VegemiteGrrl's Home for the Absent-Minded

does anyone else get that thing where you remember all the little things you have to do ALL IN ONE GO and it stresses you out so much but you're in the middle of something else and then like literally a second later you've FORGOTTEN THEM ALL AGAIN and then half an hour later you remember them again but you're in the middle of another thing but it's compounded by the knowledge that you already remembered and then forgot and then you basically want to die

HOW do people organise themselves?

I try to write them down. I function better with a list

xpost

Yeah, that pretty much describes every one of my days. And I have no idea how people organize themselves. I've become convinced that your brain has to be primed for organization at a very young age in order for it to make sense to you, and mine very much wasn't.

xp ^^^ I write everything down. I'd forget it all otherwise.

the times when my memory kicks in tend to be times when I have no pen, paper or even phone handy. by the time I've got something to make a list on I've FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING AGAIN :(((((((((((

I basically forgot to organise an eye test for a YEAR despite numerous reminders from my opticians. Finally got round to it when I was running out of contact lenses. Turns out my records have been DELETED and it's going to be the most tremendous faff getting new ones and I ONLY HAVE FIVE PAIRS LEFT :(

iPhone + Notes + trying to remember to check the notes + semi-regular sitting down with all the notes and crating a todo list = uh, wanting to die :(

I sit in front of a computer for about 12 hours on weekdays, I ought to be able to keep better notes

Instead, I tend to write everything in a small, easily lost notebook

I've tried all kinds of organizational systems and note-taking systems and nothing has ever really taken. HOWEVER, recently I happened upon the idea (specifically with respect to getting some of my writing thoughts in order) of using index cards. I constructed this cardboard sleeve that holds a bunch of index cards so I can carry them around with me and when I think of something, I write it on a card and then put it into the appropriate order in the "deck". It's so simple but it's really been quite a profound break from trying to transcribe my completely non-linear thoughts into linear lists in notebooks and such.

putting my fb post from the other day in here for posterity:

OMG you guys, I was so ticked at Taco Cabana a month ago when I got home and found out they'd shorted me a burrito. They didn't. I just found out it was in that little crevice between my passenger seat and the door. Eew.

xpost

I just have to remember to actually use this new system and to write things down, which is a whooooole other obstacle.

For those of us chained to desks: I have an Excel checklist that has four columns for each month and infinite rows for keeping track of my tasks, every month I add four more columns, merge cells if a task needs to be done biweekly or monthly, etc. There's a column at the end that is larger that I can keep report-specific notes in. Thought I'd mention this approach since it works so well for me! I even hyperlinked all the report titles so they open the various files or folders I need. First thing I open everyday and last thing I close.

Handwritten lists for me, almost always. Especially if I'm starting to feel that drowning panic of omg I'll never get everything done. But I only make lists of things that are achievable and can be crossed off relatively quickly - ie within the space of a week or two. But usually achieving the little things makes the big looming things that can't really be put on a list feel more doable. I dunno if that logic makes sense to anyone but me though

if there is an Excel-like program out there that doesn't make me hate it immediately, i would like to test-drive it for organizational purposes

iOS reminders and Evernote.

seriously i've used Excel spreadsheets for years at workplaces but i really don't know how to use Excel properly
i got pretty awesome at using Access for simple database stuff though. i think this is maybe an issue of visual (abstract?) thinking vs whatever kind of thinking Excel requires
xp

cool, i will look at those

my main form of daily organization is iphone notes lists + calendar, which works pretty well, really
but as far as individual projects go, oh, that is where things have gotten messy in the past. the file cards idea is cool. but i would like a digital version.

aww man rrobyn! Excel is my jam. I use it for everything. In this case, I just use it like a checklist - no formulas or anything intricate, just a useful and flexible series of grids. If you ever need help, Lexerators are standing by:
computer/programming/excel wizards! help an idiot!

<3 lexerators

i think i just don't like grids

I am both proud of my deep knowledge of Excel and hoping beyond hope that I never again have to excercise that knowledge in a professional context.

<3 Vegerator

It's okay if you don't like grids, r. I hope one of the other suggestions proves fruitful! I wish I had a tiny little Excel on my phone but I don't so I just use the Notes feature, poorly and absentmindedly.

I use the Google spreadsheet but for some reason, can't sort the columns anymore.

So I use my note pad and eight differently colored highlighters.

many xposts - thanks Jeff for reminding me about Evernote! I heard about it from android peeps a year or two ago but hadn't downloaded the iphone app. I'm gonna try it out.

I use Evernote all the time but just for recording ideas. And it's great for that! For me, though, any attempt at using it as an organizational tool or to keep track of legitimately important things would be a laughable failure, I'm sure.

VG, were you the one talking about getting an occasional.. tickle/twinge in your back? Because I feel like since I read that it has been happening every day! It was occasional before that but I think you cursed me. J'accuse!

Twas not me! HOW DARE U

You did this ;_;

I have two mugs on my desk, 1 contains water, the other contains frozen blueberries. As they have melted, sometimes they stick to the sides, so I've had to toss them out of the mug toward my mouth to get them unstick. A minute ago I was reading email and I went to fling some berries down my gullet and instead I got a face full of cold water. :(

i had a thing of almonds and a mug of water in a meeting, and i absent mindedly dipped my fingers into my water mug when i meant to reach for my almonds

i went to walk into the bathroom so i could watch myself eating doritos in the mirror, but then i remembered there wasnt a mirror

omg Jesse, I am dying. I wish I could have seen this happen.

xp you didn't have any Doritos either.

no they were actually supermarket own brand chips but i didnt want people to think less of me

oh Je55e. I laughed too, I actually covered my mouth and widened my eyes! Sorry babe!

I'm sorry Je55e that made me laugh til I cried

But as penance I will share that when I rinse off dirty dishes with the sink hose, 9 times out of 10 I grab it by the trigger and spray myself full pelt in the face. I CAN'T STOP IT FROM HAPPENING i DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME

Well here's the other thing: I did the exact same thing yesterday, but not as forcefully ;__;

i r dum

i went to walk into the bathroom so i could watch myself eating doritos in the mirror, but then i remembered there wasnt a mirror

??

aw yr not dumb. yr lovely, Je55e :)

Don't try to limit me, I can be both!

reach for the stars!

You should make "Dumb and Lovely" the tag line on your online dating profiles.

lol

it sounds like a low-end hair product

haha

and it does

best. thread. ever.

does anyone else get that thing where you remember all the little things you have to do ALL IN ONE GO and it stresses you out so much but you're in the middle of something else and then like literally a second later you've FORGOTTEN THEM ALL AGAIN and then half an hour later you remember them again but you're in the middle of another thing but it's compounded by the knowledge that you already remembered and then forgot and then you basically want to die

THIS, and more specifically, when I need a haircut I remember every Monday to book an appt, except that's the only day the salon is closed, so I think 'no problem, I'll call tomorrow' and then I forget until the next Monday ad infinitum

I just this morning remembered the detailed precis I'd formed in my mind last year for a play I wanted to write. Unfortunately, I only really remember the existence of the idea without many of the attendant details. Mark that one under 'arguments for maybe actually writing things the eff down now and then'.