So, I’m a total scatter-brained nut who can’t keep most things organized because I’m a workaholic who just has too much on his plate at all times (self-imposed, of course).
It used to be that I could use a notebook to keep all of my tasks in one place, so I would just handwrite on a sheet of paper all of the things I needed to get done, Monday-Friday. But now, staying organized has morphed into using a ton of applications and calendars to keep forward momentum without forgetting anything (and even that’s not a sure thing).
Recently, I went back to using Trello, which was introduced to me by an editor at a news organization that I worked at a few years ago. To keep it simple: it’s an application that has an interface not unlike a literal wall, and you can pin memos to it (if you are a writer, you should really get down on this app). Additionally, you can create titles and add cards under each heading and can check off the tasks you’ve completed—it’s nice. Anyway, it has been really beneficial in keeping me on track so far and it’s mostly free (of course there are pay-to-play features. snooze. but, oh well.), but, nevertheless, problems do arise.
As of late, I’ve found myself using multiple boards within the application to keep everything straight in my brain: one board is for graduate school, one board is for teaching, and one board is for homework, and now my wife wants to start a board for getting things done around the house. So, the use of multiple boards has me feeling disorganized because I have to remember to check the boxes off of each of the tasks I complete, and that becomes difficult when you have a bunch of boards to keep track of (see my problem?).
Pretty much, my OCD kicks in because I realize there is disorganization within the organization (I hate my brain some days, and I know lots of you out there hate your own brains, too); and, while I am frantically trying to remember what to do, I can feel my heart racing in my chest, which can’t be healthy, so I assume it’s slowly killing me.
Welp. I guess I’ll just have to get used to being disorganized even while using organizers, which makes me profoundly sad, but also profoundly interested in trying to find the next best organizer. Hopefully, one day that will happen, but until then I have to try to remind myself to get the leaves raked before the snow hits, or to fix that damn bottom step that leads to my back door before somebody (me) breaks their neck…ugh.
I would love to hear your ideas, though. Leave a comment if you have any tips or tricks to staying organized, or if you have any organization applications to recommend! Because, the reality is that we are all in this together, but we have to be able to remember that.
