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Looking for Clues
Izzie is beginning to suspect one of the real reasons for her incurable addiction to books. As well as being paper teddy bears or Portkeys to magical and mysterious worlds, they serve as a source for all sorts of inspiring or useful stuff. After all life is too short to reinvent the wheel.
After many years of experience came to the conclusion that it was silly having two separate little black books for the year. The first one is the Scrooge book which is the receptacle for a ritual indulged in for the last 30 years and kept up not just from habit but for its interesting and unintended side effects. Even before reading the inspiring “Your Money or Your Life - 9 steps to financial independence” had been in the habit of writing down every single silver sickle spent and on what. Did not take too long to work out that pocket diaries were the best way to do this and that writing start and finish totals for each day provided a useful check for any missing pennies.
The usual procedure is to remember the day and write items in chronological order. This is not only good practice for keeping those grey cells active but often a quick glance at a date and the list of things is sufficient to remember a ridiculous amount of detail even ten or more years later without much effort at all. Not sure if there is a point to this but it is quite surprising how many memories a simple list of objects and their cost can conjure
Started up a second diary running concurrently for miscellaneous stuff such as ‘to do’ lists, appointments, events, interesting radio programs, quotes and a repository for letters, postcards and assorted bits and pieces. But by April it would be getting a bit fat and unwieldy and abandoned soon after.
This year had the inspired idea of getting an Octavo day to a page diary instead of the old week to a page slimline diaries. This would provide space for both scrooge scribblings and other squigglings. It was the one stop spot for everything and proved much more useful than the old way of doing things. The minute something interesting popped up it would find its way onto the relevant date page so events got missed not due to forgetting about them but choosing to do something else instead.
The only area where it has not worked is in sending parcels to people. A week’s warning before the most appropriate dispatch date is not much use when you are still stuck thinking what on earth to put in the box. As postal charges reach ridiculous rates the list of suitable things to send rapidly diminishes.
“To do” lists got relegated to the notes pages at the end of each month. They served as a sort of dumping ground for miscellaneous matters. But still felt quite happy with having a spot to offload stuff. Had noticed that ideas about things to do so often occur in situations where it is impossible to act on them and then when the chance arises they mysteriously disappear from consciousness
Ideas and titles for stories could easily be sorted out with a simple A-Z index book which goes everywhere but other suitable user friendly storage for other stuff is somewhat trickier
So it must have been the calling of the inner serpent that led the Izzie to take a second peak at the stash acquired at the annual Baptist Seminary book sale held in April. Used to be a bit of a bitch and ask if they had any Potters. It was like as if the Izzie had just summoned Baalzebub.
This year for the first time there were three or four Potters slinking about waiting to be snatched. Got a copy of the first one as it will not be too long before the ickle niecekins is old enough to be read them and Izzie wants to be the one to corrupt her innocent little mind.
Also got a copy of “The Amber Spyglass” for a ridiculous $3 especially considering it was an ex library hardback so is a tough fat beastie. Intending to give this series a chance in spite of hating most of the second book. Maybe it is a bit unfair not to start at the beginning. Got “Northern Lights” as a cheapie too so there is no longer any excuse for not giving them another go. The idea sounds so promising but just found the tone of the second tome to be so pretentious
But the two books of interest here are “Hamlet’s Blackberry” and “Getting Things Done”
The latter cost the princely sum of $1 and it still had the original $28.95 Boffins bookstore sticker on the back.
The bit that caught the serpent’s attention was the concept of capturing everything and getting it all out of your head and onto some sort of external storage device. Or as this python would put it “Popping it all into the Pensieve”
Too much stuff kept in the head clutters it up and makes it all confused and confuddled and in a constant state of overload and anxiety. Too true we thinks. But the trick is putting all this information some place where you can find it when you need it.
Had some very strange and spooky experiences just over ten years ago when seeing some peculiar patterns in all sorts of assorted thin wispy strands of thoughts made flesh with emerald ink on paper. Joining the dots changed everything so had absolutely no doubt about the truth of this concept. Sort of like ‘The Artist’s Way’ at work with the odd management buzzword instead of the ‘Great Creator’ fluffiness
This guy David Allen has been doing this stuff for some twenty something years so why not take advantage of his experience?
