Today is a day the nerd hath made.

I realize this is probably not a common Lottery fantasy but if I win The Big Game one of the first things I would do is hire a graduate student in library science, point him or her towards my piles, my files, my stacks and say "Figure something out" I have someone who cleans up my apartment. If I'm hungry I can go to a restaurant. But the organizing thing...papers, forms, on and on - how would I delegate that? "Figure out what I was thinking here and develop a system to let me use it if I want to".

I bought a how to get organized book. Actually it doesn't descirbe itself as an organizational book but rather a Getting Things Done book (that is, in fact, the title Getting Things Done). Surprise-"Organized" and "Effective" are old friends. These are not my strong suits, being organized or getting things done, and it was $5 used on Amazon.

The author, David Allen, makes a nice analogy early on...if you have a folder that you absolutely must bring with you to work then you probably put the folder in front of the door or under your keys. Rather than concentrate on "gotta remember folder, gotta remember folder" you just set up a foolproof system. Anyway the goal is to set up a system so that life's folders are waiting in front of their respective doors when it's time to go rather than keeping all that in your head.

As Allen says, this is more work than (you) have been doing but not as much work as you are afraid it will be.

This sounds good because I've never had much success with getting stuff organized. I have functioned pretty well but it's anxiety filled, the way I ensure that things get done is by worrying about them. I also make lists, keep calendars, track things on notes, etc. but it does not feel systematic or reliable.

He has some nice observations...for instance maintaining To-Do lists sorted not by project but by context (so instead of a to-do list for planning a vacation there are actions that go on the Make Phone Calls list, actions that go on the At The Computer list, actions that go on the Errands list, etc.) There is then a master list of projects, and so forth.

Although he has a large, scary flow chart that gets reproduced several times (If the object is not actionable it is then Garbage, To Be Pondered or Reference, if an object is actionable it is either to be Done, Delegated or Deferred onto a list and on and on) but other than the flowchart itself, he's not too dogmatic about any of this and it is all very common sense sounding, however it's common sense that has thusfar passed me by.

Today I did the first half which was make sure I had enough file space and that it was easy to access (no I didn't have either, again that would be common sense that I hadn't been using...oh yeah! Files! And something to hold them!) a label maker, and picked something to be my in-box.

Then I gathered everything into the in box ("everything" means something out of place that needs action...library books to be returned, a coat needing a replacement zipper, the Master Card bill, an electrical cord I couldn't readily identify...everything that is homeless and not rubbish). And while doing this wrote down on pieces of paper any random thoughts of stuff to do. Tomorrow, Sunday, I have to empty the in box (in reality a box and then an enormous pile in between the armchairs in my living room) and do all the list making, calendar commiting, and so forth described elsewhere in the book.

I'm told that I will really feel satisfied after doing that part, the lists and calendars and so forth, and I'm doubtful (that is one big-ass and unruly looking pile) but I was doubtful that I was going to like this collection part, all the assembling of these random things, that it would make me feel a sense of progress and accomplishment way out of proportion to the effort. But that's totally how I feel. So I'm cautiously hopeful about this next part.

Off to pizza and videos with a friend.