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The International Movement for the Art of Life

Mike Sheldon - Project 4

Being organised is definitely not one of my giftings!  I am an innovator and so love new ideas and new projects. Because of this I find it very difficult to stick with a project through to its completion. I would rather start something else new. I have learned that as an innovator I need to quickly involve others who are maintainers in my ventures, so that when I move on to something new someone is there to carry on the work. This has been successful in many organisations and activities which are still active several years after I have left, so it is not all bad news. I have received the recognition that I am useful at the beginning of things.

But what about my own life and work?  There I have to do it all myself, so how can I make this a thing of beauty and a joy in my life rather than a burden. I have tried to organise myself in the past, but have always failed. I must have tried dozens of different systems over the years and my study is littered with old Filofaxes and other folders which never lived up to expectations.

So haw dare I try to start now, in my 68th year , to get it right? Well, you have to succeed sometime, and better late than never. I realise that no one solution will work for me, so I need to learn from others (such as John Truscott, who is an excellent expert on administration – see his web site for free downloadable articles on this very subject at www.john-truscott.co.uk ).

 I need to design an “innovators guide to organising themselves in order to bring completion”!
Project Title
How to organise myself and my life
December 2008 (Project 04)
Analysis of my needs

Much of my work is now self-directed, so I don’t have anyone over me making sure I keep to dead-lines. I see my difficulties as follows –

  1. I need to keep track of current tasks in all spheres of my life. The letters I have to write, the tasks I need to do soon. All the things people put in their “ToDo” lists, however they keep them. Because of advancing years it is increasingly difficult to remember things, and so written lists become obligatory.
  2. I need to make sure I make time for regular activities which are important. I need to make time for Jenny and grandchildren, as well as going to the gym, and leisure activities.
  3. I must keep in touch with the dozen or so projects I have running at any one time, with clear goals, timetables and exit strategies.
  4. I need to organise (again) my filing and archiving system. In this regard the article by John Truscott is essential reading (www.john-truscott.co.uk/resources/articles/a1.pdf ).
  5. I need to keep track of changes made to my computer files on two computers (desktop and portable), an external hard drive and several memory sticks.
  6. I have kept diaries for over 50 years. It would be nice to continue some sort of journal and be able to appreciate all that has happened in my life (to balance a poor memory)
  7. I now have hundreds of pictures, some printed (which Jenny wants us to sort soon) and even more in digital form which I need to make accessible, with captions as it is so easy to forget who and where a photo is of.
  8. Keep a record of all contacts, addresses, phone numbers etc and have them available where-ever I am.
  9. I need a research database to help me write articles and books, especially in the area of whole person medicine.
  10. I need to enjoy all of the above by seeing tasks accomplished with the minimum amount of pain and work. Finally I need to have systems which will now last me for the rest of my productive life.

I suspect that most of these problems are common to all of us, and I sense they will need a combination of high-tech and low-tech solutions. That of course means paper and computers. But what is the balance and how can I use current technology and ensure it doesn’t go out of date. Like many people I now have hundreds of old computer discs which I can’t access because modern computers don’t have the disc drives to read them. I didn’t copy them on at the time, so now they are “dead” – and yet I still keep them!

So now I must deal with the needs outlined above with systems which are –

    • Easy to use
    • Enjoyable
    • Not too expensive
    • Don’t take too much time
    • Are future proof
    • Deliver the goods
    • Look beautiful!
Solutions

These are my first thoughts and initial plans on how to tackle these problems.

1 Current Tasks

I have an ambivalence towards lists. Sometimes I make great long lists (a bit like this project) but suspect that the making of the list is a displacement activity used as an alternative to actually carrying out the tasks.

Plan

    • Devise an Excel based TODO list covering all areas of tasks I need to remember.
    • Put this into an on-line folder so always available.
    • Keep a print out in my “Current Folder” to always carry in my case.
    • This Current Folder will also contain other papers I need, and also keep things like receipts which I will need to file.
    • Put my portable on-line with a mobile internet dongle

2 Organising regular activities

This is really only a problem of communication with Jenny and then marking out time in our diaries to achieve these tasks. They will include a) household tasks b) joint tasks c) time for Jenny d) fitness times as well as time for projects as detailed below.

Plan

I first need to improve communications. It may amaze some of you that after 42 years Jenny and I still find it difficult to communicate well. Only the other morning we had a bust up over something I had done but failed to communicate. Perhaps this is a human failing, but it needs addressing. No other ideas at this stage, but I recognise that this is an area where planning is usually woefully absent.

3 Keeping track of projects

I am not a project organiser and yet am always starting new projects, and after the initial exciting stage let them drift off, feeling guilty that they are not completed, but not being able to monitor, delegate and see through to completion in all but a small minority of cases. I love saying “yes” to new things, but am reluctant to let go at a later stage. Thus I have too many projects on the go (just look at the list below!), and don’t do justice to any of them.

Plan

  1. First make a list of all on-going projects
  2. For each project keep a record of
    1. What are the goals of the project
    2. What tasks need to be done
    3. What is the time-table
    4. Record what progress is being made
    5. Define the end point
    6. Enable closure to be made.

