Tag: “Organization”

The first time I wrote a blog post I was not pretty sure how to reach potential readers. I remember I posted a couple of tweets about it, hoping someone would notice. With the second post, I thought that posting it on Facebook would also help. As I was writing more articles, I added references in LinkedIn, Google Plus, StumbleUpon, Reddit and Tumblr. Then I thought that if the article had a picture, it also could be posted on Pinterest. Also, since I write all my articles in English and Spanish, and my audience is divided between Europe and America, it made sense to use different schedules so most people would notice.

“I need to get organized: I’ll choose a task management application, I’ll sign up, I’ll enter my pending tasks and that’s all.” Many people believe that getting organized is that easy. I wish!

Recently I wrote a post about one of the main factors that motivates people to get things done: the pursuit of mastery. Or, what is the same, trying to get the greatest possible knowledge about what we really like to do (it’s hard to keep the necessary motivation to improve on something we do not like, even if it’s what feeds us).

GTD, Autofocus, ZTD, Pomodoro technique, Personal Kanban… Personal productivity has always been surrounded by different formal methods intended to systematize our behavior to make it less erratic and allow us to better focus on what we have to do. From time to time there is a new method — or a variation of an existing one — supported by a handful of evangelists, which enjoys a period of relative popularity… until it is replaced by the next.

Do you feel you are not being productive? Does your time go by and you don’t know exactly why? Whatever personal productivity system you are using—and even if you’re not using one at all—the most simple and direct method to increase your productivity is to write down the time you spend getting different things done throughout your day.