… is mightier than the sword!
The expression has it’s origin in the English theater play “Richelieu: Or the Conspiracy”written Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839.
I agree with it since I to use a pen daily and consider it the best way to engage with my working day. I don’t usually write “for pleasure” preferring the keyboard to take my personal stuff, but when it comes to work the pen is the best tool to have in hand. A pen and a little “blank-page” book are my basic tools when it comes to following up the daily work, especially when the days are passed in meetings. Rob me of my pen, my book or my mind-map diagram, and I’ll be lost for days…
I like to use an “all-in-one” multi-pen… black, blue, red and pencil always ready to take a note or schedule a new meeting.
Personal skills improvement is a permanent goal for me. A while ago, as a result of a self-evaluation meeting, the goal of improving my organization was suggested when I stated that handling simultaneous tasks was something hard for me to do.
I tried several approaches to improve these skills, but none of them proved to be successful until I adopted Mind-mapping as an organization tool.
For those who are not familiar with the notion, a mindmap is a simple diagram in which ideas or concepts are balloons connected to each other, representing the connection between similar or related ideas.
freemind, my favorite mind-mapping tool, is used for managing my daily tasks and I don’t forget a meeting, appointment, task or any of those dangling “to dos” for more than a month.
I’m glad I improved a little…
Yesterday was a special day, the annual self-appraisal meeting has proven to be an effective mean to discuss some of my thoughts and concerns about the past and future. But it also proved to be a good introspection exercise about what could be improved.
The ‘after’ feeling was that I had excelled (and ever surpassed some of the expectations) in a number of ways. The only exception is my capabilities to plan and organize myself. The (-) on the title is only related to this exception.
I must admit that improving this aspect of my work has proven to be more difficult that I expected. The major problem seems to be finding a workflow able to cope with all my everyday needs.
I’ll promise to keep trying to pro-actively improve this issue!
I’m used to it by now… Normally called Organized Chaos, describes fairly well the usual state of my desk. At home and at home.
