Okay, so today I messed around with this “GTD allocation” thing. It’s all about getting your tasks organized and, well, allocated, I guess. I’ve been feeling kinda swamped lately, so I figured I’d give it a shot.
My Messy Start
First, I just brain-dumped everything I could think of that I needed to do. Work stuff, home stuff, random errands… it all went onto a big, ugly list. Seriously, it was a mess. Looking at it was almost more overwhelming than not having a list!
Trying to Make Sense of It
Then, I tried to categorize things. I made some basic groups like “Work,” “Home,” “Personal,” and the dreaded “Other” category for all the stuff that didn’t fit neatly anywhere else. This helped a little, I guess. At least I could see where most of my time should be going.
- Work: Mostly project deadlines and meetings. Ugh.
- Home: Chores, bills, you know the drill.
- Personal: Finally got the gym.
- Other: This was basically a junk drawer of tasks.
The “Allocation” Part
This is where it got a little tricky. I tried to estimate how long each task would take. Let me tell you, I’m terrible at this. I always think things will take less time than they actually do. But I gave it my best shot, writing down a time next to each item. 15 minutes for this email, an hour for that report, 30 minutes to finally clean out that one drawer in the kitchen…
Putting It All Together (or Trying To)
Finally, I looked at my calendar and started blocking out time for these tasks. This is where the “allocation” really comes in, I think. It’s not just about what you need to do, but when you’re actually going to do it. I used different colors for each category, which made my calendar look like a rainbow threw up on it, but hey, it kinda worked.
The Results (So Far)
Honestly, it’s still a work in progress. I definitely feel a little more in control, but I also know that life happens and things will probably get shifted around. The biggest thing I learned is that just writing everything down and giving it a time slot, even if it’s a rough estimate, makes me feel a lot less stressed. I’m hoping that with a bit more to use, I’ll get better at this whole “GTD allocation” thing.
