Suelin23;102013 said:
You've suggested this to me before, and I have taken it on board. I now try to get 8 hours sleep each night, and it does help, I am finding I have more mental stamina, and can work for much longer.
I also find that first thing in the morning I'm having a lot more creative light bulb moments, when ideas come to me and I get some great new insight on things I've been working on, so thanks, it has been great advice.
I've also had some great ideas in the morning on how to organise things, which is really helping.
Hey, that's really cool to hear that you took my suggestion and it helps!
I try to get 10 hours of sleep a night. I feel definitely short of sleep if I only get 8 hours, and can't think as clearly the next day. Of course, there's individual variation, but the book "Sleep Thieves" says that adults who sleep for 8 hours and think they're getting enough sleep are fooling themselves. Lying down for a rest in the middle of the day can help, too.
Sleep is great for those creative insights, and also for appreciating simple things like sunshine, enjoying life, laughing at jokes and getting along with people. Also for working a little faster and with fewer mistakes that take up lots of time later on, and spending less time sick, so it's worth the time.
Years ago I started taking phosphatidylserine and had the impression that it resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of time per day when I felt I was too tired to work. I have a bit of trouble getting enough sleep, so I usually take at bedtime 5HTP, phosphatidylserine, calcium, chamomile tea and GABA to help me sleep. I'm sleeping better this year, maybe because I stopped drinking fluoridated water. Insomnia and mental confusion have been related to fluoride poisoning.
I can relate to your example. Sometimes a very small barrier ("but I'm not sure whether it's in email or on the hard drive") can prevent me from doing something ("I'll do that some other time", over and over). And sometimes everything seems hard to do. I'm doing better, though. Maybe it's that fluoride-free water, or maybe it's because of the way I sorted things by energy required, or both, but I feel as if everything's doable now. Sort-of. Either doable, or filed appropriately: for example, I decided not to change the flat tire on my bicycle while I was sick.
OK, here's the principle I'm trying to follow: I try to present myself with doable next actions, and not to present myself with things I'll say "no, I don't feel like it right now" about. One problem with saying "no, I don't feel like it" is that it saps my energy. Another problem is that it gets me in the habit of saying that: both a habit attached to that specific action, and a general habit of saying that about all actions. So, I try to organize things so that, as much as feasible, when I look at a list of next actions I see only things I find actually doable.
Sorting by energy is one way. When I write an action on a context list, I put it near the top if it takes lots of time and energy or seems difficult, and near the bottom if it seems easy. Then before I refer to the list to see what to do, I stop and think: how tired am I? How much time do I have? Most of the time I feel OK and start reading at the top, but if I'm tired, I might start in the middle or near the bottom and only read the easy things. That way, I pretty much only see things I'm able to do right then. But when I do have energy, I get the high-energy actions done, and I found that after using this system for a while, that my actions lists got much more doable: the high-energy actions were already done and a higher proportion of easy ones were left. The system may also have helped boost my overall energy level by decreasing the number of times I had to think "no, I don't feel like doing that right now".
Here's my blog post about it:
http://woodgold.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/sorting-actions-by-energy-level-required-etc/
I've already mentioned a lot of this stuff so maybe you've read it before, but anyway
I'll go on. I can understand a reluctance to create a lot of GTD projects. I and some other GTD users don't really use projects as such. This has been discussed on this forum before. Actually, I'm starting to use projects a bit. But mostly I do something similar to the Pigpog method:
http://pigpog.com/2006/07/11/gtd-the-pigpog-method/ That is, if something requires more than one action, I just write the next action on my context list, and when I finish that action, then I stop and think what the next action will be and immediately write that down on the appropriate list. I guess I usually just write it like one action, but sometimes I also write the overall purpose too.
For example, you could write "Check whether stakeholder plan is in email or not (to send to Richard)". The project is to send it to Richard; the next action is really just "Check whether stakeholder plan is in email or not", but you write it as if the next action is that whole longer thing, and then you don't need a separate entry on a projects list. I think it's important to include those words "or not", because then if you look and don't find it, it's still a success: this action is finished, and then you can write the next action that logically follows from it.
Here's an idea: whenever you find yourself looking at a next action and deciding not to do it because it feels difficult, you can modify the next action to be more doable for the next time you look at your list. Or you can do this with at least one (or at least 3) next actions on your list when you feel that the whole list is difficult. For example, you can re-write the next action as suggested above. Or if it's written on paper you can append "(just check whether it's in email or not"), which is the real next action.
Making the next action easier can be just a matter of rewording it. Sometimes, though, I'll actually do something (generally something that takes less than 2 minutes) to make it easier, for example, looking up a phone number, or in this case you might actually check your email right then, instead of just editing the next action, and then the next action might become "look on P drive" or something.
When you originally wrote the next action, it seemed easy. Maybe then you knew where the stakeholder plan was, and later on you forgot, so the next action got harder. Some of my next actions become illegible or incomprehensible. That's a matter of taking a bit more effort when writing it. When I write a next action involving computer things, I try to write down the directory and filename, or the date of an email, etc. even if I think I'll remember it. Maybe part of the time I remember it anyway, but I think it's worth taking the time to write down for those times when I don't.
When I do go to look for something on the computer, most often I find it within about 10 seconds. (Mostly on UNIX and with simple searching and filing tools I wrote myself.) Nevertheless, that feeling of uncertainty of not knowing where something is can be a barrier, small but just enough to make me feel like doing something else instead.
I often record things in more than one place. I have various filing systems on the computer, too. I do some cross-referencing: I might file something in one place, and then in one or two other places on the computer I make a note saying exactly where I've filed it. Computers make cross-referencing easy. Well, OK, I still have to make the effort to make that note to myself; but I've made it a habit.
I can type a short command on the computer to record my current working directory in a file, along with today's date, for later reference. Another short command brings up a text file where I can type where things are, and search for keywords. I also use a wiki, which is convenient for searching.
