Day 13: GTD, Procrastination, Commitments, and Moving Ahead

Falling Behind

Its day 13 of this major GTD implementation and I am falling behind on my commitment to myself to get everything sorted, filed, and put away in a "timely" manner, meaning do it at least before our spring break when I ostensibly don't have to teach for a week. I wanted to have a real "break" during spring break, or at least nothing on my mind but analyzing data, writing, and preparing a poster presentation for a scientific meeting coming up the first weekend in May, in Vancouver. At least we found my lost passport in the first round of sorting, after piling everything in our living room. I filed that quickly before I had time to lose it again. But I regret to admit that there are still many boxes --I might know what is in them, or sort of, but the contents should have been tossed or filed by now, as I move up to the end of the second week of GTD implementation, full-scale, head-on style. I have to make myself resume sorting, trashing, filing. The big stumbling block, I have to confess, is what files go where, I vaguely realized that insight as I was sitting around ruminating this afternoon, about other things I haven't gotten done. I really got it while sitting here writing about this process.

Color Coding and What's Stopping Me: Making a Decision
So now I know what has stopped me from a rapid powering through of everything, for well over a week, since March 3rd to be exact. The problem started then, but I didn't realize until this afternoon what the problem was. I can't seem to make a decision about where to house different sections of my files. I have many categories of files, and I even have a color-coding system, using those round brightly colored sales circles that you can put on anything and peel it off as easily as it goes on. I have a mind map up of my color coding system, i.e. I LOOK very organized, but that is deceptive. Since I can't decide what files go where, it doesn't matter if all of my files were already color coded which they aren't; color-coded or not, they are still piled in various parts of the house (not all still in the living room). Yes, they are sitting there and I feel foolish admitting what the hang up has been, that has apparently led me to a bout of procrastination. The thing I am really procrastinating is making that decision.

A Crisis in Wooden File Cabinets
Now let me explain further. I already had many (and I do mean many) file cabinets in the house before this project began. However I knew there weren't enough to hold all the papers I have that I (no doubt erroneously) think I should hold on to. On Saturday, March 3rd, two four drawer and one three drawer wooden cabinets came into the house, which when added to my other file cabinets, is surely enough to house even my excessive amount of papers, articles and more articles, my own endless stream of letters, emails, articles, and finally old data print outs, and old questionnaires from old studies (well I have to keep those at least seven years, after a study is published). Naturally not all my file cabinets fit in one room. I have the equivalent of 5 files drawers in my office, 7 file drawers in our living room, 3 file drawers separating the dining room and the living room, 8 file drawers in the entering hall way, 15 file drawers in our "back room, " and finally, another 8 file drawers in our bedroom. This comes to a grand total of 38 file drawers. Now some of them are smaller than others, the two drawer file cabinets are not quite as deep as the 3 and 4 drawers, and hold less than the lateral file (Its huge, and hard to open and close). Also the 6 drawers in hall (two cabinets, three drawers a piece) are so packed with old files, much of it possibly needed, that I can't open them easily, it takes all of my weight pulling on them. This is an untenable situation. So now I really see the problem, having reviewed in public this problem which is in some way, awfully personal. Look I sleep with 4 files drawers right beside me, with just enough space between them and our bed for me to open them and use them.

This then is the problem. I have 38 file drawers to choose from, and I can't decide which category should go where, or even which category should be on which floor of our house. By category I mean things like 1) articles about evolutionary psychology 2)articles about animal behavior, 3) articles about psychotherapy, 4) personal medical records for everyone in the family, 5) correspondence 6) social psychology articles, 7) Files related to teaching (either about teaching, or the products of teaching). That's enough, there's lots more, but you get the idea.

A New Plan of Action: Strategizing & Coming Up with a New Tactic
Putting it this way, I think some things are going to clear and that I will make a decision right now as I sit here writing, I'll let my brain be creative and logical all at the same time. Hopefully this will break my spell of procrastination. Knowing however, how difficult this job is for me, I am not going to plan on finishing anything, but instead do the time blocking method again. I'll begin by pulling out Seah's Task-Order-Up form.

http://davidseah.com/archives/2007/01/15/the-task-order-up-2007-editions/

This form includes three separate progress trackers on one page. Its the perfect form for what's ahead of me, zeroing in on the different piles and "gone through once banker boxes." Seah modeled the task-order-up after the hanging waitresses use to communicate multiple orders with the short order cook in old style restaurant. I'll use one progress tracker for each "area" to be attacked in my war against chaos.

Next I'll go around the house and note each pile to be sorted, organized and filed, and have a column be for each area or pile of concern. It might take 3 or even 4 or 5 task-order-up forms (meaning possibly having 12 or more 1/3 page forms. It sounds elaborate but it isn't. Having organized the work, then I'll go to it, in 15 minute intervals. Otherwise I'll never be able to even begin the task. But before I do that I need to make a decision about what categories of files go where, write it down, and stick to it. Hey I wonder if this is just another example of my problem with planning, doing almost everything on the fly? I have to plan this however, or I won't be making a decision about where to file what, and I'll remain in a state of procrastination. That could conceivably go on until next Thanksgiving if I'm not careful. Right now I am saved by a call from a client that just came in.