Brain Dumping: My “To Do” List Runneth Over…

One of my fellow Patheos bloggers asked an interesting question the other day to our group, querying the rest of us about how we organize and keep track of our writing commitments. I was amazed by the variety of answers and the creativity of some of my fellow writers. My answer was boring: Google Calendar.

When I’m lucky enough to be invited to write somewhere, the commitment immediately goes onto one of my multi-colored calendars and a reminder is set two days prior to “due date”. Have I ever blown a due date before? Yes, but it’s happening with less frequency now that I have a good system in place.

What a don’t have a good system for is my everyday “to do” items. I tend to handle whatever pot is boiling over first and life feels like organized chaos these days. While I work on some physical priorities in my life, I’d also like to work on getting my stress level under better control. So I’ve decided to try doing a bit of a “brain dump” to write down absolutely everything that’s on my plate at the moment, and then to prioritize all of these items with small “sub items”. I’ve read all of the GTD stuff and several other resources as well, so I have the theoretical knowledge. It’s the implementation that all too often causes me to stumble.

I’d like to hear from you on what works well in your life to help you stay organized. Being good stewards of our time is a priority that enables us to give the best of ourselves to those we love and serve. Getting this under control feels like a priority – I’d love your help and insights!