The full list of projects I need to track are :-

  1. Whole Person Medicine
    1. WholeCare generally (eg finances, minutes etc)
    2. Publications with WholeCare and Grove Books
      1. ME research Fellows book
      2. Chaplains studies
      3. Health and illness
      4. A Whole Person Approach to health care
    3. Chaplains project with Karis
      1. National database of interested people
      2. Paper for BMJ
      3. BOOK written with Neil and Jan
      4. On going supervision of Claire Pollin
      5. Developing Spiritual Care Advisors
        1. Excel sheet to collect data
        2. Confidentiality leaflet
        3. FU from Nov 5th meeting
    4. WholeCare web site
    5. WPH trust web site should be my main repository for articles
    6. WPH Trust affairs, finances etc.
  2. Current medical employment activities
    1. GMC
    2. FHSAA
    3. TH PCT matters
    4. Appraisals
    5. SCR reports
  3. Ministry opportunities
    1. Prime visits
    2. Papers at WONCA etc.
    3. YWAM and other teaching
  4. Sheldon Genealogy
  5. “My third wife is the curate”
  6. Living Life as Art web site and movement
  7. EMCPA web site and movement
  8. Parish of Poplar web site
  9. Moving house and settling in retirement

.. and this list is not complete. So first I need to understand the totality of what I should do, and then make realistic plans to bring completion to each ...  before I die!

4 Filing system

This is a big one!  I really have experimented with dozens of different systems, and the carcasses of each one litters my study. The photo indicates some of the results, and of course it means I had difficulty in finding anything when I need it.

Plan

  • Re-read John Truscott’s article and make notes on archiving, retrieval etc.
  • Decide what folders to keep always with me as current essential papers.
  • Devise what, I hope, will be the last system I use!
 My Study

5  Computer files

I have to have two computers and up to now have synchronised by keeping files on the Freecom external hard drive. This has worked reasonably well, but I wish to explore the use of the internet in this respect.

Plan

    • Have internet access on both computers all the time, this implies a mobile phone dongle on the portable.
    • Is Google Chrome worth looking at, or are the editing facilities at www.onlinefilefolder.com sufficient to enable one master copy to be kept there, and downloaded whenever needed?
    • Outlook keeps a record of all files altered – learn how to use this.
    • Devise a protocol and recording system so I have synchronisation with back-up of all computer files.

6 Keeping a diary or journal

I have rarely kept a regular diary, noting that the only times I did make regular entries was when nothing very important or exciting was happening. The purpose at this stage in my life is to record the inner journey I am making and keep a record for the grand-children to read in the future.

Plan

    • Collect together all of my past diaries and have them accessible.
    • Continue my Church Mouse blog on www.parishofpoplar.com as this is a good record of life in our local Church.
    • Maintain my blog on www.drmikesheldon.com as the only journal or diary record. This is a personal blog which will survive me.
    • Make sure I keep back-ups of all Dreamweaver web pages in On Line File Folder.

7  Pictures

We all now take far too many pictures and then let them languish in boxes or in computer files. They are rarely properly labelled and sorted so that they can be a joy to ourselves and those who come after us. I need a system which only keeps those pictures worth keeping, and have them where I and others can find them.

Plan

    • Help Jenny organise our old photos into the many journals Jenny keeps.
    • Go through the  boxes of even older photos I inherited from my parents, and putting them in labelled boxes or envelopes in case anyone wants to see them in the future. Keep these boxes in a safe, dry storage place.
    • Look at where pictures are stored in my main computer and rationalise the filing system so that contemporaneous pictures are kept together.
    • Have a back-up in the clouds. Will they go into On Line File Folder? Is it worth using other sites like FlickR? Do some research.
    • Go through present computer files and prune about half of them which are not worth keeping.
    • Put tags and captions on all photos we keep with the basic information of date, names and places.
    • As new photos are loaded into the computer do the editing, filing and tagging straight away.

8  Contacts

At the moment names, addresses, e-mail and phone numbers are kept in  several different places – on two mobile phones (mine and Jenny’s), in my AOL account, in Outlook on my main computer, a copy in my portable computer (never up to date),and in www.plaxo.com on the internet. I also have various hard copies scattered around which of course are not up to date and too bulky to carry on me.

Plan

    • It seems sensible that a combination of Microsoft Outlook and Plaxo on the web allows synchronisation of all contacts and makes them available through any computer in the world.
    • As part of this solution I need to be able to connect my portable computer to the internet at any time.
    • At present my mobile phone also synchronises with Outlook and so all my addresses are also with me electronically at all times
    • Thus updating one entry should see all of them updated as Outlook and Plaxo synch regularly, and my mobile synchs with both computers. Plaxo also synchronises with AOL so all entries everywhere should be up to date.
    • Backup systems are present as the data is kept in 4 places, and also in computer backup files. One copy should always be kept “in the clouds” to future proof the system, and perhaps I need another on-line backup in my www.onlinefilefolder.com repository.

9 Research Database

I have collected many hundreds of articles and books. I have attempted to create a database of all these references and also made note files on their contents. None of this can I keep up or find when I need it. I must devise a simple way of keeping and recording relevant articles so that I can find them when necessary.

10 Doing it all as a work of art

Plan

    • On retreat at St Cuthman’s in Nov 2008 I drew up these plans and suggested actions.
    • As a matter of urgency I need to initiate some of the actions described and see early results.
    • But like my weight loss project it must not be another “flash in the pan” but be sustainable over many years.
    • Monitor progress regularly and make adjustments  and changes as necessary
    • Take advice when I don’t succeed

 
  So now having made these initial plans I record the progress made below, and provide some sort of analysis of success.
Results
  

 

 
               
Updated 11-May-2011