03.28.08
Out of sight, out of mind
The papers I threw into my in-box the other day stayed there the rest of the week, just as I feared they would. I totally forgot about them. Despite having my in-box on top of my desk, it’s outside of my line of sight when I’m facing my computer, which is most of the day. So anything that lands in it is basically ‘out of sight, out of mind’ as far as my AD/HD brain is concerned. I know left-brained people (like my husband) don’t understand this concept. His paper and email in-boxes are always cleaned out, every day. Nothing sits or piles up- ever!
Before leaving for the day, I grabbed those papers out of the in-box and clipped a “To File” note to them. I put them next to my computer, where I’d be forced to look at them Monday morning. That way I can be assured they won’t lie there all next week, slowly being buried by new papers that land on top of them.
Speaking of always emptying an email in-box (oh, not mine, of course)– my husband deletes or prints out his emails every day, so his in-box is squeaky clean. The other day, he was trying to sign up for online banking at our new bank. I told him we already did that when we opened accounts there last fall– didn’t he get the confirmation email like I did? He checked his email and well– of course it wasn’t there. I searched my 1,200+ messages and found it within seconds (thanks to Yahoo’s email search box).
Ha! The Packrat strikes again! I proved that although I keep just about everything, I can usually find something somebody needs. People think I’m organized, but the real secret is that I never throw anything away. The trick is finding it when I need it…
03.04.08
Progress
Last week I continued to work on spot-cleaning of my hanging files whenever I was waiting for files to copy & paste or hard drives to back up. I went through a file on authority control and dumped stuff that was 10+ years old. The information on those papers represented most of what I’ve learned over the years about authority records and authority control, but most of it is available on the AUTOCAT discussion list’s archives. I bet I haven’t consulted those papers since I first printed them off and stuffed them in the file, so tossing them wasn’t the big deal I thought it would be.
Meanwhile, I’ve begun taking Adderall XR for ADHD. Wow! What a difference it makes. I took my first dose Friday around 10:30 am, assured by the pharmacist it wasn’t too late in the day to take a dose of this extended-release stimulant drug. Was he ever wrong! I felt as though I injected a triple shot of espresso coffee and was in hyper-overdrive all day, able to leap tall mountains in a single bound.
I was still going at 2 am Saturday morning and my mind raced through vivid, psychotic dreams all night. I awoke at 6 am not because I was refreshed after 4 hours’ sleep, but because sunlight was streaming in my bedroom window and the cat was meowing piteously for breakfast. I found an extra pillow and buried my face under it, effectively shutting out both the sunlight and the cat and forced myself back to sleep.
Saturday, I took my dose earlier in the morning and sailed through the day shopping with my teenage daughter and dealing with ATT to resolve the issue surrounding her suddenly deceased, under-warranty cell phone. I felt super-efficient, able to stay on-task, make decisions, and see things through to the end. When the Adderall wore off around 5 pm, I had hopes I could get to sleep easier that night. I didn’t feel near as wired as I had the day before. Three glasses of wine and a midnight bedtime seemed to work better, although I still had vivid dreams most of the night. I slept until 9 am Sunday morning, missing church, but feeling much more refreshed.
I debated on Sunday whether or not to take another dose. What if I couldn’t get to sleep Sunday night? What if I didn’t take it and had withdrawal symptoms? Adderall is a Schedule II controlled substance– very scary stuff, so I feel as though I’m playing with fire. Like fire, it can be very helpful or it can severely burn you. I liked the feelings of focus, follow-through, and efficiency I felt on Saturday. I had a lot to accomplish on Sunday, so I decided to take a dose.
One of the things I like about taking Adderall is that I really can focus on tasks, especially the undesirable or boring ones– like reviewing my employees’ work. Procrastination is simply wiped away. Yesterday, I tackled books with the ugliest call number problems and dove into cataloging challenges that have been lying around my office for months. Two copies of the same book with different call numbers? No problem! Cataloging automobile maintenance examination study guides? Bring ‘em on! How about that Indiana Code with confusing replacement volumes? I can handle it.
