I’ve always been a very organised person, and one of the tools that keeps me sane is making a list in the morning — all the to-do things, small and big, including the leftovers from the previous day. The idea is not to do it all, but just get a sense of what needs to be done. As I keep working through the list, I keep crossing out items. It’s basic pen and paper — but it really helps. I love the scratching out, the physical act of effacing a to-do item. It’s so satisfying.
Another thing I’ve begun to do recently is use my inbox as an additional to-do list (I read about this somewhere; TIME, I think). Since gmail allows folders, I banish all emails I’ve already addressed to the respective folders (Work, Tax, etc.) — and I try to have less than 20 emails in my inbox, that I can quickly see and review. (Currently, I have 11.)
Would love to hear from readers about this. What are your efficiency tips?
PS: Yes, I guess you have to be a tad OCD to want to organise things this way, but I get paralysed if I don’t put things down. I’d never get anything done.
PPS: Yes, this is also an attempt to revive Bitty Ruminations about non-film subjects, so if you have something you want to chip in on, let me know.
Baradwaj Rangan 
reelorola
June 25, 2018
Not sure how relevant. But I make sure I keep things like keys, wallet, id’s etc always on a specific area and repeat it religiously. Saves all hassle especially in the mornings. The paper to-do list sounds simple but it really is magic.. there is some connect with writing out things than typing.
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Sutheesh Kumar
June 25, 2018
Now, what is this, an OCD post?
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sanjana
June 25, 2018
Though I got my own way of getting things in order, I am waiting for valuable tips.
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Kay
June 25, 2018
Striking out things in the to do list is a therapeutic experience. Everyday at work I carry forward the pending things from the previous day and add to it in my diary. When things go out of hand, I follow the 4 quadrant model. Urgent and Important in first quadrant, urgent/not important in second, NU/I in third and NU/NI in fourth. Accordingly I prioritise.
I follow the banishing of mails to their respective folders too. Too much clutter or too many unread messages freaks me out. So is the case with my desktop. Once in a week or so I sort all my desktop items to their respective folders. Cluttered desktop makes me go mad.
Next are the files. Once in a week I clear out my workstation and file the papers into their respective files and keep only the urgent documents in the drawers.
Apart from this I also have sticky notes noting down account specific things to do in detail. And for personal work I keep a reminder in the phone. 😀
I’m also an information junkie. Whenever I come across something interesting worth exploring, I make a note in the notes app in phone.
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Vivek narain
June 25, 2018
Making a list and scratching out numbers is the basic idea, no more no less. But to do things efficiently you need tips. Like White Queen told Alice you can’t do two things at the same time, but you must juggle three things within decent pauses, this is the cryptic hint indicated by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics genius at par with LaPlace and Einstein.
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lastmohican
June 26, 2018
If you use your smartphone quite regularly –
1) Did you give Evernote or Google Keep a shot? I use Keep regularly to take notes, “todo-screenshots”, voice notes, reminders etc. Can sync it across devices (PC/phone etc). Evernote is more mature and popular though. Sure there are many others like these.
2) On efficiency – Pushbullet for better, faster desktop-mobile(and vice-versa) transfers and synchronization.
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phaneendra201
June 26, 2018
I do almost what Kay does. Additionally I use Microsoft one note to record important things. It is easy to track in one note.
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Devarsi Ghosh
June 26, 2018
I feel useless after reading this.
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brangan
June 26, 2018
I feel useless after reading Kay 😀 She should rule the world or something.
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sanjana
June 26, 2018
Hire an efficient secretary.
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Aditi Kumar
June 26, 2018
Apparently the app Asana is a great way to organize and keep track of tasks. I usually prefer writing though, it’s better for the memory.
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Siva
June 26, 2018
BR: ” PS: Yes, I guess you have to be a tad OCD to want to organise things this way, but I get paralysed if I don’t put things down. I’d never get anything done. ”
OCD? Paralyzed if not being able to follow one’s neurotic schedule and order of things? Could never get anything done because mind goes chaotic if not following a certain order? Overanxious and maladjusted?
Oh Yeahhhh!!!! 😀 😀
For a brief moment there, I thought you were describing this commenter.
Disclaimer: I am going to go full-on nerd here. Read along at your own risk.
In due course of the 9+ years I was in my previous IT job, I somehow developed a overwrought OCD routine of accomplishing my daily activities.
1) I used to do something very very close to your moving stuff from Inbox to folders thing. One of the differences though, was that we were using Microsoft Outlook as the email client for official communication. So the first thing I used to do after logging in everyday, was reading all the unread mails from the bottom (sorted descending based on time/day of arrival). As soon as I read each mail, I used to either:
a) Delete them immediately and move it to the trash folder
or
b) Move it immediately to one of the multitude of folders & sub-folders I had setup on the left-side pane of Outlook.
After I am eventually done with the emails for the day, much like BR‘s Gmail Inbox, mine had around only 10 (or even few) emails at any given time. Meaning, whenever I needed an older email, I almost always exactly knew in which folder I had put it in. For instance, whenever I used to ask one of my teammates for an older email, they used to do an Outlook Search against the thousands of emails they had in their inbox, which I felt was rather time consuming and confusing.
In addition, I had set Outlook to automatically empty the Trash folder every time I closed Outlook (which I normally used to do only on Fridays). This made sure I maintained the limited 5 GB that was offered to each of our Outlook mail boxes. Since associates used to email large attachments (Screen Shots, Video Captures of an error, etc.,.) accompanied with their emails, deleting these emails and emptying the trash every week helped. A lot.
