Juggling Sheep
Welcome to Juggling Sheep, Jay Perry's blog about time management and personal productivity for pastors. Learn to balance work, life, family, and personal spirituality.

Share your best practices, tips and tricks, processes, sermon planning ideas, and resources. Feel free to email me: jaylperry[at]gmail[dot]com.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Some of My Best Thinking Happens in the Shower

I don't always capture all of my ideas, projects, actions, and must-dos. There. I admitted it for all the world to see.

I found myself just this morning obsessing about going to the office and setting up the PowerPoint Projector (our old one died last week). So I went to the office and set it up. When I went to cross it off my project list... it wasn't there. Huh. Maybe that's why I had been obsessing about it.

The funny thing is, I've needed to set the projector up all week. And I've even been reminded multiple times. One time, I was reminded while sitting at my desk (right in front of my blank paper and my inbox and my PalmPilot!).

Why didn't I write it down and put it in my inbox (at the very least)?

Do I not trust my GTD system?

Do I really think it will do better rattling around in my head all week? I mean, that's just begging for me to forget about it and panic when I finally do remember at a later time.

I even did a great system review this Monday. I trust my system...

Maybe even after 8 months of GTD, it still isn't an automatic habit to write things down.

I have great ideas all the time that I don't write down. Usually when I'm in the shower or when I'm driving. I suppose I can get a voice memo recorder for when I'm driving (even though I do drive a stick).

Any suggestions for what to do about my ideas in the shower?

Over on the GTD forum, there's a thread about whiteboards. Gtderik says that he keeps a dry erase marker in his bathroom to make notes on the mirror:
I actually stole the idea from Jason Womack, but I have kept a dry erase pen (with magnetic tip to stick to the framing) in my bathroom. the mirror in the bathroom has become a great place for capture and placeholding for me... I tend to have lots of ideas but are fast to disappear.... so even while shaving i can scribble some notes to myself... in the mornings I often get a waterfall of things that bubble to the surface...the mirror has also become a makeshift @spouse list as well to communicate if I get in late and she is already in bed...

Any other ideas?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should have a look at the following post at Eric Mack On-Line, a great GTD blog by the way: "A Shower of Ideas".

Kendra said...

Lately, in the car, I use my cell phone to call and leave a message on my voicemail at work. Then I don't have to remember to retrieve anything from the car -- it's waiting at my desk when I get there.