularly around when the school year starts.  A very inexpensive option also, and practically available everywhere.  The only hard part would be finding ones that aren’t TV/movie ties!

Though I have one annoyance, since I’ve been making the rounds to both Staples and Office Depot.  Every time I make a purchase, the clerk asks me if I’m a member of their reward program, then tries to persuade me to join when I say I’m not.  Enough already!  The only rewards program I’ve seen that has any benefit to me having the card and using is the grocery store.  I do get some great sale prices.  For everyone else, you have to accumulate a lot of something before you see any benefit, so all I’m doing is giving them marketing information.

 

Getting More Organized in the New Year

The New Year is always good for resolutions, like ‘get more organized.’  I’ve always struggled with organization, particularly with paper (it breeds like tribbles!).  It’s only been in the last few years that I discovered I wasn’t chronically disorganized but that I was right-brained in a left-brained world (thanks to the book Organizing For Your Brain Type).   The majority of filing systems and tips are for left-brained people.  Nels Highberg says (and this is absolutely true for me also!):

The biggest epiphany I had while reading the book came in the chapters on physical space and paper management.  In a nutshell, I realized that drawers are evil.  Putting things away in a drawer means allowing them to disappear from my mind, with the emphasis fully on “disappear.”

And not just file cabinets.  Accordian folders and 3 ring binders.  The most common way organizing novel materials is a 3 ring binder, and it’s a black hole to me.   Then what?

The book Take Back Your Life: Using Microsoft Outlook to Get Organized and Stay Organized gave me some ideas.  Admittedly, the book is about email, but some of the principles were useful.  It does do too much drilled down detail for me.  But it did do was introduce organizing by task.  One of the problems I consistently ran into is that when I started submitting stories, I had trouble finding material because they were mixed in with revisions and research.  So I created folders like:

• 1a: Create Project Title
• 1b: Revise Project Title
• 1c: Edit Project Title
• 1d: Submit Project Title

These are the top level folders–not folders under a project name.  New papers go into the front of the folder.  The folders are color-coded–again, fairly simple.  The project I’m revising is in orange folders; the new project is in blue folders.   As long as I associate the color with the project, I don’t even have to put labels on the folders.  Everything goes in an Elfa cart, which is open all over, and I can see everything.  No black holes!  I liked this so much that I’m also using it for my electronic files.

Any changes to the way you organize your novel files for the New Year?