You know things aren’t going entirely according to plan when your mechanisms for handling TODO lists, which document what you need to do, breaks under the load. This is quite funny if you’re looking at it as someone else, which you are. I never “do” anything, I plan to do, I plan how to do, I document all this in different places and it just sits there. And this is not a very small scale cheap system. It’s rather complicated, spanning 3 computers, lists on the fridge, notes tacked on my wall, stickeys all over the place, among other things. Now on the computers, they get more complicated, from simple text files holding simple tasks, to rather complicated things like those “scheduling programs” that remind you when you need to do something. Anyway, there are meta lists that point to other lists. They are all classified and cross referenced based on levels of importance, similarities of tasks and other criteria. It takes a good portion of my day just making sure all these lists are up to date, and not pointing to something that doesn’t exist, or tasks that have already been completed (yeah right, like that’s ever happened). If I could just put a fraction of the time that goes into these things into actually doing something. More importantly, as a result of this, I can’t “just do anything” just because it popped up and needs to be done. I always have a big set of backlogged stuff that needs to be cleared first, so this enters the queue – vaguely a first come first serve system, barring some changes based on importance, and rarely, whim. For instance, the other day, I heard this song which reminded me of someone. Now I rush back in, and no, don’t shoot off an email. I find the appropriate list and go “Yes this song -> this person -> when it happened”. Done. One month later, it still sits there. And the person’s surely decided I’ve forgotten about them. The smallest of things, I had this rather odd experience when a deer grazed by me a while back. But I didn’t write about then, it just ended up one another list. Now I’ve forgotten about it, and it doesn’t seem all that special or important anymore.
When I said things are going badly in the TODO list management scheme, things are piling up faster than I can jot them down, let alone do them. Lists are being lost, and sets of tasks are being forgotten forever. Sheesh.
For instance, I come home. The place is a mess. The cupboards are bare. The fridge is empty. Anything that remains is way past its expiry date. I have nothing to wear, as nothing’s been washed. There are papers everywhere, but nothing I need can be found. For instance, (this is an example within an example) things look bleak towards getting the MS in my hand this semester. Why? Technicalities. Like I didn’t ask for my undergrad degree from my parents early and give it to the records people fast enough. Or I did ask my parents, and I did get it, and it’s somewhere in this mess. Ah well, I’d never know, until I track down the related lists. At least it wasn’t something terribly important and that can’t wait.
Ah well. Need to look around for roommates, sign or not sign leases, exchange wrongly delivered music, throw old food and buy something to eat, pay bills, find out degree related things from higher level people, catch up on a bunch of mails before people classify me as someone who doesn’t care, find something clean to wear, and most importantly, get some intellectual work done.
Speaking of roommates, males are messy, loud and smelly. And not entirely fun to talk to. If they do talk.