Organization Infrastructure

05/21/14

For about half a year now, I've been taking how I approach being productive seriously.

My transition from school to a full-time job wasn't ideal. It was a slow collapse into an utter inability to do anything. Even gaming became too much of a chore. At some point, I think all I really did was read reddit.

I was miserable. Thankfully, I was able to communicate to work that I couldn't do anything. And, instead of firing me (which would have been justified at the time), my boss found me a mentor and that mentor recommended me some resources.

He recommended two books the first time we talked.

1. Getting Things Done
2. Code Complete

I had asked explicitly for things that would help me get things done, and for things that would make me better at coding. I bought both books immediately (early October 2013).

I still haven't finished Code Complete, but I finished Getting Things Done in under two months.

Improvement was fast, but not immediate. I quickly attained the ability to do things again. Things did not really click into place until Feburary of 2014, though. I had to slowly mutate the foundation Getting Things Done gave me. Into something that worked properly for me. The final missing piece was explicitly planning my day with time blocking.

When things did click, though, it was bliss. Suddenly, I had so much more time. I had control. I would think about doing things. Those things would get written down. They would get planned at specific times. They would get done.

What's great, also annoying, is that the bliss didn't last. Flaws bubble up in my system, but they aren't flaws that add up over time, they're just there. I'm simply becoming aware of things that could be improved.

I feel another revamp coming. A need to set aside a good day to consider the flaws, so that I can mutate my system again. To even better accomplish what I wish to do.