Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Organization

I've accidentally created a new way to organize the events and tasks required of me through the week, sticky notes.
I was on the phone while sitting at my computer and couldn't quite reach my planner, so I simply wrote the phone number and date I needed to call on a sticky note, and stuck it to the wall my desk is against.
A few minutes later, I received a text message asking if I'd participate in a study group later that week, I wrote the location and time on a different note, and added this too to the wall.
The process continued through the next two hours til I realized I'd put six notes on my wall for the upcoming week. "Uh oh" I thought to myself, "The reason I put the first note on the wall was it's importance, I didn't want to forget it!" So I moved that note up on the wall above the rest. And that was when I realized, I was organizing.
I now have three different colors of notes, pink, blue, and green.
Blue is information of options, I don't need to participate, but if I want to, the times and places are detailed that I can attend. But they are not social things, simply things that would be supplemental, or helpful, to attend. Blue is also the least neon of the note colors.
Next is Green. Green happens to be my favorite color. The green notes are things that aren't mandatory, but things I simply want to do, and think are fairly important, but aren't school related...like the chili cook off at Church to meet the pastors, and painting a gift for my friend Kelsey before the weekend.
Finally, are the pink. The color leaps out most on the wall, and the majority of the notes are pink. These are things I must do, or must remember.
Looking now I see "Wed., Sept 23...Harts 'N Crafts decision. Alicia", and "Advising apt. PBUS. Melanie Smith, 710-1611" or a third one, "HireABear, Mandt. D110 BSB, Sept. 24, 5pm".
All things I must do, but ordered both by date, and import.
They include tags of who I must remember, where I must be, or a reminder that the meeting is "mandt"...mandatory.
The notes are placed in a fairly linear model, however things I really think I ought to prioritize are set slightly askew to one side or the other, so at a glance I can notice them.

This system will work, it was an accident, but it is convenient, and I enjoy it. The colors mean something to me, and at a glance I can see how full my wall is, and know how full my week is.
The best part of all, unlike a list where I must scratch items off one by one, I get to peel my sticky notes off, and throw them away when they're completed. This gives me a funny little sense of accomplishment, organizes for me, and appeals to my visual memory for the events and expectations of the week.

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