After years of trying out various methods of organising my various to-do lists, I think I came up with the ultimate way – at least for the moment. It was actually inspired by scenes from movies, where investigators stick many post-its on a wall with snippets of info that needed piecing together. My past method of listing project ideas on slips pf paper as text wasn’t very effective because the wordiness and lengthiness made it hard to see the whole picture. These lists tend to be chuck aside sooner or later too – due to the tiresomeness of running through them.
The picture above is an A1-sized picture of a Bodhisattva printed on a mounting board. It was previously used as a signboard for a Dharma event; am thus reusing it creatively here as a decorative noticeboard. Serves as a nice reminder of how the projects are linked to mindful Bodhisattva practice too. Because its surface is smoother than a wall, it’s more user-friendly if shifting post-its is going to be frequent. They can also be stuck using meaningful formats (e.g. as a mind-map), instead of the simple blocky layout above.
Instead of using only standard yellow post-its, I got colourful ones to add more life and attention-grabbing contrast. Colour-coding for grouping of projects is useful too. Besides using only words, I added symbols with a bold marker for stronger impressions – making them viewable even from afar. A normal pen is used to add new ideas related to each project on the corresponding post-it. More post-its can be stuck to extend writing space.
Now… with this colourful to-do board on a wall in the living-room in my line of sight before my computer, it’s hard to forget how much I have to do, how I should not procrastinate, and how I should just get down to action! As a self-disciplinary rule, I told myself that the post-its should not be so many as to fill the entire board; the projects should be completed as swiftly as possible. The idea is to look at the board and pick one post-it to focus on at any one time, and to remove it after the task it represents is done. You might like to try this method! Do let me know if it works (or not) for you!
Nice way to remember..i normally write in my diary, and often and not sometimes I also didn’t refer..haha !
Perhaps it’s time to transfer the lists to post-its!
Use an online version of post-it notes to save on all the paper and trees you would get through.
Good point. Which reminds me… I used to use the Stickies program in my Macbook. But it doesn’t allow drawing and because it’s in the computer, I soon forgot about the many post-its put up. The large external board forces me to catch sight of the to-dos every day! I plan to keep the expired post-its on another board, as a decorative piece representing completed projects.