Hanging files– you’d better watch out. I see a heartless purge in your future.
02.28.08
Controlling paper clutter
There was an article in our Sunday paper where readers shared with Sara Noel of Frugal Village their tips on how to control paper clutter. While I’m still struggling to figure out which method would work for me, I can tell you which ones won’t (hint: all of them).
Go paperless: this reader scanned paper documents and saved the digital images to a removable hard drive. Bad idea for me: I already have a problem organizing my born digital documents, much less any I would scan in order to eliminate paper from my life.
Box system: this reader put all of their paperwork into a box and at the end of the month, went through the box and paid bills, sent birthday cards, etc.
Bad idea for me: I’d never go through the box and bills would go unpaid. I already have a hard enough time sending birthday cards despite having a whole desk drawer full of them. Maybe I should send them all on Jan. 1st every year.
Immediate action: this reader opens mail next to their filing cabinet.
Bad idea for me: this is way too easy, therefore I don’t do it. Procrastination doesn’t allow it.
Prioritize: this reader pays all bills online and stores things in binders if they think it’s worth the time to punch holes in paper and file it that way.
Bad idea for me: I don’t trust online bill paying (yet) and who has time to punch holes in papers? I just let ‘em pile up. They don’t fit in my overstuffed binders anyway.
Portable file, one for each family member: this reader handles papers only once and files papers in boxes or portable files according to family member.
Bad idea for me: I would need extra large boxes for all the papers I keep that pertain to my kids (oops! already have ‘em and they’re full!) and what fun is it if I can’t pick up the paper several times and never know what to do with it?
Self-discipline: this reader says don’t waste time filing papers you don’t need to save. Besides, it’s probably on the Web if you need it.
Bad idea for me: I don’t have any self-discipline and can’t figure out what to keep or pitch. Besides, I’d probably have to bookmark it on the Web so I can come back to it later. Then I’d have to organize my bookmarks.
Create deadlines: this reader creates boxes with deadlines for catalogs, throwing them out a month after they arrive.
Bad idea for me: who has so much free time they can track the age of their mail-order catalogs? I wait until there’s a huge pile and the year on them doesn’t match the current year in which I’m living, then I pitch them.
P.S. I recently found out I have a moderate case of AD/HD, so I’m going to have to work twice as hard as the next gal to stay on top of projects, mail, email, paperwork, and everything else. Wish me luck. If anyone with AD/HD has practical, useful advice, please share it. 
02.24.08
To-do lists and GTD
Have you ever felt you heard something on the radio that you were meant to hear, because it came on at just the right time? If you had been in the car at another time of the day or tuned in to a different station, you would have missed something important? This is exactly what happened the other day when I heard a story on NPR.
The story was about to-do lists and GTD (Getting Things Done). David Allen, author of Getting Things Done and of the website with the same name, Getting Things Done, recommended using Post-It notes to write down ideas and thoughts that run through your mind (check– I do that already with scraps of paper– not sure it makes me more organized). Doing this, he claimed, freed up your mind to continue working on whatever was at hand. Since I need to figure out how to organize all those scraps of paper, I think I should read his book. Our library has copies of it, so I’ll have put it to the test. There aren’t too many organizing systems that work for me.
One of the resources mentioned on the NPR page was 43 Foldersby Merlin Mann. This site is based on Mann’s email inbox solution, which contains tips on handling your email inbox, as well as other GTD tips based on Allen’s book. Hmmm…. looks like I need to take some time reading Mann’s tips, since my inbox is flooded with up to 100 emails per day.
I’m still trudging through 4 Weeks to an Organized Life with AD/HDby Jeffrey Freed and Joan Shapiro. The problem is, I’m too disorganized and distracted to finish the book and will have to surrender it to the library. Once I discovered a glaring typo (a bad find & replace put the letters AD/HD into the word ‘addition’ in several places throughout the book), I had a hard time continuing it. Again, there aren’t too many organizing systems that work for me. If I can ever finish this book, it will be interesting to see if it provides any lasting value for me.