2) Also, as and when I complete reading an email, if it needs a response or other action (such as taking care of some job related technical work), before deleting or moving the email to a folder, I would immediately write it in a Notepad document, that I used to rely on for my daily work. This text document, titled Ongoing, had only two sections. I called them In-Progress and Done. So apparently, once an item was completed, I moved it from In-Progress to Done.
3) After getting to the emails, the second thing I did after logging in everyday was the following. There was this internal website in our company, in which each of us had our own login, wherein we could view/close our assigned work. All work assigned to each of us were in the form of items called as Tasks. So first, I would go through the list of open tasks I have and decide on the ones I was going to work on for the day. Then I would copy paste the Title of the task(s) I have decided to work on, into the In-Progress section of the Ongoing document explained earlier.
So, the crux of having this document was that, I never had to think twice on what to do next after I completed my first work for the day. It was rather easy to move on to the next item in this text document’s list rather than sitting and thinking what next, each time.
4) The next thing was that, I was (I still do, with my laptop 😀) very very particular in having my computer’s Desktop screen limited to very very few items to begin with. I used to have items limited to only 3 things in my Desktop.
a) Shortcuts to several tools/software (say, around 10)
b) Recycle Bin
c) A Single Folder, titled Siva.
Now any Screen Shot, Technical Video Captures, Personal Photos, Songs and whatnot went only, and only into the multitude of sub-folders inside of this singular, main folder. I never put anything as a separate item in the desktop.
Much like moving the emails to separate folders, the main upside to having Desktop items into sub-folders was the quickness and ease with which I was almost always able to locate an older item at any given point of time. And much like whenever I requested an older email to my colleagues, the standard response I got whenever I asked them for an old Screen Shot, Video Capture or even a reference Word Document was this:
” Siva, see my desktop. It it more than full and even has scroll bars on the side. Let me search this and get back to you. In other words, please give me half-a-day! ”
5) The next thing was probably Keyboard Shortcuts. These come in real handy when it comes to using a Desktop or a Laptop computer. Even today, learning them, and most importantly having practiced to consistently use them saves me a hell lot of time. It might feel tiresome at first, but it is more than worth the effort. Meaning, lesser usage of mouse/touch-pad and using the keyboard instead saves a lot of time.
For example, here are a very few shortcuts I regularly use in my Firefox browser / Windows 7 laptop.
a) Alt + H + A (Opens the About Firefox pop-up box, which I open daily to check if a new version of Firefox is available for download. Having the latest version is an absolute must for me, for it could always have new security updates.)
b) ‘F6’ (Moves the cursor control to the Firefox Address Bar)
c) ‘F3’ (Finds the next item in a Firefox page, after doing a Control + F to search within a Web Page/Tab of Firefox)
d) Control + T (Opens a new Tab in Firefox)
e) Control + W (Closes the currently open Tab of Firefox. It there is only one tab open, closes Firefox. This shortcut can also be used to close any Explorer Window [for example, the ‘My Computer’ window] of Windows 7)
f) Alt + T + A (Opens the Add Ons tab of Firefox)
g) Alt + T + O (Opens the Options tab of Firefox)
h) Control + K (Moves the cursor control to the Firefox Search Box located at the top right corner, the one next to the address bar)
i) Control + Click (Clicking any link after pressing the Control key always opens it in a new tab)
Okay, that was enough nerd-ing for the day 😀
PS: There is a very very small but efficient, excellent and most importantly free to use copy/paste tool for Laptops/Desktops, which I am going to address in a separate comment. A separate comment might give it more visibility and encourage more people to try it out.
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Rahini David
June 26, 2018
If there is one person who is to rule earth that should be Amanda Rach Lee. If there is one thing most of the BuJo (Bullet Journal) community agrees with, it is that ‘Amanda is Queen’. I was planning a Fan Girl post for her. It would have been my very first Fan Girl post ever. Maybe some time later.
She is a 20 year old college student, for crying out loud. When I was a 20 year old college student I was this mess who NEVER took the correct notebook to class and always had to borrow ink for my empty pens. Oh well.
And here is actual proof that she does use these pages after setting them up.
I will show how to make an unintimidating version of Bullet Journal some time later in the day. Or tomorrow. Or some time the near/distant future.
😀
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Siva
June 26, 2018
Copy/Paste Tool
Imagine the following 3 scenarios:
Scenario 1) You had typed a very lonnnng post/comment/email with multiple formatting (bold/italic/underline/text colors/links/html code), only to find out that it has all completely vanished in thin air after you had clicked the Post/Send button. You are now left only with the pain that you have to type it all again from scratch, and then format it again. Who among us has not been in a situation like this? Almost all of us, right?
One solution for this would be to always select the whole thing you typed, before you hit the Post/Comment/Send button of the blog/email. Yep, ALWAYS. Making it a habit helps. Developing an OCD helps even more 😀
But there is a slight problem with this:
a) We do not always know whether what we copied has actually gotten copied, unless we paste it somewhere to test it.
b) We can only copy (and have in the computer’s buffer) the latest version of whatever we have typed so far. Meaning, whenever we copy something, it just overwrites whatever we had copied the previous time.
Scenario 2) Again, let us suppose we are writing a lonnnng story with complex character names, say 10 different characters, each of which are 15 letters long. Now, throughout the story, we might have the necessity to use each of these 10 names at multiple places and times. Here, we might choose to either:
a) Type the names every time
b) Have them typed ready in a different document and then Copy+Paste them into to our story whenever needed.
Even in this scenario, we have to copy each name, every time we need it. Because again, the computer’s buffer is designed to hold only the latest thing that was copied.
