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Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

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Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#21
This is the essential principle behind Getting Things Done. If you’ve got to do something, and it takes more than 90 seconds, book time for it.

If you need someone else’s input, schedule a time to check in with them for their inputs if they don’t get back to you by X time.

Been using this for years and it has worked really well for me.

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#22

This is the essential principle behind Getting Things Done . If you’ve got to do something, and it takes more than 90 seconds, book time for it. If you need someone else’s input, schedule a time to check in with them for their inputs if they don’t get back to you by X time. Been using this for years and it has worked really well for me.

90 seconds?? Is that negotiable? Because that sounds to me like a stupidly short time.

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#23
> Make every task you would like to do — including meetings, “to-do’s”, doing nothing, watching Game of Thrones — a calendar entry.

If your stress level is so high that doing nothing becomes a task you have to schedule ahead of time, you’ve got bigger problems than a calendar app can solve.

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#24
It's nice in theory, but it's very cumbersome in practice.

Some things, absolutely. Maybe you can even schedule most things when the stars align. But not all tasks fit into a calendar (think subtasks in a project that you don't know when you'll handle, if ever).

If all you have is the calendar hammer, then all tasks looks like nails.

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#25
As a neurodivergent, the idea of scheduling this tightly makes me physically sick. I do need structure, even to the point of "I'm going to veg for two hours", but having it in a calendar entry will make me immediately ignore it.

To lists work really well, but I have to have a (at least) two-tier system. Stuff I'm doing now and a backlog. If all I've got is the backlog, it's too overwhelming

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#26
I have replaced my calendar with todos. But not to the extent of this author.

I don’t fill it with junk — “watching game of thrones” (wtf), but it’s filled with items that generally have a due date.

- due date for water bill

- due date for credit card bill

Then it’s repeated monthly.

I have my creditors setup to auto withdraw from a throwaway bank account (I only keep it funded with the amount needed to pay my bills). Calendar reminder is there to remind me to check if throwaway bank account is funded sufficiently.

I do kind of like the idea of a “done” calendar which will give a better visual indication rather than just dismissing the cal notification

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#27
post #26

I have replaced my calendar with todos. But not to the extent of this author. I don’t fill it with junk — “watching game of thrones” (wtf), but it’s filled with items that generally have a due date. - due date for water bill - due date for credit card bill Then it’s repeated monthly. I have my creditors setup to auto withdraw from a throwaway bank account (I only keep it funded with the amount needed to pay my bills)…

TIL throwaway bank accounts are a thing.

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#28
Calendar doesn't work for me and since my ADHD diagnoses I know why -- I need a constant rotating set of micro and macro lists to barely keep some perspective of more than 2 days from now and get shit done.

Moving everything to a calendar immediately becomes background ignore noise for me and it's even worse because it comes from that bothersome box the phone

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#29
post #26

I have replaced my calendar with todos. But not to the extent of this author. I don’t fill it with junk — “watching game of thrones” (wtf), but it’s filled with items that generally have a due date. - due date for water bill - due date for credit card bill Then it’s repeated monthly. I have my creditors setup to auto withdraw from a throwaway bank account (I only keep it funded with the amount needed to pay my bills)…

TIL throwaway bank accounts are a thing.

To be honest, it’s a bit of overkill. The protection afforded here is against creditors with poor technical expertise or perhaps a computer error.

Many stories of creditors auto withdrawing more than what was authorized. If a creditor was supposed to be paid $100, but somehow they withdrew $10,000.

I’ll be out of that money for an unspecified moment of time. By having a minimally funded bank account, that withdrawal attempt for $10K will get declined.

Unfortunately in USA, ACH (direct debit or credit) transactions do not have the same protections as debit or credit cards.

Re: Calendar, Not Todos (2018)

#30

As a neurodivergent, the idea of scheduling this tightly makes me physically sick. I do need structure, even to the point of "I'm going to veg for two hours", but having it in a calendar entry will make me immediately ignore it. To lists work really well, but I have to have a (at least) two-tier system. Stuff I'm doing now and a backlog. If all I've got is the backlog, it's too overwhelming

I'm interested to know how that makes one neurodivergent. I have the same aversion towards calendar entries, and I have yet to pinpoint what it is that creates this aversion. It's not necessarily that I don't like to do the actual event or task, it feels more like putting it in the calendar makes it official and I will force myself to do it because calendar and I hate to forfeit on things. This then leading to anxiety, what if I really don't want to do this now, or I'm unable to do it so I have to reschedule which triggers yet another confrontation with the dreaded calendar (finding a new entry).
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