These two basic concepts of getting everything out of your head and asking ‘What is the next step?’ led to the Izzie finally pulling out that passport after literally months of procrastination. After all, the thought of locating the infernal thing only ever occurred at work, on the bus or in some distant coffee shop. Never ever in the bedroom where the relevant expanding file is located.
These tactics could prove most useful for the present three year plan. Not just for generating a list of 50 things but to actually achieve them. But the tricky bit is finding some useful sort of paper based way of organizing all the assorted ideas and items
Been also trying to find a way to do a pantry inventory of all munchies bought in the new financial year as a means of getting that bad hoarding habit under control. Books last a long time but food doesn’t and it is a bad and wasteful habit. But every previous attempt (and there’s been at least 5 “This time it’s going to be different” new beginnings in this calendar year) has inevitably ended in failure.
A bit like all those futile new years’ resolutions’ not to get upset or frustrated over silly little things which inevitably failed after only a few days. But then one day completely unexpectedly and without any effort at all the easily lit short fuse had lengthened considerably and was almost completely unignitable. It was like being an impartial Martian - detached but not indifferent. The change was so profound that even the Izzie parents noticed and wondered what the hell had happened to turn a miserable Moaning Myrtle and neurotic nut job into such a happy and content creature. Such a pity that all the magic fairy dust has well and truly worn off now and it is almost like a return to the days of darkness but with a sad nostalgia for several most magical ‘emerald years’.
This state of uncluttered mindfulness and relaxation is precisely what David Allen claims that his techniques and tricks promote. Having inadvertently tried some of them, the Izzie is not going to argue with his claims. But it’s the Grail that this greedy serpent wants.
Intending to devote these darkest days to decluttering the old serpent skull and sorting out the scraps of paper that get filled in the process. There’s cobwebs to be dusted out and Dementors to be evicted and a bright shiny Pensieve to be polished and filled with silver threads. But got to go out and find it first.
It should be an interesting mission
After many years of experience came to the conclusion that it was silly having two separate little black books for the year. The first one is the Scrooge book which is the receptacle for a ritual indulged in for the last 30 years and kept up not just from habit but for its interesting and unintended side effects. Even before reading the inspiring “Your Money or Your Life - 9 steps to financial independence” had been in the habit of writing down every single silver sickle spent and on what. Did not take too long to work out that pocket diaries were the best way to do this and that writing start and finish totals for each day provided a useful check for any missing pennies.
The usual procedure is to remember the day and write items in chronological order. This is not only good practice for keeping those grey cells active but often a quick glance at a date and the list of things is sufficient to remember a ridiculous amount of detail even ten or more years later without much effort at all. Not sure if there is a point to this but it is quite surprising how many memories a simple list of objects and their cost can conjure
Started up a second diary running concurrently for miscellaneous stuff such as ‘to do’ lists, appointments, events, interesting radio programs, quotes and a repository for letters, postcards and assorted bits and pieces. But by April it would be getting a bit fat and unwieldy and abandoned soon after.
This year had the inspired idea of getting an Octavo day to a page diary instead of the old week to a page slimline diaries. This would provide space for both scrooge scribblings and other squigglings. It was the one stop spot for everything and proved much more useful than the old way of doing things. The minute something interesting popped up it would find its way onto the relevant date page so events got missed not due to forgetting about them but choosing to do something else instead.
The only area where it has not worked is in sending parcels to people. A week’s warning before the most appropriate dispatch date is not much use when you are still stuck thinking what on earth to put in the box. As postal charges reach ridiculous rates the list of suitable things to send rapidly diminishes.
