So as my life is getting more and more complex, unpredictable, unordered, unregular and so on, I realized that I have no choice but to start keeping an electronic calendar that I can use on pc, as well as my mobile.

I've found that there's also a need to cope with all kinds of very different tasks and getting those very different tasks done by due time so I found that google calendar works pretty well, and you can sync it with google tasks, but the problem is that tasks sucks, calendar doesn't.

How do you deal with Google tasks, google calendar or other kinds of electronic calendars or tasklists and to do lists to rest assured and peacefully without being afraid that you forget something important? Especially when your life is complex and irregular.

How do you create a system that makes your life much more easier concerning managing your daily life and getting things from your whole everyday life done?

It may have to do with shopping list, cooking, washing teeth, reading books, getting homework done or anything.
What works for you?

ya i have an iphone and i don't ever need to backup... google is amazing. i sync my phone wirelessly, automatically everytime there is a change in calendar, mail and contacts. I used to do docs also but haven't found a good iphone app for that yet.

anyway I have a job with lots of things to remember, and it's my ass if I forget. in this situation, what you need are systems of redundancy... pretty much by definition there is no efficient solution.

so what I do is put EVERYTHING into google calendar... everything. things that are time sensitive get alarms. some events get two alarms. I often create events on my computer, but in that case I make sure to add the alarms on the phone, to make sure they then go off on my phone and not the rig by mistake.

I also have a handwritten list of everything I need to do in the near future... why handwritten? because it's in japanese, and 6 months doing this my handwriting looks awesome. takes maybe 10 minutes out of my day... totally worth it. (I recommend using lined paper for this, keeps things looking pretty)

Every morning I size up the upcoming calendar entries, as well as things unresolved on the list, and rewrite the list. That is really what I refer to, more than calendar actually. I find I also learn a lot of useful vocab really quickly this way, writing it out over and over again.

Intersting topic. I really use the google calendar a lot, because it synchronizes so seamlessly with my mobile (that is an android device). I don't worry too much about my data floating around in the google sphere, cause that would make me worry
I use it for future events, appointments etc, but also to manage my time. It's become a healthy habit since last year to keep an account of my time spent on certain things, almonst like an 'expense manager', just for time. I keep several calendars for example one for sports but also one for Japanese to keep things pretty.

To remember the important stuff I mostly set several timers that give an email, so I receive it either on the mobile or at the desk.

I used to use google tasks as well, because there is also a beautiful app. But nowadays I tend to use written notes, because that way I'm forced to rewrite them and thus to reorganize (and re-prioritize) the 'todo-stuff' every once in a while (although not in Japanese), whereas online I more likely tend to forget about it.

I think google docs is beautiful too, but I have no real application for that yet.

By the way, I found an interesting website that's about keeping track of things in which you want to become better on a regular basis. I have to check it out more thoroughly, but it looks good enough to share it already :

https://www.beeminder.com/
(It's actually not all about weight, as your first look might imply...)

[ファブリス]

jettyke Wrote:How do you deal with Google tasks, google calendar or other kinds of electronic calendars or tasklists and to do lists to rest assured and peacefully without being afraid that you forget something important? Especially when your life is complex and irregular.

I'm not a heavy calendar user, so I use the email reminder mostly. Just create an event and set an email reminder in the options. I like it because I haven't taken a habit of checking the calendar itself.

You can also set regular events with email reminders. I have one for example to remind me to calibrate (empty/recharge) the Macbook Pro battery as it's not being used for long periods of time.

It works doubly well as I get alerts on the iPad from the Calendar app (it's synced to Google account), and can also check GMail in the Mail app. So even when the iPad is off it will light up do its little ringtone and show me the title of the calendar event.

Mind I'm using the GTD approach with my email. One day I put everything into a "archive" folder and make a point of clearing any new emails that arrive in the inbox. If it's not super important information that I have to keep, it gets deleted. So, if I get a calendar reminder by email, I know it's not been dealt with so long as it sits in my inbox.

Nozbe seems to be pretty promising.
http://www.nozbe.com

Better than google tasks!



You can sync Nozbe tasks with Google Calendar and import notes into Nozbe from Evernote.

You can sync Evernote with Mindjet Mindmanager.

