The Reminder Note

I think that no mnemonic has been as much maligned as the reminder note.  In fact, several business seminars that I've been to on how to organize your day better actually give this advise:

"Many people put too many things down on a reminder note.  The reminder note should only have the top three things you need to get done for the day."

And then when you consistently don't meet those goals, you can attend their next self help seminar.

This advise is COMPLETELY WRONG.

Let me ask you this:  When performing an audit of your monthly budget, do you just write down the top 3 expenses you have every month or do you detail out EVERYTHING you spend?

Of course, you put down everything.

So, when you're planning your daily time budget, why would you only write down the top three things you need to do?

That's full of bullshit.

Usually what happens when people are given this advise is that they over generalize what they need to get done for the day...and because the goal is not a task, it can't be accomplished.

Here's my advise:

1. Write down EVERYTHING you need to do in a day.  You can organize it by sections of the day in which you need to accomplish it, if you want (e.g. make dinner is in the evening, so it goes at the end of the list).
2. DO NOT overgeneralize.  Everything you write down should be do-able.  If you need to clean the bathroom, write down each step.
3. DO add things to your list as they come up during the day.  I know that some people think this is cheating (hey, I used to.)  People say it's just to make you feel better to add something then check it off, but wouldn't you add it to the reminder list for tomorrow if it were something to do tomorrow?  So, why is today any different?  

And what's wrong with making yourself feel good about actually accomplishing things?

Well, it doesn't sell seminars, for one thing.

My final piece of advise is this:  if you're a cheap skate like I am, use old envelopes or anything you can write on to make your list.  Just be sure to make it.  And feel free to keep making the list and refining it as you go through the day.

You'll be amazed where your time goes.