“To do” lists got relegated to the notes pages at the end of each month. They served as a sort of dumping ground for miscellaneous matters. But still felt quite happy with having a spot to offload stuff. Had noticed that ideas about things to do so often occur in situations where it is impossible to act on them and then when the chance arises they mysteriously disappear from consciousness
Ideas and titles for stories could easily be sorted out with a simple A-Z index book which goes everywhere but other suitable user friendly storage for other stuff is somewhat trickier
So it must have been the calling of the inner serpent that led the Izzie to take a second peak at the stash acquired at the annual Baptist Seminary book sale held in April. Used to be a bit of a bitch and ask if they had any Potters. It was like as if the Izzie had just summoned Baalzebub.
This year for the first time there were three or four Potters slinking about waiting to be snatched. Got a copy of the first one as it will not be too long before the ickle niecekins is old enough to be read them and Izzie wants to be the one to corrupt her innocent little mind.
Also got a copy of “The Amber Spyglass” for a ridiculous $3 especially considering it was an ex library hardback so is a tough fat beastie. Intending to give this series a chance in spite of hating most of the second book. Maybe it is a bit unfair not to start at the beginning. Got “Northern Lights” as a cheapie too so there is no longer any excuse for not giving them another go. The idea sounds so promising but just found the tone of the second tome to be so pretentious
But the two books of interest here are “Hamlet’s Blackberry” and “Getting Things Done”
The latter cost the princely sum of $1 and it still had the original $28.95 Boffins bookstore sticker on the back.
The bit that caught the serpent’s attention was the concept of capturing everything and getting it all out of your head and onto some sort of external storage device. Or as this python would put it “Popping it all into the Pensieve”
Too much stuff kept in the head clutters it up and makes it all confused and confuddled and in a constant state of overload and anxiety. Too true we thinks. But the trick is putting all this information some place where you can find it when you need it.
Had some very strange and spooky experiences just over ten years ago when seeing some peculiar patterns in all sorts of assorted thin wispy strands of thoughts made flesh with emerald ink on paper. Joining the dots changed everything so had absolutely no doubt about the truth of this concept. Sort of like ‘The Artist’s Way’ at work with the odd management buzzword instead of the ‘Great Creator’ fluffiness
This guy David Allen has been doing this stuff for some twenty something years so why not take advantage of his experience?
These two basic concepts of getting everything out of your head and asking ‘What is the next step?’ led to the Izzie finally pulling out that passport after literally months of procrastination. After all, the thought of locating the infernal thing only ever occurred at work, on the bus or in some distant coffee shop. Never ever in the bedroom where the relevant expanding file is located.
These tactics could prove most useful for the present three year plan. Not just for generating a list of 50 things but to actually achieve them. But the tricky bit is finding some useful sort of paper based way of organizing all the assorted ideas and items
Been also trying to find a way to do a pantry inventory of all munchies bought in the new financial year as a means of getting that bad hoarding habit under control. Books last a long time but food doesn’t and it is a bad and wasteful habit. But every previous attempt (and there’s been at least 5 “This time it’s going to be different” new beginnings in this calendar year) has inevitably ended in failure.
A bit like all those futile new years’ resolutions’ not to get upset or frustrated over silly little things which inevitably failed after only a few days. But then one day completely unexpectedly and without any effort at all the easily lit short fuse had lengthened considerably and was almost completely unignitable. It was like being an impartial Martian - detached but not indifferent. The change was so profound that even the Izzie parents noticed and wondered what the hell had happened to turn a miserable Moaning Myrtle and neurotic nut job into such a happy and content creature. Such a pity that all the magic fairy dust has well and truly worn off now and it is almost like a return to the days of darkness but with a sad nostalgia for several most magical ‘emerald years’.
This state of uncluttered mindfulness and relaxation is precisely what David Allen claims that his techniques and tricks promote. Having inadvertently tried some of them, the Izzie is not going to argue with his claims. But it’s the Grail that this greedy serpent wants.
Intending to devote these darkest days to decluttering the old serpent skull and sorting out the scraps of paper that get filled in the process. There’s cobwebs to be dusted out and Dementors to be evicted and a bright shiny Pensieve to be polished and filled with silver threads. But got to go out and find it first.
It should be an interesting mission