Scenario 3) And then there some text that we are going to have to type day in and day out. Daily. Like for example:
a) Our Email Id(s)
b) Different Addresses
c) Phone Number(s)
d) Numbers of different Id Proofs like PAN, DL, Aadhaar, etc,.. (We might need them for registering with some websites, like the IRCTC website for Train Ticketing)
In all the above scenarios, the Copy/Paste Tool that I mentioned in my previous comment comes in handy.
It is called 3D Clipboard.
This is a very simplistic, very minimal clip like tool that sits at the bottom right corner (of the taskbar) of your Windows PC/Laptop.
Here are some of its uses:
1) We can set the tool to start automatically when the computer starts.
2) It can store up to 99 items — text or image at a single time. (We can reduce this number in the tool’s Options. The trick is to limit it according to your computer’s screen size. I have set mine to hold the last 40 items copied.)
3) The copied items are visible to us when we use keyboard shortcuts, or click the 3D Clipboard icon at the taskbar.
4) Control + Alt + C — Makes all the copied items visible to us. We can then use the Up/Down arrow buttons of the keyboard (or mouse/touchpad) to select any item. It will be available for pasting, which we’ll have to do as we do normally (Control + V).
5) Control + Alt + V — Makes all the copied items visible to us. We can then use the Up/Down arrow buttons of the keyboard (or mouse/touchpad) to select any item. Before using this option though, if we place the cursor at the location we would like the item to be pasted, this shortcut directly pastes it. Meaning, we won’t have to do the extra ‘Control+V’ step as in #4 above.
6) Stickies — We can make any copied item as a sticky. It will always remain in the 3D Clipboard, even if we restart the computer. Plus, it won’t be overwritten by other words that are copied. Meaning, words that we make as stickies are above and beyond the 99 items that the 3D Clipboard can hold.
7) Control + Alt + V + S + Right Arrow — Shortcut to access the words we have saved (permanently) as stickies.
8) We can set the tool to Auto Save the words that have been copied so far, every 5 minutes (can be increased up to every 999 minutes).
9) We can change the tool’s Options to set whether or not to remember images that are copied.
10) We can change the text that we had copied earlier from UPPER CASE to LOWER CASE, and vice versa.
11) We can edit previously copied text before pasting.
12) We can edit sticky items and save it again.
13) We can clear/delete ALL the items in the clipboard by clicking a single button.
This tool has been so very useful to me for so many years. To say that I used it multiple times even while drafting this comment, would be an understatement.
The best of it all is:
1) It occupies very little space on your computer (the installation file is just 657 KB).
2) Even if you don’t have administrative privileges to install it on your computer (say, office PC), you can just download a 137 KB sized zip file, and place it in your computer’s C:/User folder and start using it without installation. It will still work just fine without losing any functionality.
P.S: After installing and loading the tool for the first time, you might notice that the tool is sitting inside the System Tray at the bottom right corner (of the taskbar) of the screen. Just drag and drop it on the taskbar, and it will stay there from thereon and work alright.
Here it is:
http://www.3dclipboard.com/features
http://www.3dclipboard.com/screenshots
http://www.3dclipboard.com/download
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Rahini David
June 26, 2018
I am some one who was not born organised. I was surrounded by super efficient friends who always remembered everything about homeworks and to-dos like “Buy a India Outline Map” without any prompting and I always forgot. ALWAYS. This resulted in me being one of those students who had to go out of the class as they had not brought the Geometry box.
Now as an adult I realise that I was just a different child who had some issues with such recall. I did not forget memory verses or definitions after memorising. I never forgot concepts. I was much faster than the average classmate in understanding a brand new concept. But tell me that all students should bring Re.1 for flag day and that information bypassed my cuckoo-lander brain completely in spite of multiple reminders. I probably suffered from some syndrome.
It also made some teachers believe that I was passive-aggressive and/or arrogant. But somehow they always got around that thought. They probably discussed this in the staff room and eventually understood that I just had memory problems and wasn’t deliberately trying to be a difficult child.
As an adult, to-do lists were important to me in Support Projects where I had to respond to 10-15 queries/requests a day. No one can get by without a to-do list. Not having a to-do list was not an option.
After moving to a different project (documentation), I have found other ways to go ahead in a day. I stopped making to-do lists almost immediately. I make them on some days when I feel I need it.
Attaching 2 versions of unintimidating Bullet Journal formats. Both are predominantly food/health journals.
https://femininetosh.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/bulletjournal.xlsx
Oh, and I did not get BR’s autograph during the meetup as I forgot to bring my copy of the book. That is typical.
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Kay
June 26, 2018
Now I feel useless after watching the videos in Rahini’s comments.
Let me go straighten the twisted phone cord in the landline and colour coordinate the magnetic pins to feel more accomplished.
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Kay
June 26, 2018
I’m eager to know what our resident chartered accountants follow. 😀
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Komal Agarwal
June 26, 2018
Hello, I follow film companion an your reviews on it. May I get a review for a short film my team has made? Its made in Hyderabad bringing together the best talent. It is a 30 mins Hindi short film projecting the greed for money through various characters who are thrown in an ugly situation during the time of demonetisation.
Hopefully waiting
– Komal Agarwal
Filmmaker
Hyderabad
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Vikas Raj
June 26, 2018
I am trying to use the system of GTD – Getting Things Done. Here is a link for a distilled version of the same – https://hamberg.no/gtd/
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Ashwin
June 26, 2018
Try using a kanban board using sticky notes on a white board.
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praneshp
June 26, 2018
I was going to type what Kay did. I learned about it in Randy Paush’s last lecture and it has served me well for so far.
