Since Michael has recently given us an insight into the developments of his productivity system (as of 7.53PM, Friday 16 February 2007 – subject to change, his mileage may vary), I thought I’d offer a similar glimpse into the methods I use to try to make sense of life.

Fact is… I don’t. GTD has always been to me a whole other lot of stuff to worry about on top of doing all the tasks – in the time it takes for me to capture, process, review and tickle all the stuff I have going on, I could get a load of stuff actually done. I’ve tried it many times and haven’t succeeded with it. Never mind, potato poh-taa-toh.

I don’t underestimate the value in getting my thoughts down on paper though and to help me with that, I have a series of journals which serve as organiser, dreamkeeper and therapist. All for the price of some pads that can take abuse from anything ranging from a fountain pen to a gluestick to a watercolour brush. My main journal is the one I’ve had since September and is mentioned here and it’s where the truly meaty stuff lives – hopes, dreams, long meandering rants… this is the one that’s kept closest to my heart and will provide the most detailed picture of my personality once I’ve finally gone bonkers and been packed off to that nice residential home with the padded rooms.

The second journal is also a Fat Pad. This one contains Saunders Waterford 300gsm (140lb) Not paper which has a nice tooth to it and is particularly good for watercolours. This journal is used for any random arty stuff I feel like doing – whether it’s testing colours, or trying out new finds or just playing around with art materials I haven’t picked up in a while. Having a place for no-strings creative play is helping me to get back into the swing of making art and getting the creative juices flowing again.

The third journal is a good old Moleskine. Well, someone has to ;). I use this to plan out thoughts for the future… a big Someday/Maybe book, if you like. I’ve only just started this but I find the idea of just pouring ideas, no matter how trivial or unfeasible they may seem at the time, appeals to me because, well, you never know…

So yes, that’s my stuff. It’s hardly Merlin Mann material, but it’s good enough for me.