In my last post, I mentioned a little something I call my “Today Card”. Here is a bit more about how that works.
I keep an index card with three simple things I would like to accomplish for the day written on it. I keep this on my desk next to my laptop. Why? Well, when you have a time sucking, life consuming, attention draining source enter your life (referred to by some as a “baby“), allowing a low expectation bar for yourself can go a long way towards sanity. Being able to pick some low hanging fruit off of a otherwise full and getting more so action tree is a Good Thing™. Of course, I am lucky if I am able to accomplish any one of those three things but if I am able to get at least two done, I feel like I have done something to move life a little bit forward.
The other advantage is that it gives me a ready scratch pad as I use the rest of the whitespace on the card to capture notes, phone numbers, and other like incoming items. At the end of the day, I move any undone items from the original three to the card for the next day, add more to equal three on that card, and then toss the old card into my Inbox or Circa for processing the random notes, incoming actions, phone numbers, and such if there are any.
Having this simple list at the ready helps to draw quick focus for the few minutes I may be able to steal here and there.
I love the tip … seems like if you sat down and made cards in advance you could have a simple “tickler” file to add reminders. Any thoughts on using post-it notes, or are you stuck on notecards?
That reminds me of this — http://lifehacker.com/software/productivity/a-very-simple-and-sane-to+do-list-115330.php — which I used to use when I was working at Squidoo.
You’re probably gonna get some heat for your description of your child, but I feel your pain. I’ve got two kids and use a similar MIT (most important task) list like this as well. I use a spiral bound notebook 9 x 5 or whatever. Each day gets a new page. I also like to, since my second child, write down little notes about their development, things like puked on keyboard, or rolled over by his self, things like that. It adds a little human touch and makes for a journal of sorts.
Wow Damon, I like the idea of this. Kind of a mashup of a daily page and a journal. I mean, honestly, the tasks we get done in the course of a day are as valid an item to go into a “traditional” journal as any other. Good stuff.
Heath – Yes, it is a VERY similar idea. The advantage of the way I am doing it though is the added whitespace area left on the card for scratch purposes.
Michael – I suppose you could use any type of paper that works but I like the index cards for the “scratch” issue mentioned above. I also like to punch them with my Circa punch and stick them in the Archive section of my Circa Notebook sometimes as well and the blank space at the top of the card allows for that.
Not to add another kind of card to the mix, but:
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/giveaway/thursday-giveaway-tiny-tales-044610
The Today Page Experiment
In a post last week, I discussed my strategy for using a Today Card. That is, an index card with three tasks that I would like to accomplish with some room left for additional tasks, notes, and scratchpad items that…