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praneshp
June 26, 2018
(just the first para. other things like links, mails, code reviews are metadata of a task in some quadrant, and do not deserve first class citizenship. So the only filters/folders in my email are to banish something from sight, not categorize.).
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Anamika
June 27, 2018
For work, I have a pen and paper to-do list and also one in the Outlook Notes but finally rely on memory and let things take me along.
Phone calendar is also used for Reminders, like call so and so, make an appointment, etc. so that is my personal to-do list
Google Keep for grocery lists, noting down nice sentences/quotes/movie dialogues/recipes/restaurants to visit (important) /names of good wines and good scotch (very important)/anecdotes
A version of bullet journal in excel just for travel itineraries (this is my OCD outlet)
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sanjana
June 27, 2018
Medicines update. Have always one or two strips of crocin, dispirin. Health is more than anythiing else.
Useful to have two or more e mail addresses. Too avoid too many folders.
A big diary and a small one along with functioning ball pens.
Keeping driving license, aadhaar copies etc. and also set of photos.
Devoting everyday half an hour to remove and destroy trash.
Playing music while working is inviting distraction. So are pets.
Doodling helps to relax in between. Or a cup of coffee or tea.
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GODZ
June 27, 2018
I guess below are some of the things I learned, refined and doing after a lot of “Sodhapals” and Failures.Being productive is a never-ending Iterative process. The methods and tools might be different but basics are same.
1) Having a Todo List is a must. What makes a difference is what goes inside the Todo list. Just because there are many too many things in todo list and just because one hash out thing does not mean the day is productive. An ideal to do list that I follow has 1 big task, 3 medium sized task, and 5 small tasks. All these tasks should be meaningful in such a way that they should allow us to make a meaningful progress after completion. If one consistently and religiously complete these tasks on a daily basis per month, then that’s 30 big tasks, 90 medium task and 150 small task..all that is strategically thought actions that move closer to our goals and vision(more on that later).
2) Personally, I don’t recommend using any of the productivity APPS out their Not that they are bad. But they are too complex and cannot be trusted with personal and private information. So for ME any productivity app is a big no unless its open source, free and can be installed in a desktop.
3) No productivity conversation completes without procrastination. I am sure even Sunder Pichai would have procrastinated. The point is its a very normal human trait. To put it philosophically its a struggle between the current and future self. The current self-settles for instant gratification and does not seem to care of future self. In some ways, the current self-thinks the future self as a completely different human being and not as a continuum. That’s why I am sure anybody reading would think “I would have done that thing much much better. I know I can but I did not”. At least what works for me to solve this is Zoom into future and think of the consequence of not doing a task. Then scheduling the tasks. and doing it at the scheduled time. At the time of doing the current self might say “Hey let’s do it tomorrow” or it might try to find excuses(the instant gratification) but just for a moment zoom into future and think of the consequences and boom you will start doing the task. Over time the act of zoom out and zoom incomes without effort.
4) Keeping a journal is to me is not only a useful habit but really helps with memory too. We are our memory and writing daily happenings, thoughts, ideas etc in a journal religiously will change both life and perspective. Also, note making is an art in itself. The key is the keywords. Keywords, when used as a tag, will help to make powerful connections.
5) The most negative impact of the digital age is the way its shaping our brains. We store all the information and google everything. Memory is a powerful and the most precious assets that given to us. We buy a computer with 1 TB memory but we are made with unlimited memory. As with every great thing in life, a memory unsued will lead make it blunt. So although the digital gadgets make life easy, IMO its important to use them as tools and as slaves to serve us and make us smart and it should not make us lazy and dump and allow to be our masters.
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jaga_jaga
June 27, 2018
Man, this is boring! Let’s get back to fractious discussions on caste, society and what not.
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brangan
June 27, 2018
Thanks all, for the great tips — and more importantly, for the sharing. In some circles, they look at you strangely if you admit these things 🙂
Siva: c) A Single Folder, titled Siva.
Shedding tears of joy at not being alone in the universe.
I have panic attacks when I use other computers whose desktop is pocked with images and folders. Shudder!
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Rahini David
June 27, 2018
I have to agree with GODZ on the productivity App point. Apart from the fact I never see eye to eye with the creator on what is easy/useful and what is tedious/annoying, I also find that it becomes one more App in the phone and gives you one more chance to peek into the phone. There maybe a pointless notification from some one trying to sell you some thing you’d not want. Worse still, there maybe an entirely wonderful notification from a chat you’ve been anticipating for ages.
With a notebook and a pen you have several advantages.
And journaling. I first started regular Journaling about 20 years back or so. I read my Year 2000 diary and it was so boring that I almost cried.
I had to stop for some years as I am completely incapable of lying to that notebook. A half-truth, yes. A lie, no. Over time my journaling topics changed a lot. Journaling is thought of as mindless information dump and most people can’t see it as anything other than a massive waste of time by people who take themselves too seriously. But then again, who is going to take us seriously if we ourselves are not going to?
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tonks
June 28, 2018
Im afraid I’ve never been too organised but Google keep has been transformative. I store all the snippets I need to peruse later, there. Snippets about movies and books and songs I need to watch/read/hear, work related stuff, photos in my phone, fashion links, bits and pieces of writing ideas I need to work on later (I’m writing this on Keep right now, I shall cut and paste into the comment section later), links to recipes, passwords and account numbers (I use codes there in case my phone is stolen). Since it has the option of different topics, I store these under different headings. And these can be carried across phones, all I need to do is the mandatory Google log in on the new android phone and there it is, at my fingertips again, all my precious data. There’s a search option to retrieve data. I do not know how I survived before the internet. At risk of sounding like Mr Weasley, I’m in love with technology
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Rahul
June 28, 2018
I need tips not to remember stuff, but how to get motivated to start the most boring and mundane tasks, like bill payments. GODZ has touched on it. Would love other suggestions.
