The Pantry Door

I forget things, probably because I always have lots of projects and ideas buzzing around inside my head all the time. I have tried lists. I have tried breaking projects down to specific tasks and putting each task on a note card. I have tried sticky notes. I have tried notebooks. All of these things have helped, but I still end up with that constant background noise of unfinished projects draining my energy.

Recently I read a book about mind mapping. Honestly, the book was horribly written. I decided to try the concept anyway. I sat down with paper and colored Sharpies and quickly made a bunch of mind maps for different projects. Of course, I ended up with a pile of mind maps! Last week, I made a mind map for the week. There were lots of things on the map. As I looked at it, I thought, "You are nuts. You are never going to get through all this stuff this week! You are setting yourself up for failure."

I posted the mind map at eye level on the pantry door, a place that I pass at least a gazillion times a day. Much to my surprise, by the end of the week everything was done. Instead of being immobilized because I could not figure out which thing to tackle next, I just looked at the map and picked one thing. My week was peaceful and productive. I could get into this!

This is a picture of my mind map for this week.