Well, I guess it’s a life lesson when you finally get around to cleaning off your desk only to find the jury duty notice telling you that you were supposed to be at the courthouse at 9:00 AM and it’s . . . around 12:30 PM. The thing of it is, I did remember that notice. I remembered it last week, and I found it, and I was vastly relieved to see that I didn’t have to worry about it until last night after 5:00 when I was supposed to call and see if I had to come in. It was the old “oh, I’ll remember it” thing. I have plenty of resources at my disposal to keep track of my obligations, including Google calendar and Todoist, but they don’t do me any good unless I use them. For some reason, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, I figured that I’d remember. So I had to do my best to fix the situation, e-mailing
and phoning, and now I have to go in on Dec. 28, right in the middle of our family Christmas time. Honestly! They asked me for a list of dates that would work for me, and I certainly didn’t give them that one, but I’m not really in a position to quibble. I’m hoping that I’ll be told I don’t have to go when I call the night before. What a pain, though, if I do have to go!
Ironically enough, both Laura Vanderkam and Gretchen Rubin had posts this week about to-do lists. I especially liked Laura’s rundown on hers, which you can read about in “My Planning Porcess (Or the List of Lists).” Although I will never be a self-disciplined as Laura is, I find that reading her posts gives me a jolt of energy. It’s because of her that I got started tracking my time on Toggl, and her example led me to investigate to-do list apps which landed me on using Todoist. She’s so interested, as I am, in how people spend their time. What do they do all day? (I often ask myself that question.)
So I’ve been given a swift jab that, thankfully, didn’t involve a fine or a personal disappointment. Maybe I’d better get a wall calendar for the new year, which is what I used before getting all high-techy. Whatever works!
What about you? Do you have a system that works for you, or do you sometimes rely too much on carrying things around in your head?