I have an odd relationship with goals. I love writing lists, but I don’t find making goals really effective in getting them accomplished. I’ve tried various systems including the 7 habits system (dang its complicated), David Allen’s GTD, Pomodoro, and the Zig Ziglar daily diary, and while they all seem rationally a great way to get things done, none of them seem to keep traction after a week or so.
The one system that seems to have held up over time is my personal variant over the various systems Mark Forster (author of Do it Tomorrow fame), and even then I’ve dumbed it down to my liking. Though I’ve noticed his latest “Fast FVP” blog post may be even more simple than mine current mess things to do split up into multiple categories.
In any case I do think there has been various benefits from the different systems I’ve tried. GTD is good for setting up a systematic approach to processing papers (though my overflowing box of death belies this sentiment), I still use the Pomodoro 25 minute egg timer (though not as much the rest of their organizational superstructure), and some of the goal setting exercises of Zig’s system synchronizes well with 7 Habits “Q2-important but non-urgent” concept from 7 habits.
I’m not sure if I’ve saved much time playing around with all these methods, but I do think its been useful in honing down how to handle the mess of stuff that comes your way as an adult. Its true you can’t multi-task, but being growed up sure seems like having at least four things going on at the same time.