So basically you can ideally create a mindmap in Mindmanager and take some info into Evernote and create text notes based on that mindmap, then sync that Evernote text note info with Nozbe, create tasks in Nozbe...

...and sync Nozbe tasks with Google Calendar and see all the stuff in Google calendar!

How about that?

ファブリス Wrote:Mind I'm using the GTD approach with my email.

Thanks for mentioning the GetThingsDone approach!

I researched it and became interested in it. Gonna find some more pearls in it!

For those who wanna know about it, google it or check this video:

lernsky Wrote:https://www.beeminder.com/
(It's actually not all about weight, as your first look might imply...)

Seems interesting!

I wonder how I could use it for getting my homework done.

[ファブリス]

Yeah GTD is definitely worth looking into.

However for me it was way too complex, starting with the ideas of tasks arranged by "context & time".

The greatest value I got out of the book, is these:

1) Clear your email inbox, move everything into an archive, and then make a point of dealing with every email that comes in. Reply or don't reply, delete or don't delete. If you keep it, archive it. Then forget about it!

2) Buy some folders, and clear away all the papers and clutter from your desk. Either thow away what you don't really need, or archive it. If you need it later, then look into the archive.

3) Buy a paper tray, put it on your desk. Drop all letters, notes, bills, etc into it. If you want to send an email but the computer is off and you don't have time, just scribble a short note and drop it there. Then just check that paper inbox now and then, and make a point of clearing it. Again, throw away or deal with it now, or archive it. I've had sometimes bills stay in there for more than a week, that's fine. The greatest value in this is I can stop worrying about forgetting anything. I know with certainty, because the habit has set in, that anything that I need to worry about is either in that inbox, or the email inbox.

4) If any task comes to mind, any "chore", that can be done in less than five minutes, than seriously consider doing it right there and then. Then forget about it.


It's a Zen approach in some ways. The greatest benefit is to clear clutter from the mind, imho, not so much to find better ways to do more stuff, faster.

ファブリス Wrote:It's a Zen approach in some ways. The greatest benefit is to clear clutter from the mind, imho, not so much to find better ways to do more stuff, faster.

Yeah! That's what I'm trying to do here in Japan man!

I experience some totally new things in lifestyle change. Never had so much paper-based documents and stuff coming my way!

And there is a totally new unknown new system here that I have to handle, so I try to clear my mind as much as I can.

When I absolutely can't deal with tasks, I light up incense, light up candles, put off all lights and sit on my japanese zen mat and sit and sit in the darkness without any purpose to it. When an idea comes my way, instead of using the zen approach of ignoring the idea, i write it down on paper and return to my mat.

When I finally feel bored or tired i lie on my bed, I stop.( It usually takes not less than 15 minutes, sometimes the whole process takes more than an hour)

Sometimes I go on a walk at night and try to let some ideas and solutions come forth and then when I go back home, I write them down.

I think that with a reality that's more complex, it's even more important to find some time for yourself to just sit and clear your mind and listen to your inner voice. And it's important that you don't get swayed from your own path by the voices of other people.

ファブリス Wrote:It's a Zen approach in some ways. The greatest benefit is to clear clutter from the mind, imho, not so much to find better ways to do more stuff, faster.

I think that finding better ways to do more stuff, faster is the next step. First let's handle this.

Yeah GTD rocks, the book is definitely worth reading or listening to (there is an audiobook). Most of the time I use a watered down version but when I have a biggish project or multiple projects I use the real method.

Calendar - Google calendar + calvetica for iphone (for the week view)
Tasks - Things for iphone

I think it's best not to spend too much time messing about with the tools, just choose something and go with it, it's temping to spend ages changing tools around and not actually getting anything done :$

This podcast is pretty good - https://www.facebook.com/GTDVirtualStudyGroup

caivano Wrote:I think it's best not to spend too much time messing about with the tools, just choose something and go with it, it's temping to spend ages changing tools around and not actually getting anything done :$

Well what I usually do is, I get the tools and then use/test them a lot on the first day and if I like them I leave them, if not, I forget the tools.

I don't think that you should settle down too fast though but indeed it's easy to overdo it.

If I would have settled down very fast though, I would still be using Google tasks, which was totally bad for use imo, and wouldn't have switched to Nozbe, for which I am happy because I can sync it with Coogle calendar in the same way as G Tasks.