by Deborah Armstrong
I am a born-again organizer. I wasn't born organized. In fact, I got fired from my first real job because I was disorganized. I planned a horseback riding adventure for children with disabilities and forgot to schedule a bus driver. So when the day came, 20 moms and kids waited in front of our office for hours, and no bus ever arrived.
That was five decades ago. Today as a born-again organizer, things like that do not occur!
For me, the most powerful tool I use is my Today file. It's a simple text file that lives on my desktop. It could also live on your smartphone or even in paper Braille.
Each morning, I look at my calendar, and enter everything I need to know, schedule or do into that Today file.
Unlike a to-do list, I don't need a special app to open it. If I have a Zoom meeting scheduled, I put the link in there. If I have a phone number to call, I put it in there. If I have an address I need to be at, or an email address I need to respond to, it also goes in the Today file. I never put general items in the file like "answer email" or "catch up on returning calls." This file is very specific for today.
Though I have to exercise, cook dinner and make sure the dog's water bowl is full, those are chores, and habit is what maintains them. The Today file is for specifics I need to complete a task. If I'm going to be away from my computer, I copy that file on to my phone and/or Braille display.
For example, I had to speak at the candidates' forum, and my ride was late. But I had the Zoom link on my phone, so I didn't panic. Even though I wasn't home yet when the meeting started, I could participate on Zoom on my phone.
As ACB leaders, we often have a variety of commitments we need to track. Plus, if you have paid employment and family responsibilities, there's even more. Take meat out of the freezer, call the affiliate president, schedule a ride for Friday, check in with a new member, email the neighbor, take out the trash, do that spreadsheet for the boss, attend three meetings, begin planning a celebration -- you know what it's like to have these jobs all awaiting your attention. But remember it's just today -- you might be able to put some of it off until tomorrow, and that's OK. You can only do so much. You need time for yourself, so being organized helps give you that time.
If you spend just a couple of morning minutes creating a Today file, and remember to delete everything completed from it in the evening, you are less likely to forget anything you have to do that day or has to be worked on that day. For example, I might have a project due next month, but I want to do a little work on it today, so of course a note about it goes in my Today file. I might have to plan an event, but it's OK if I work on that over the weekend, so it doesn't need to be in the Today file.
Long to-do lists can be counterproductive, because you spend more time making notes and checking off things on the list than you actually spend time doing things. They can also cause depression because you get overwhelmed by the huge list of unfinished items. That's why I like my Today file. It's quick, it's short, and keeps me efficient and effective.