Goals, lists, and organization
Jun. 8th, 2010 01:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serynI think there are different types of goals and different types of lists.
As someone who has (or at least had and haven't acknowledged the change) a good memory, I don't usually need a list of every single thing I feel needs my attention. In fact, if too many things get onto my list, I get overwhelmed easily.
I do need a list to keep me focused on priorities so I don't lapse and do laundry when there's no milk. (Those tasks are incompatible because I cannot be in two places at once and the shared laundry room requires me being here so other people don't put their hands on my panties.) It also helps, somewhat, with scheduling. I have a good sense of how long things take and I will start on dinner at 4 if it will turn out better for a slow cooking. It also helps so I do things which will be easier for being done while everyone else is at work before 5pm.
Today I saw a posting about goal minimums. That is how I do my goals. If I tell you I'm going to read 25 books this year, I might read 50. If I said I was going to read 50, I'd be so far behind by now that I would give up and not read any more books at all. Most people seem to construct goal lists by looking at the maximum and aiming for that, otherwise they don't start until it's too late.
I hope the Google Tasks people stop sucking quite so much. I hate that you can't view more than one list at a time even in full-screen mode. I hate that you cannot have sub-tasks which are hidden until the main task has focus. I hate that they don't have schedule-able tasks. Like every Tuesday I'm going to wash sheets and every Friday I'm going to the grocery store so I don't have to go on the weekend. The current Tasks is like a really awkward interface to an electronic sticky note.
I would also like the kind of list where I can note things I have done and collect praise for them. It's 2pm and I haven't showered since I got up. (I did shower after midnight though, so that's "today" and I think it still counts; I'd rather shower after going to the gym.) I did eat lunch. It's not unreasonable if when I ticked off something I should do every day it puts up a little smiley face. There should also be space to add a note if something happened-- like yesterday I not only went to the gym, I measured myself and when I added that into the spreadsheet, I realized I'd slimmed down by an inch in the hip and waist both.
I want something where I can keep myself organized. So I could put down that the car was washed and then later I could find out how long it's been. Or better yet, there'd be a reminder added if I hadn't done that in N months. I'd like to have the ability to tell when we had tacos last, it seems like we're always having tacos but it had actually been almost a month.
But even if there aren't great organizational tools out there, I was glad to see the acknowledgement of "minimum goals" and seeing that other people get overwhelmed when the list is too long.
As someone who has (or at least had and haven't acknowledged the change) a good memory, I don't usually need a list of every single thing I feel needs my attention. In fact, if too many things get onto my list, I get overwhelmed easily.
I do need a list to keep me focused on priorities so I don't lapse and do laundry when there's no milk. (Those tasks are incompatible because I cannot be in two places at once and the shared laundry room requires me being here so other people don't put their hands on my panties.) It also helps, somewhat, with scheduling. I have a good sense of how long things take and I will start on dinner at 4 if it will turn out better for a slow cooking. It also helps so I do things which will be easier for being done while everyone else is at work before 5pm.
Today I saw a posting about goal minimums. That is how I do my goals. If I tell you I'm going to read 25 books this year, I might read 50. If I said I was going to read 50, I'd be so far behind by now that I would give up and not read any more books at all. Most people seem to construct goal lists by looking at the maximum and aiming for that, otherwise they don't start until it's too late.
I hope the Google Tasks people stop sucking quite so much. I hate that you can't view more than one list at a time even in full-screen mode. I hate that you cannot have sub-tasks which are hidden until the main task has focus. I hate that they don't have schedule-able tasks. Like every Tuesday I'm going to wash sheets and every Friday I'm going to the grocery store so I don't have to go on the weekend. The current Tasks is like a really awkward interface to an electronic sticky note.
I would also like the kind of list where I can note things I have done and collect praise for them. It's 2pm and I haven't showered since I got up. (I did shower after midnight though, so that's "today" and I think it still counts; I'd rather shower after going to the gym.) I did eat lunch. It's not unreasonable if when I ticked off something I should do every day it puts up a little smiley face. There should also be space to add a note if something happened-- like yesterday I not only went to the gym, I measured myself and when I added that into the spreadsheet, I realized I'd slimmed down by an inch in the hip and waist both.
I want something where I can keep myself organized. So I could put down that the car was washed and then later I could find out how long it's been. Or better yet, there'd be a reminder added if I hadn't done that in N months. I'd like to have the ability to tell when we had tacos last, it seems like we're always having tacos but it had actually been almost a month.
But even if there aren't great organizational tools out there, I was glad to see the acknowledgement of "minimum goals" and seeing that other people get overwhelmed when the list is too long.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 10:57 pm (UTC)It might help, but only if I went there. The nice thing about the Google Tasks is it's already integrated into tabs which are likely to be open.
A lot of people are touting Remember The Milk as an organizational tool which has an app for my phone as well. Thus there wouldn't be this huge time sink wherein ticking off a single task puts me in front of my computer where I have new mail and such.
Some of the problem is that I'm losing about 1.5 "days" of task time per week now, and I'm looking to compensate with organization and efficiency instead of blaming exercising for ruining my life. I really do not need to develop an attitude problem now that I found something that doesn't suck.
I was shopping for new jeans today online. Lands End is selling 00 pants. There isn't a huge selection, but last time I looked they only went down to 4. They just waited until you were solidly looking elsewhere!
I am within .5 inches at the waist of the straight up 18. I went from the 22W last Christmas to the 20W in April through the 18W (which I'm ignoring since I like the 20Ws pockets and nothing is falling down) and am within achieving the 18 sans W by the time the slow shipping would get it here. So of course, all the options are ugly or not on sale. I do have several pair of jeans in a similar size (it says 18W, but the size mambo means that's about what the 18s are now) they're just badly hand-hemmed and in a shockingly pale sand color. But the worst part is that the pockets are itty bitty because those were bought before someone wised up and made pockets big enough for cell phones.
((I will pay full price when I get down to the 16s, but for pants I'm hoping to outshrink, I'd rather get the bargain ones for $12.99.))
no subject
Date: 2010-06-10 02:02 am (UTC)darkforge uses RTM, not for everything but for things where it's helpful to make arbitrary deadlines and move them if necessary. (Laundry reminders for himself, e.g.) Not sure how good it is at letting you look at history, however.
Hmm, good to know about Lands End, thanks--especially since their new-standard 6 is wider than a Levi's 8. (I tried both on at Sears when I was between normal clothes and maternity ones.) Just one 0, looks like (00 is the size below 0 at Ann Taylor, and yes, they went there!), but even a 2 should be fine for me.
It really doesn't make sense (and I've seen this elsewhere, too) that the plus-size options should include more aesthetically pleasing options than the upper end of the standard-size range. Good luck.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-10 02:27 am (UTC)