Do you find yourself forgetting variable tasks?

Have you missed out on million dollar ideas because you wrote them down and then forgot about them in the abyss?

Are your to-do lists so long that they’ve become unmanageable and inefficient?

You are not alone!!

Let’s face it - life is complicated. Gone are the days of the one paragraph job descriptions. Extinct are the times of clear a→b projects. Forgotten are the memories of executing one role at a time. Our world is a fast-paced, merciless, survival of the fittest existence. And every day, with each new advancement or automation, we are expected to evolve, adapt, and keep up with the world’s progress. Anyone else feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders? Yeah, me too.

Whether you’re a (non) working parent, gig worker, employee, contractor, advocate, philanthropist…nevertheless, you likely have multiple daily roles to balance. And within each one of these roles, is a set of recurring and variable tasks that must be managed. 

The stay-at-home parent that has to manage each kid’s daily, extracurricular, and social calendars, while maintaining a home (and for some even maintaining homeschooling and/or their partner).

The gig worker that juggles multiple points of contact, platforms, communications, expectations, and responsibilities.

The philanthropist that is organizing multiple vendors for fundraising events, networking events, media appearances and affiliates, for a number of different organizations.

The roles that used to be seen as “easy street”, now rival some of the most complex business roles. This is a direct result of the advancements and automations our world continues to make. The more automated a process becomes, the more time is freed up for you to take on more responsibilities. This continuous evolution and behavior pattern has led us, as a society, to a culture of burnout; over scheduled, overworked, and over tasked. 

As our society has progressed and become more aware of our collective burnout, the next wave of automations came in the forms of organization and management. By acknowledging the inability to process and retain such a dramatic volume of data, we were able to identify our shortcomings in the interest of providing tools to aid our process. Some of these tools include creating routines, using to-do lists, scheduling time specific tasks on a calendar, and writing. While these are all wonderful aids to use, each still has its own shortcomings. Creating routines worked well when we each owned 1-2 roles, but in this multi-role world, we live in the variables. Using to-do lists can absolutely be effective, until one or more of your lists get so long that traction becomes impossible to obtain. Scheduling time sensitive tasks on a calendar is also very effective…for time specific tasks, but only about 35% - 50% of our daily tasks are time specific. And finally, writing is also a helpful tool, but not so much for organization (proactive) as much as documentation (reactive). Sometimes, a combination of these tactics can be efficient enough to just barely “meet the mark” by doing the minimum that is required of you. When you are performing at your minimum, inevitably, something will fall through the cracks. The days when your calendar is over scheduled, your to-do list is too long to make any sense of, your routine is long since shattered, and your writing only provides a record of your chaos, that is where it will happen; a missed deadline, forgotten pick-up, overdue task, etc.

So, what’s the right method to stay organized? As the old adage goes, “fight fire with fire”, or in this case, “chaos with chaos”. Enter the Post-It. Created by mistake in 1968 by a researcher at 3M, the Post-It made its debut to the world labeled as a failed adhesive project. It wasn’t until 1977 that Post-Its even reached the market, and another two years to be considered a successful product. And what a handy little product it is! With multiple sizes and colors, the organizational opportunities are vast. But, how can Post-Its enhance our existing tools? Let’s take a look!

In creating and maintaining a routine, we must be flexible in the timing in order to preserve the big picture. Routines are best served when we build and manage them in a specific chronological order. Any variables thrown into the mix defy the element of the routine itself. For instance, let’s say your morning routine consists of walking the dog, doing your stretches, showering, getting dressed, making breakfast, and then driving to work. Now let’s say your dog got sick overnight, so you have to spend 30 minutes cleaning up the mess and 20 minutes giving the dog a bath. That’s almost a full hour of variables, which means at least one piece of your routine will have to be sacrificed. Or so we think - that’s where Post-Its come in. Instead of just saying, “I don’t have time to do my stretches or make breakfast today”, acknowledge that you don’t have time this morning, and write a reminder for yourself: “Pick up breakfast on the way in!” and “Do stretches when you get home!”. Then attach the notes where you’ll be sure to see them in time.

When using a to-do list, it can be all too easy to let your list(s) get out of control. When a list gets too long, it becomes impossible to prioritize and even harder to manage. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. Even if you have the wherewithal to break your lists down into digestible chunks, the subsequent and variable tasks that arise will negate that forethought. There are a variety of sizes, colors, and shapes of Post-Its that you can use to balance the subsequent chaos of life. Utilize the tab size Post-Its to color code your list(s) into levels of priority, or even by role. Alternatively, you can use the standard size Post-Its to create space limited priority lists; this method would be best served to create your daily to-do list, as the space to write is limited which will force you to prioritize and be realistic on timing for your tasks.

Regardless of the organizational tool(s) you use, Post-Its can serve as a wonderful enhancement. They can also steal the show altogether, as depicted within the ultimate “fight chaos with chaos” example, the SCRUM project management method. This method is utilized by Agile development teams to prioritize, manage, and execute projects. While some new-age teams have moved to a digital representation of this methodology, old school teams are still using a white board and, you guessed it, Post-Its. Programmers’ tasks are categorized and columned by role, and each task is written on a Post-It that is placed in its respective column. During these sprints, developers grab a Post-It off the board from their respective column, and then execute the associating work. This process would continue until the board was cleared, signaling the end of their sprint. By breaking down projects into digestible sprints, and utilizing the combination of visual and tangible representations, teams are able to concentrate on smaller goals that all build towards the project’s main success criteria.

There is no shortage of organizational tools available out there. But, as we continue to grow, evolve, and take on more and more, it is important to remember the impact of conciseness, the importance of restraint, and the meaning of priority. The humble Post-It does exactly that by giving even the best organizers an edge on maintaining perspective and reality.

When you’re ready to take the next step, we’re here for you.