New Year's what?

It's that time again... You look back, think "What in the world happened to the last 364 days?" and try to figure out how to make the next 365 even better. New Year's Eve. I was thinking about the New Year's resolutions I made last year. At least, I think I made some. I'm pretty sure I wrote them down. I just don't know where! So what do you think the chances are that I actually accomplished any of them? If you're laughing and saying "No chance at all!" you'd be almost right.

There was one exception: I decided at the beginning of the year of 2007 I was going going to pay off all my credit card debt and student loans. And it happened! What was different? I'll tell you.

First off, it was something I seriously thought I could do in the timeframe I had. It was just going to take a bit of stretching.

I also posted the goal on my fridge, or more accurately, my wife made a fun poster and put it on the fridge.

On top of that, every month, we sat down together and decided what we need to do that month to make progress toward hitting our goal. In this case, that decision was written down in a form called a "cashflow plan" or "budget."

To add to this, I'd check up and make sure we were still on track at least once a week - after I got paid or after we got bills in the mail. I'd say it seems these things all came together in such a way that just made things happen.

I'm going to see if I can duplicate this success in 2008. Instead of a bunch of vague things I'd like to improve in my life, just a few well defined goals and plans to make them happen.

Ponies, Journals, and notebooks

I promised I'd blog about which tool I ended up using to get organized and how I got there. I'm not going to go through all the details and background but I will focus on the two that work out the best: Journler and Circus Ponies Notebook.

Both are truly wonderful programs. The big difference here is Circus Ponies Notebook uses a notebook metaphor - it looks exactly like a notebook including you can make it look like a spiral bound notebook, a yellow legal pad, or even Cornell Notes. The problem here is trying to make a computer program look and act like a notebook ends up being a tad on the clunky side.

After trying Journler, I switched. It makes use of the features a computer provides: searching, indexing, categorizing, and tagging. You can do folders and smart folders. I call it "iTunes for my life". The folders are like playlists of the information you want to organize - you just drag 'n drop your stuff and it is there. The smart folders are like smart playlists - define the search criteria and anything that matches just shows up there.

Now if Journler just did todo lists better, I'd be using it for everything. I wonder if you could somehow combine Journler and iGTD.

Blog Action Day: wise use of resources

Originally, I was not going to participate in Blog Action Day. Am I allowed to say that? And what changed my mind? What changed my mind was Lifehacker's Blog Action Day post. In particular, one tip they gave got me thinking. The tip was "Bring Your Own Utensils To Work."

Before I read the details of the tip, my mind went a completely different direction than the article. The article was talking about forks and spoons - bring the metal ones and wash them instead of tossing the plastic ones. Where my mind went: writing utensils.

Maybe I spend too much time on DIYPlanner.com, but I started thinking about at nearly any office I've worked in, you go to the office supply cabinet and you find just about the same thing: a cabinet full of the cheapest pens and legal pads you've ever seen. The pens are doing well to last a few weeks before getting lost, stop working, or just get swiped off your desk by a co-worker. The notepads aren't much better. You turn a page 3 times and it rips off.

I've been switching back and forth between a couple pens at work. I've got a couple Pilot G2 pens, and a couple inexpensive fountain pens. I like the idea that instead of just using a pen a few weeks and then tossing it when it quits working, of buying a pen that has refills available. The fountain pen (Lamy Vista, for those of you who are curious) are even better because instead of a cartridge you can get a converter. The converter lets you refill from an ink bottle. I can use the same pen for years and years and the only cost (financially and environmentally) is a bottle of ink.

The cost of a good fountain pen is more initially, but over time you've got a pen that is enjoyable to use and a lot less plastic going into the land-fill.

Along those same lines, I've been using a Circa notebook from Levenger. I also purchased the hole-punch to go with it. This means I can hole-punch just about any size and kind of paper and just toss it into my notebook. I have a pretty much infinitely refillable notebook.

the big analog/digital DUH!

For the last few months, especially since re-discovering the site DIYPlanner.com I have been in a mentality that I should either do all my organization with a planner or all of it in electronic format. So the dilemma became: do I want everything to be digital and searchable or on paper and so I won't have to worry about computer problems?

My answer came later from David Allen. I wish I could remember which interview I was listening to with him exactly, but someone asked him which he uses: analog or digital tools? His answer: both! I've heard him say it before that if someone isn't comfortable using either of these toolsets they are in trouble. What I hadn't heard him say before is that he personally uses both and recommends that anyone comfortable with this do the same.

It was one of those "Well, DUH! Why didn't I think of that before?" moments as David went on the explain. He carries paper and pen with him at all times so he can jot down anything that pops into his head. Later he processes this information. In his case, if something is important, part of "processing" is entering his handwritten note into his computer. The note can then be saved, stored, searched, emailed, posted online, or whatever he choses to do with it.

So lately I have been revisiting different tools for stored everything I need to keep track of. More on that in another post later, but for now I'll say this. I've settled on a tool called Journler which is Mac-only. Windows has a similar tool called EverNote. I have not seen any equivalent in the Linux world.