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GODZ
June 28, 2018
One rule I missed to add in the point 1, is To do list should never have a repetitive task. If it has, then it needs either to be delegated or automated. If they cannot be automated or delegated, then most likely its part of our routine and it should not be skipped at any cost. I mean let’s say I want to learn a new language, it should not be part of to do list. instead, I should train daily for 30 min and its part of my routine. If something, not part of routine and repetetive like paying credit card bills, phone bills etc, it should all be automated.
Bottom line is not to get overwhelmed. I mean its ok to miss a call, to miss a payment, to forget something, to have a lazy nap, to skip the gym, to binge-watching tv etc. I guess it’s important that we should not be harsh on ourselves. But its equally important that we remain the masters of our fate rather than rules, deadlines, consequences driving us. The point with all these productivity stuff is to remain more control of our lives and take a driver seat in Our life. I believe happiness is more directly related to how much control we have on our lives and how much we can shape our own lives by taking control of it rather than depending on someone or something or time to fix the mess.
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Srinivas R
June 28, 2018
What if we took this attempt at productivity/efficiency to it’s extreme and what if we had seemingly unlimited financial resources for it. May something like this
https://hackernoon.com/biohack-your-intelligence-now-or-become-obsolete-97cdd15e395f
The above link is extremely provocative, controversial idea, but I also found some parts about sleep, exercise very informative.
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Rahini David
June 28, 2018
Rahul: If you mean you already have a to-do, then you can always write the real reason right next to it. Rather than put the onus on the task (boring/tedious), you can put it on yourself (Lazy/tired)
task 1: Pay electricity bills ( too lazy to log in right now)
task 2: Pay taxes ( the amount I seem to have made last year is depressing and so is the amount I am expected to pay )
task 3: Get vehicle serviced ( well i may have to walk back, I’ll do it when there is some one who is willing to give a lift on way back is available)
task 4: Take backup of phone photos in laptop ( But this match is live)
If you don’t have a list, you can always start today.
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Siva
June 28, 2018
BR: ” Shedding tears of joy at not being alone in the universe.
I have panic attacks when I use other computers whose desktop is pocked with images and folders. Shudder! ”
Hmm, Hmm … hmmmm!
Four pieces!
It’s not enough!!
What to do?!?!
Ahh …. Okay!!!! 😀
.
.
.
.
Ahhhh! Why Blood?. Ah, Same Blood. 😂 😂
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Sylvan
June 28, 2018
I sometimes follow the advice of this gentleman – Mr. Jocko Willink, a retired US Navy SEAL Commander. He has a popular podcast – so if interested check on YouTube.
Anyway, regarding meaningful tasks, we might find the motivation, but he has something interesting to say about “small meaningLESS” tasks which often get procrastinated. I am paraphrasing here.
“If I have to do some small meaningLESS tasks, it’s boring and I don’t want to do them. But then, I say to myself – This is perfect. Look I don’t want to do it, so I MUST do it. I line them up and I CRUSH THEM one by one. And I say to myself – hey look, I didn’t want to do it, now I am crushing it. Make it a exercise in self discipline. Make this a competition with yourself.”
Okay, so what this does is it provides some meaning and energy to do such tasks. It works.
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sanjana
June 28, 2018
Bills have to be paid every month while taxes once in a year. If you have good memory power, your mind alerts you when you look at the calender. It becomes as routine as brushing your teeth.
It helps when spouses pitch in and remind when one of them is not as gifted.
While travelling to foreign countries, better to take care of the passport than any other thing.
Keep one set of keys with a trusted friend or neighbour in case. Double check whether gas is turned off. While something is cooking, keep an eye on the kitchen.
Pay the insurance in time, maintain the car before it breaks down. Keep track of paying insurance as it will become a headache in case one falls sick or one’s vehicle meets with an accident.
Life is full of cares. Take care!
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sanjana
June 28, 2018
Remembering birthdays and anniversaries is tricky. The more friends and relatives you have, the more taxing these things become. To avoid losing friendships and sulks better to remember.
Life is not easy. Too busy and sometimes too lousy.
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Kay
June 28, 2018
Rahul, I read somewhere that we procrastinate or sometime feel bored to do mundane work because our brain is conditioned to think it’s not important. So the key is to make your brain believe that the task is critical and exciting. For e.g., When I feel bored to do something, I try to keep a cut off time to finish the work after which I’ll google places to travel, check flight tickets, Airbnb etc. So it’s all about tricking your brain into thinking that the task that you are about to do will result in something exciting.
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Vivek narain
June 29, 2018
Squeezing that last bit of life juice in the name of efficiency is for proletariat, the zombies slaving away their mind and body. My idea of improvement is to get inspired by proper guys, like that Ranjit, the quintessential henchman of big racketeers, the nonchalant toughie who easily outsmarted big B everytime. Make enough money in rackets to choke a horse’s mouth with the loose cash in coat pocket. Watch Shammi kapoor clips where demure damsels like Mala Sinha or Asha Parekh croon over him, or where he meets his match in equally gorgeous Vyjayanthimala, though only 2 movies, ‘college girl’ and ‘prince’ featured them together. Buy whiskey that costs over 5000 rs a bottle, not the blended ones which are mostly vodka, but the scotch. Have affair with a nymphomaniac, just taking care that she is bad enough for me, and not good enough.
