43 folders?

Been doing some reading around the Getting Things Done mentality. Part of the whole simplify my life stuff I've been reading. I'm not entirely sure I'm really ready for 100% productivity commitment, but I could certainly work on upping my productivity.

One of the concepts I've run across is this thing called 43 folders. Basically, a system for organizing the near future.

You get 43 folders. 1 for each month of the year, and then the other 31 folders represents days of the month. No month has more than 31 days, you see.

So, you take the folder for the month you're in, and load it with the remaining day folders for the month. And the rest of the dates go into the following month (if the current month has less than 31 days in it, the extra day folders just get set aside.

With the folders set up, you now start putting stuff in them. For the day folders, you put in notes on stuff that needs doing on that day. For the month folders that don't have any day folders, you put stuff in there that needs doing on that month.

As you come to a day in the month, you pull the day folder, empty out the contents and get to work getting them done. With the folder emptied, you put it into the next month.

The process seems simple enough. I could probably make it work. But I would rather not have 43 actual, paper folders to handle. There's a certain charm to the lo-tech option, but I'd rather have a program or something similar that I could work with instead. Maybe something online that I could access anywhere I had an internet connection.

All together?

I have been debating myself over Twitter for a while now. On the one hand, it seems like a reasonably useful way to get a quick note out to the masses. On the other hand, do I really have much to say in short notes to the masses?

I'd have to say, that no, I really don't have much to say to the masses that I can get accomplished in just 140 characters. Besides, I already have a Facebook account, use this blog here, and email. That's three major areas for communicating with others.

Email is my targeted messaging. I know the person I'm sending to, and they have the option of reading it or not, but I know they'll at least be notified that I sent something.

The blog here is my open post to the world at large - even if they don't know I'm here. I do try to post as if I do have readers, though I know I'm clearly not consistent enough, and ultimately, the blog is a vanity device.

Facebook lies between those two extremes. People I know can see what I post there, but not everyone will bother to take a look at what I have to say. It too is a vanity device, making me think that other people really have an interest in what I'm doing in my life. For the most part, I'm sure that's not the case. There's likely to be a couple of people out there who really care, but the rest of them just don't. And that's ok. I like to think that's the way things should be.

After all, you can't have hundreds of really close friends. You'd never have time to spend with all of them.

One of the potential advantages of getting onto Twitter is giving my outgoing messages some additional partitioning. Personal stuff here, professional stuff there. That sort of thing. But, I don't know if I really have enough non-personal stuff to say. And really, the professional me and personal me are a lot closer together than they have been in the past. What I'm doing professionally right now (school) is pretty tied into the personal life I'm living at the moment.

So, for now, I think I can live without Twitter. What I have right now works well enough.

Living with less?

One of the threads of thought floating through my mind over the last half year is the concept of minimalist life. Living with less. Fewer things means less time cleaning, searching, or maintaining the things I own.

There are a number of blogs out there about clearing out clutter, and living more simply, and there are a number of blogs about paring life down to the bare essentials. A few about living with as little as 100 things.

I have rolled these ideas around in my mind for quite a while.

Coming to Germany, I was forced to reduce my posessions in a repeated cycle of choosing fewer and fewer things I could take with me. On arrival here, my personal possessions consisted of a couple laptops and other hardware, some clothes, a lot of Warhammer and Warmachine stuff, a collection of DVDs a few books, and a couple of things which held some significance to me.

Since arriving, I've kept pretty close to that list of stuff (though I have acquired more books and models). Of the things I actually own, the list isn't much greater than it was. But, I've been put in charge of more things, simply by association. The shared items of the house (furniture, dishes, etc.) fall under the domain of things I need to maintain and keep in working order. (The Germans simplify that into the simple word: Ordnung.)

I should very much like to take on the task of simplifying the world around me. Reduce the number of owned items, if only to give me fewer things that need cleaning. But, I don't feel like I am really in control of the shared items. They simply aren't mine to decide what to do with them.

I like the concept posed by minimalist living. I just don't know if I could make that work in the environment I am in.

Book 6: Harry Potter und der Kamer des Schreckens

I have finally managed to finish off the second book in the Harry Potter series. In German. Buoyed by my impending completion, I went out and bought book three: Harry Potter und der Gefangene des Azkaban.

I do like the Harry Potter series. Enough that I am enjoying my re-reading of the books. The language is about on par with where I am for reading, and the story is straightforward enough to follow along, without being so confusing on who and what is happening.

I've been enjoying it so much, that I have decided to use the books as a grounding for learning some French. In that spirit, I ordered book one, Harry Potter a l'ecole des Sorciers (sorry, no French accent marks available on this keyboard). I will use the French version as my bathroom book, and the German book will be my on-train book.

My overall book reading goal for the year is looking grimly unlikely. 100 books in English. No problem. 100 books in a combination of English, German and now French? Given that I am 3 months into the year and only 6 books done, it doesn't look good.

Book 5: I Shall Wear Midnight

I haven't been keeping up with most of BFS stuff lately. It's been a bit busy. Still, I have been trying to keep on top of a few things.

I Shall Wear Midnight, by Terry Pratchett has been my bathroom book. That is, it is the book I read while I am in the bathroom. Which means it takes me quite some time to read it.

It is a story about Tiffany Aching, set in the Discworld. I have a lot of affection for both Mrs. Aching and Discworld. And it is very well done.

As always, his writing is enjoyable and light, and can be read in either a quick, single sitting, or spread out over lots of shorter reads.

I have yet to find a Discworld book I didn't like. Recommended to any and all.