Un-unemployment by Lunchtime (Goal setting and job hunting)

Lately I've had multiple friends (and myself) experience some job losses. I've heard the average lifespan of a job is three years, so it is likely at any one time there will be someone you know that is unemployed. I decided to share what worked for me to change that.

When you first lose your job, it's like someone kicked you in the head. You don't feel like doing ANYTHING. Take it easy for a day, or two, or maybe even three. Before you start that, decide how many days you are going to just take it easy. Write it on your calendar and stick to it! You may also want to take one of these days and take care of the stuff you didn't have time to do when you were working a job.

One of the top things on the list of stuff to do: file for unemployment if you are eligible. Don't treat the unemployment like welfare. Treat it like the government is paying you to do the best job you can of finding another job.

Two things to keep in mind as you look for a job: everyone who finds out you are unemployed is going to have their idea of how you should spend your time. YOU DECIDE what the best use of your time is. Also, momentum is powerful. Make sure it is on your side. If you sit there and do nothing after the date your wrote to start job hunting, you will not feel like doing anything.

Day 1 of your job hunt should be writing your resume. Have one main "template" resume and then modify it to fit each job you apply for.

Now, decide how fast you want to get a new job. The faster you go, the more momentum is on your side. I shot for applying for two jobs or go to one job interview a day. If you think you have all day to apply for two jobs, you will most likely end up applying for a couple dumpy jobs online just before you head for bed (if you do it at all). The secret I've found: if there's something you really want done, make it a goal to get it done by lunch.

So, apply for two jobs by lunch, then eat lunch, then do something fun for a bit. After that if there's something else you need to get done for the day, try to get it done by supper. Then you can enjoy your evening with friends and/or family.

The wonderful thing about the "Do it by lunchtime" principal: it can apply to almost anything that would want to do that can be done in a few hours. Repeat until your goal is accomplished.

Goals and Projects

In the past, I've read multiple books about time management and organization. Among them, it seems that two that seem more popular and better than the rest. They are "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey and "Getting Things Done" by David Allen.

Each one has a completely different approach to planning. Seven Habits advocates "Begin with the end in mind." Think about what you want people you care about to say about you at your funeral (as morbid as that sounds) and figure out what it would take to make that happen. The things that would make this happen are what you should focus on every day and then everything else fits in around it. This would include things like being the best husband possible to your wife, leaving the world a better place, etc. etc.

The GTD approach to planning is anything that requires more than one action is a project. Every project goes on a list, and then you break it up into actions, and then you do the things on your list.

I'd read GTD twice and I really like the idea but I had one issue with the project planning way of going about things. It seemed to me that if you follow this method, you end up having a bunch of projects and will spend your life just doing stuff that probably won't matter.

Then I borrowed a copy of the "Getting Things Done - Fast" audio program (no longer available) and realized I'd completely missed one thing and missed most of one other thing.

First off - the thing I missed most of. GTD advocates planning on different levels. There is the "runway level" (projects like go get the car fixed, fix the plumbing, etc) all the way up to the "50,000 feet level" that is find your life purpose and make it happen. To have a successful life, you need to operate on all levels.

And the thing I completely missed when I read the book. David Allen says that one of the first steps in planning a project is to define what the project will look like if it is wildly successful and also how to know if the project is done.

If you think about it, this sounds like a goal to me! A goal is a defined outcome. I want to be debt free by Christmas, I want to get my weight down to 180 pounds, I want to drive X amount of traffic to this blog, etc, etc. These are what many people would call goals.

Now to turn any of those goals into a project, just figure out what steps you would need to accomplish to make this happen.

easy way to handle warranty receipts

I was going through my file cabinet a couple days ago tossing old papers I no longer need. Among other things, I found a folder labeled "Warranty - Hardware" for computer hardware I've purchased. On some of them, the ink was so faded I could not longer read what the receipt was for.

I came up with an idea for keeping track of receipts. Instead of putting them in folders based on what the item is or when it was purchased, why not put them in folders based on when the warranty expires? So I'd have "Warranty - 2007", "Warranty - 2008" etc and "Warranty - Lifetime." At the end of 2007, I'd toss all the receipts I don't have a good reason to keep in the shredder or recycle bin. That would also be a good time to go through the "Warranty - Lifetime" folder and toss any receipts for items I no longer own.

This system only leaves one problem: how am I going to be able to quickly locate the receipts if I need them? Organized by warranty expiration date isn't exactly intuitive. I think a good way to handle this would be to keep a list of what I bought either in a notebook, spreadsheet, or any kind of program that can handle making lists. I'd track purchase date, purchase amount, warranty expiration date, what I bought, and of course where I bought it. This list could also serve as a inventory of what you own.

I've started implementing a solution in the program Journler (Mac only) - Windows users may want to check out the program EverNote. I just have a folder called "receipts" and dump all this info in there. If you have a good scanner, you may even consider just keeping PDF's of all your receipts.

Hopefully this is helpful to someone.