Open Q - organisational systems

[hwarium]

Question to moots and flyby visitors alike: how do you organise your life?! What do you use to track the myriad of sisyphean tasks that composite the human existence: chores, life admin, hobbies, social commitments and big events, side projects, reading lists, expense tracking and budgeting, journalling, article archiving, correspondance..... .... ..or perhaps do you just let go and speedrun raw.

I'm thinking about resetting some systems because items have been slipping off my mind into the ether. I'm currently looking at some kind of app for reoccurring tasks (ticktick / things 3 / microsoft to-do) and consolidating calendars, but would love to know what has worked, or not worked, for this corner of the internet.

Current profile:

• digital systems: android phone + pc + OS + iOS
• journalling, planning, expense tracking, general list-making: pen and paper (jibun techo + leuchtturm)
• budgeting: excel
• thoughts dump, flash to-dos, gym notes: google keep
• holiday planning: google maps and google sheets
• hobby tracking: todoist but ineffective

Comments

[hwarium]

lark you are so right but I am also a working dog who must be stimulated until bedtime and hoard my obligations like a chew toy😂 I thrive best under stress and languish without clear goals. I think an ideal system is a mix of energy and attention management, where I can know what I am supposed to be doing each moment without fearing for the future (including rest!)

I did play around with google calendar last weekend!! for me, it:
- works well locking down future tasks and events (e.g. blocking two weekends for sewing ahead of a con) - I like how this can declutter my to-do-list and yeet things which I don't need to be considering at this very moment. I've integrated with todoist (which is my somedays + hobby list) -> I stopped using todoist because the nature of the content just meant that I wasn't checking if often, leading to items being forgotten. Assigning priorities in todoist then setting a date for the high priority items AND linking it to google calendar is really useful!!
- works less well with daily or ongoing to-dos + time blocking. My sch is not regular and I need a lot of flexibility, so I find electric systems too fiddly. I also don't want to edit the calendar too often bc opening a big screen is always a slippery slope to emails/youtube/interesting essays/anything other than what I'm supposed to be doing

I did try google tasks but think it's too simple and restrictive for my uses - will stick to google keep :)

Re the crusade against phone usage! So many things!!
- have mandatory 10s timers before opening social media apps and websites + permanent timer for screen time
- track screen time + unlocks in my journal
- greyscale after 9:30pm
- all notifications off except text/calls
- physical alarm clock

As to what I should improve -> I still need better sleep hygiene and start winding down 2 hours before bed. It used to be 1 hour, but then I realised my brain just needs that long to calm down (especially if I'm writing fic!!). The main pain point is home time: if I go horizontal after coming home from work it's going to be doomscroll hours. I need to think about the physical habits surrounding phone time, so something to journal and reflect on in the future.

(what kind of things do you do lark? I always recall you were a regimented individual with a healthy work life balance! What helps you keep your habits?)

[themorninglark]

this is so funny, it truly is a different brains thing HAHA cos reading "I thrive best under stress" gave me hives... I feel like I am whatever the opposite of that is? I can't function if I'm stressed so I need to feel totally relaxed and minimising what is on my plate is the first step to relaxation. but no matter how your brain works I think the important thing is to have awareness and metacognition about it, so it's good that you are clear about _your_ brain's habits! and that you're continuing to experiment to see what works for you.

I also do physical alarm clock and all notifications off! Also...
- Within texts/calls I also have it set up so that outside of work hours, only a tiny group of close friends and family will trigger notifications.
- I just don't have any socmed apps on my phone, I only access these sites on my computer.
- Last year I went a step further by deactivating my FB/IG accounts.
- I have a distraction blocker on all my devices set up to kick in after 8:30pm (I use Freedom, but there are lots) that blocks any distracting site for me.

I think I've been pretty successful at making my phone boring and dull, I hardly ever reach for it! I am most likely to stay up late gaming or going down rabbit holes reading about something online on my computer though. I tried blocking search engines in my distraction blocker but that was really way too restrictive cos I do sometimes legit need to search for something at night, but that leaves me susceptible to looking up some butai actor's body of work and then before I know it I've spent an hour reading trivia and magazine interviews with him. So yes I too feel the need for better sleep hygiene, and I think figuring out exactly how long I need to wind down was important so I can be realistic 😔

I do think my brain naturally tends towards regimented and needing my calendar to be very orderly and manageable, so that helps with the balance without me needing to try very much. I have consciously picked a job where the calendar is so predictable I can commit to holidays a year in advance cos I know my busy periods, and I have designed a life outside work that moves in very set patterns. But I think it does all come back to reflecting on your own habits and really understanding what is going on in your mind/body. Like, I know that if I have more than 1-2 nights out a week, it really ruins my physical and emotional energy, so I know not to overpack my schedule. If I had no idea I would simply keep committing to things. So tl;dr know thyself!