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GODZ
June 29, 2018
BR…A very very humble request. Can you please filter spam,… Post from Vivek is an insult to other commentators here. I understand the democratic norms that this blog is trying to flow. But this is prolix, digressive, maundering, circuitous, tortuous, circumlocutory, disconnected, disjointed and incoherent. Can you please do something about this.
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jaga_jaga
June 29, 2018
And BR, where is my post where I tried to write exactly like Vivek Narain?
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brangan
June 29, 2018
Sorry? Must not have come through…
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Rahini David
June 29, 2018
jaga_jaga: Please try again, no?
I want to see how that goes
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Nevermind
June 29, 2018
Grabs popcorn
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jaga_jaga
June 29, 2018
@Rahini: Forgot what I wrote earlier. Here goes the newer one:
Begin:
Congnizant minds paying obsequies to Bohemian souls would never rattle the queen but for the saving grace on the wall named Humpty Dumpty who would never relinquish the right to making acerbic comments about the eccentric ex-livers who have now kicked the bucket. Similar is the tone of all the young lions whose manes are no more than a stubble but who never miss the chance to make their social media presence felt in an insignificant world marred by injustice of disproportionate grief wherein the only sweet spot is the scientific temper bestowed upon us by Jung.
End
I did a bad job if:
(a) you could somehow understand the meaning!
(b) some grammatical mistake anywhere!
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Vivek narain
June 29, 2018
All that is left of me is my smile and my little finger, and i don’t even know what to do with it except type erratic words. With no Vesper around, i’m really lost.
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MANK
June 29, 2018
jaga_jaga. LoL 😀. I didn’t understand that one so it works, but I did understand the last one from Narain sir, that’s from Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale. So guess the shishyas are over taking the guru now
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Kay
June 29, 2018
Jaga_jaga: ROTFL! 😂 I understood a part of it so I think you need more practice.
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Rahul
June 29, 2018
Thank you for your kind advice, Rahini, Kay, Sanjana, Sylvan and GODZ
The take away is that I need a list, and then some other motivational tricks and notes to get them done.
I am also looking at mindfulness which is its on reward.
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jaga_jaga
June 29, 2018
@MANK:
Decipher the following:
In VN’s language:
The young coyote never went to a mundane center imparting information to learn the cunning ways of entrapping a fellow jungle dweller to satisfy its material need which would eventually cause ginormous pressure to its inner intestines, but didn’t it not learn the trick?
Q: what does it mean in our parlance?
Hint: It is a natural reply to your post!
@Kay:
In VN lingo:
The atrocities of those uncanny barbarians who trundled away from the path of civilization during an epoch when meaning was unnecessary can never be forgotten. Yet the irony as the king would suggest with the waving vesper exhibiting her impatience to break away from the fine dunes formed in the inner part of the glass and firmly awaiting to kiss his lips in his right hand and with the license to kill the rotund world of Humpty Dumpty that it was this break from the path which led to a pathbreaking idea in the otherwise clumsy civilization that our mouths utter on this day existing temporally but will soon be immersed into inconsequence by the villian called tomorrow.
Q: Q: what does it mean in our parlance?
Hint: It is a natural reply to your post!
others may chime in too!
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jaga_jaga
June 29, 2018
@VN sir – seriously asking you, where are you from, sir?
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Vivek narain
June 30, 2018
Lucknow
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Siva
June 30, 2018
jaga_jaga:
” Vivek narain Lucknow ”
Somehow, you have elicited a one-word response.
With no encryption whatsoever.
Was it luck, or was it craftiness?
Luck, No
?
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Rahini David
June 30, 2018
Well the one word direct answer is conclusive proof that VN is impressed with JJ’s impersonation of him.
Great going Jaga Jaga.
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sanjana
June 30, 2018
jaga_jaga, you are giving serious competition to VN. You both should become speech writers to politicians of all hues.
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jaga_jaga
June 30, 2018
@VN:
That clearly explains the Shahi flourish in your language, sir! If a simile might be added, each word in what you write is as delicious as a piece of Tunde Kabab. Only gripe is that, consuming Tunde Kabab alone can affect the digestive system!
Must also add sir that – my genuine thanks for being a good sport about it, all!
@Siva, Rahini, Sanjana
If the “single word post” does not go to VN, VN will go to the “single word post’!
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jaga_jaga
June 30, 2018
Sorry for spamming this thread! There is actually a saying in the Taiyareeya Upanishad, which reads:
“Paroksha Priyaa iva hi devaaha”
and means: “The Devaas love implicit conversation or incognito knowledge”!
Interestingly, the same concept applies to Victorian virtues, typified by the “stiff upper lip” and upper class American fondness for fake politeness and widespread use of “implied language”!
Just a random connection in context to how VN sir used to write.
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Aman
June 30, 2018
I favorite things in twitter/fb etc, write notes in my phone and don’t use any to do app and write notes in my laptop ( word/notepad usually). And now I have 10K+ stuff of things I favorited or saved or noted as to do and every time i see it I get anxiety attack and go back to sleep. Stick it notes work better though, sometimes I note down 3 tasks for the day and one of them get done, so it has at least 33 percent success rate. This post and the replies make me realize I am never gonna die considering I am so far behind ( Calvin and Hobbes ref of course.)
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Vivek narain
July 1, 2018
After reading all the efficiency tips, i did make a boodle, and i dreamed, the princess. As in ‘mujhe duniya walo(leader)as in badan pe sitare(prince). She smiled and gave acquiescence, I marvelled that all those people who were so busy clattering their crockery, churning the air with inanities, and trying to look important, didn’t feel the radiance of that smile and halt in the middle of whatever they were doing. They should have felt that smile, and pause. And think of things lost, of beauties remembered,and recapture rapture again,of the timeless beauty, Vyjayanthimala.
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sanjana
July 1, 2018
VN, I also love Vyju. Just watch her dance as a puppet in Kathputli which is such a lovely song by SJ. Also in Naagin song in that bullock cart scene.
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Rahini David
July 2, 2018
Aman: now I have 10K+ stuff of things I favorited or saved or noted as to do and every time i see it I get anxiety attack and go back to sleep
Ha ha. Been there felt that.
I had to dedicate 2 whole months. Nov and Dec 2017 to entirely list out such stuff into ONE list and to complete some spring cleaning. A topic very much connected to efficiency is the thorough spring cleaning. And it is not just about clothes and important paper, but also getting your innumerable photographs and other media into control.
There was a time when I had to arrange CDs and cassettes. Then mp3 files in neat folders and clear ID3 tags came about and the work seemed easier. They are now just playlists in the YouTube. But once in a while I need to make sure that the “Watch Later” list is not overflowing with stuff I’d never get around to.
And books. Where can I even start.
BTW, what do you all do with the WhatsApp videos folder? Do people really watch these videos? Even when I cut down the number of active groups I am in, these videos just keep pouring in.
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sanjana
July 2, 2018
I delete videos, photos and feel guilty but happy too. I convince myself thinking that they have become part of my memory and so this physical memories can be deleted.
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phaneendra201
July 2, 2018
I had exit from WhatsApp groups where lot of videos poured in.
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Kay
July 2, 2018
I have disabled the automatic download of media except for voice notes. So I download videos only if I know what it’s going to be or if there are too many intriguing comments on one particular video. That way I keep the whatsapp media in check.
But where I don’t have control is the weird nose, eyes and feet selfies of my 4 year old. And recently he has learned to take screenshots and edit them – basically use them for colouring practice. Then again I don’t have control, not because there are too many, but because I just don’t have the heart to delete them. 😀
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Madan
July 2, 2018
Rahini: I have disabled auto download media in WhatsApp and once every week or two go through the gallery and delete all the videos without remorse. I trust that people would have preserved a copy of any important video so I would be able to ask them to post it again. I do preserve family photos posted on whatsapp groups and that’s it. If that is also overflowing then I simply upload to Google Drive and delete from the phone. Until phones have the kind of seemingly inexhaustible memory that laptops today have, that will be the way to go. Remember when we had to delete stuff because memory was overloaded and slowing down the PC? Maybe some of you do have use for 120 or so GB but I haven’t ever run out of laptop storage in the last few years.
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sanjana
July 2, 2018
The topic brings me to trash management. I used to have feelings for those perfect toothpaste cases and other things which were packed lovingly by machines. Especially those small square boxes. And those colorful gift wrappers. The art behind them. Heartlessly throwing them into dustbins. Why not make ugly packing cases and wrap the gift items in newspaper sheets so that my pangs would have been saved? And those carefully selected greeting cards. Now it is simplified by whatsapp greetings.
And those old sarees and salwar suits which were gifted and carries special memories. And pretty old calenders, old toys. That brings me to Toy Story and makes me more emotional. How those toys will feel neglected! And books, letters, pictures which are on the verge of crumbling and yet cant be thrown away.
Heartbreak!
But I have done it fighting feelings. The first time will be difficult. Then you get used to it.
Otherwise your living space will become smaller by the day. Storage!
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Rahini David
July 2, 2018
I read in an old Reader’s Digest article that hoarders, like the rest of us, save items they think are useful, beautiful or sentimentally valuable. They only have a larger compass of what they think is useful, beautiful or sentimentally valuable. That is something I often think when managing trash, whether digital or real. You really can’t save everything around for sentimental reasons.
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GODZ
July 5, 2018
Below is the if Reddit link for productivity if any one interested..
https://www.reddit.com/r/productivity/
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Kaushik Bhattacharya
July 18, 2018
If you are a Google person, then I’d strongly recommend Inbox by Google for your email. No more clearing anything, just pin whatever you need and your action list is ready.
+1 for Google Keep also for lists. I find it particularly useful to share lists with my wife. Movies to watch, grocery shopping, books to read, you get the idea.
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Rahini David
December 27, 2018
This was concise and clear.
Happy 2019.
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Kay
November 17, 2019
I’m obsessive compulsive and the numbering of the latest BR post is uruthifying my eye. This one is #89.
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brangan
November 18, 2019
Kay: I didn’t get what you said, at first. Thanks 🙂
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Rahini David
February 28, 2022
I came to this thread for tips and also to ask if people who have used both notion and obsidian tell me if one is better. I am surprised that the word “Notion” is absolutely absent in this thread so far. And this thread is not even 2 and a half years old and Notion was not famous enough to be mentioned in a long thread on efficiency?
So basically my question is, are such apps worth it? Does anyone here use it? Do you have any advice for organizing a truck load of information on an unruly subject?
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Eswar
March 1, 2022
Hello, Rahini. I have used Evernote before. I found it too clunky for noting down random thoughts and other information. Now I use the Notes app on my iPhone for noting random thoughts. And transfer the ones I want to expand into separate google docs. One problem with this approach is it increases my device time. Also, I recently discovered that my thoughts flow well when writing with pen and paper compared to typing. So, I am keen to try the notecards approach. Have you considered using notecards to organize and capture information?
I use the pocket app to save online articles to refer to later. Pocket provides an option to tag articles. I use this to group various articles under a common theme. It also has a highlight feature, but I haven’t used it much.
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Voldemort
March 1, 2022
One excel spreadsheet for all personal stuff with different tabs – each for one purpose is what I use. It is simple (removing the gridlines is a must ), allows for mathematical calculations also, and can process loads of information easily. Using excel on the phone is a challenge yes, but I do not prefer typing on the phone much, so it doesn’t bother me. For random short information like address for delivery, courier tracking number, etc I use the default notes app/google keep on the phone. I share the same dislike for having yet another app on the phone, and also since these apps ask for too many permissions, I don’t prefer them much.
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Rahini David
March 1, 2022
Thank you Eswar and Voldemort for your inputs.
I prefer notebook and pen for a lot of things already. Habit Tracking, Lists, Journaling etc.
I would not use an app to notify me for meetings. Of Course, Teams and Outlook should be permitted to order me around, but I am not adding one more to the list.
My need is more for a massive “Books to be read” lists and to maintain a self-study syllabus of sorts. It does look that I need a new, shiny app as it should be available in both my computer and mobile.
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Ramit
March 1, 2022
Rahini, kindle app and GoodReads?
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Rahini David
March 1, 2022
Ramit, I use a Kindle for reading. But it is not good to keep a comprehensive list of authors, i would like to check out. I have already tried that and failed. I would want to remove the enormous list of samples (that I used as Bookmark and suggestion) and just use my Kindle to house the books I have already bought and that I am currently reading.
Say, I want to maintain the following details about ,say, Donna Tartt.
one, Genre?
two, Overall reputation/popularity in GoodReads, review sites, etc.,?
three, how highbrow/lowbrow is she based on what I have heard of her?
four, tends towards long or short books?
five, any interesting GoodReads review. Any comment from BR or his readers.
I don’t think GoodReads is good for this. I can maintain my thoughts on Books I have already read and make a list of Books I want to read. But I can’t maintain my thoughts on what I am hearing about an author who has started to intrigue me and I may want to check out only, say, 4 months later. Maybe I there is a way and I don’t know about it.
Moreover, GoodReads seems to be more of a Social Media platform to help people find others who share their taste. I do enjoy it for what it is.
Even in Notion, I would not use their automatic template. Just a simple 3 field database with Author, their famous title and my comment/notes.
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Ramit
March 1, 2022
Rahini, that’s very specific and exhaustive. I guess I won’t be of any help here. On a lighter note, maybe it’s time for you to hire Amit Joki to create an app that meet the needs😀
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KayKay
March 1, 2022
Man you guys make me feel positively ancient! I’m a pen and notebook guy all the way. I have a fetish for a certain notebook: the Moleskine. A pretty expensive fetish! So I have multiple Moleskines going at once:
An all purpose softcover one which goes in my cargo pants side pocket wherever I go. Lists, random thoughts, lists of movies I’ve seen and a potential programming of ones I want to watch (like a Walter Hill movie marathon I’ve been putting off)
One for books (hardcover), as I may jot down random thoughts about it while still reading them, or thoughts about a certain passage (still captured in one of my notebooks when reading The Handmaid’s Tale: ” One fucking page to describe the contents of a breakfast table! Only reason your editor let you get away with that shit is because you’re Margaret Bloody Atwood!”) I’m also part of a book club which meets monthly and these notes come in handy especially when I finish a book we’ve chosen to discuss way ahead of time.
One for my health (or attempts to get back to some semblance of fitness) where I jot down my exercise for the day, number of steps via my Garmin Watch and calories consumed which I track using myFitnessPal (a few of my concessions to apps)
One for my diary where I try for a daily (not always successful) jotting of my thoughts and feelings, a kind of free form or stream of consciousness outflow of memories captured on paper.
Rahini D, since you mentioned Donna Tartt, I have read The Goldfinch and it is marvelous! Highly recommended
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Eswar
March 5, 2022
Hello, Rahini. From what you have described, does something like Google Forms work for you? You can customize the form fields and visualize the results using a basic UI with charts. You should also be able to export the results to a spreadsheet. Since the form is accessible via Browser, you could also use it from other devices.
The main drawback, as I see is, to edit previously collected details, you may have to use the spreadsheet. In general, if collecting data through forms would meet your needs, there might be other similar offerings as well.
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Rahini David
March 5, 2022
Thanks Eswar,
I think editing the content should be an integral part of what I am trying to achieve.
Like in the above example, I would have an “Authors Database” and when I receive a positive recco or a negative warning against a book or author that I have already taken notes on, I should be able to edit the notes section and say, “KayKay@BRs also recommended GoldFinch on March 01, 2022” and save and close it. Reaching the page and editing it should be intuitive in both Browser and App.
I have already started a couple of Notion Databases from scratch I have deleted all their pre-existing templates like “Journal”, “Recipe Database” etc., maintaining all those in an app will only give me a panic attack Such things work as notebooks now and will remain notebooks at least for now. Finances too. Not at all planning to risk such stuff.
For now the Authors Database will only contain 4 to 5 authors. Exporting hundreds of book titles and authors names into the system and tagging them may seem like fun, and the resultant spreadsheets will look awesome but I think I will end up not actually reading those books. So I am starting very slowly. If I start slowly, the option to switch to other systems also will remain feasible.
I will explore Google Forms and see if it has features that will fit into my requirement.
For now, I would say notion is much better than using good old Excel and Word.
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Rahini David
March 5, 2022
I will also update you after a few months whether my attempt worked or not.
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Eswar
March 6, 2022
That will be very helpful. Thank you. 🙂
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Rahini David
September 1, 2022
Eswar: Notion has proved to be a great tool. I naturally don’t use all the features. But it has what I was looking for.
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Eswar
September 1, 2022
Thanks, Rahini.
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