I used to walk in the darkness. I used to live in fear, in confusion, without a hand to guide me. But then … I saw the light. Like a beacon from above shining through the depths that was my struggle, it appeared before me. This great, powerful force was…
No, I didn’t find some sort of holy power, some ancient secret or magic destiny; I found something better. Things! In November of 2018, my teachers started our PLP classes with a new course known as PGP, or Personal Growth Planning. It took us though a plethora of projects; setting goals, learning about ourselves, and preparing for our future time in the workplace. It also took us through something which I feel is far more valuable; the tools and skills needed for success. For me, the most impactful of these has to be the task managing app, Things, and the time management, goal setting, and task organizing skills that come with it. In this post, I will share with you my journey using this revolutionary app, and the unique artifact which I created to demonstrate this learning.
What is things?
If you look into the other posts linked above, you can see that we’ve done a lot of learning so far in PGP. In light of this, the final project for this course is a grand reflection on all of it. We’ve been tasked with answering the driving question of…
Now I know what your thinking; that sounds just like your everyday PLP blog post, what makes this assignment special? Well, to demonstrate our learning further than just a blog, we were assigned with accompanying a reflection post with an artifact known as our “Time Machine”. This is a reflection which could take any form we wish (video, picture, model, etc.), that we think would have convinced our pre-PGP selves of the importance of something we learned during the year in the course. For mine, I decided to make a mural, depicting my journey using the app Things:
This mural depicts metaphorical representations of my life before and after discovering this app and the skills which come with it. One of the reasons I chose this format of storytelling, is because during my recent trip to Spain, I was deeply moved by the Roman and Greek inspired murals that I got to witness. I learned not only that every detail within the pieces told a story, but also that they were an excellent way to share stories with others, as pictures could remove the perspective and linguistic boundaries of text.
Another thing which I thought about when designing my artifact was something I previously discovered through PGP, which is that I am a part kinaesthetic, part visual learner, and that I am a thinker. This lead me to realize that making something physical would best allow me to organize and express my thoughts. It also made me think that my former self would probably best take in the information through a visual artifact, which also requires thought to decipher. This is the reasoning behind the intricate metaphorical art.
Although it may not be obvious at first glance, this mural tells a linear story. If you start at the bottom and work your way up, you will find elements from my past, present, and potentially future with Things depicted. The diagram and descriptions below will help explain this story:
The Girl
In the bottom centre of the mural, you can see a young girl with a blindfold over her eyes. Besides her, there are clocks which display time rapidly passing. Past that, you can read the words “ΑΠΟΣΥΝΔΕΣΜΕΝΟΣ ΧΡΟΝΟΣ” and “ΑΝΟΡΓΑΝΩΜΕΝΑ ΚΑΘΗΚΟΝΤΑ”, which roughly translate to “indefinite time” and “unorganized life”. These two phrases and the images depict the state in which my young, blindfolded self sits in without the skills or tools to be able to effectively visualize and manage the time she has.
The Crystal of Time
In the middle of what looks like a once mighty altar sits the crystal of time. It is cracked however, and time vampires along side of mosquito tasks suck away it’s precious life force. Around it, there are overgrown bushes, or tasks, which prevent any access to the resource. This represents my inability to protect my time from the distractions of life without a task manager, and how my time always felt overcome by all of my tasks.
The Task Vines
The task vines sprawl out in an uncontrolled mess around the time crystal, with relics of “personal goals” and “small tasks” ensnared within them. We see people frantically trying to cut back the vines, but they have become too big to manage. This represents how a lack of time management lead to a lack of productivity and organization in my life, which caused my tasks to grow and grow into things which are much too large for me to handle. It also depicts how in all of this, personal goals and tasks, along with things which were not priorities were forgotten in the mess.
Prioritization
A person cuts down a small plant, unaware of the danger behind that is a massive vine. Within this tangle, there is another person who has been completely ensnared. This represents the lack of prioritization I had without a task manager, as I couldn’t mark my priorities or how much time I actually had to a lot to non-priority tasks. It also shows how this often lead to me becoming over-scheduled, or “stuck” in all of these tasks.
Due Dates
A due dates monster creeps up behind a person, ready to strike. This represents how my lack of task management caused due dates to slip through the cracks, and how they would then sneak up and bite me later.
Failure
The mess of everything around them has caused people to retreat into dark caves, unwilling to face what lurks outside. This was what it became like for me when my life became so unorganized that it felt almost unbearable.
Discussion of Progress
People have had enough. They have made it a goal to get out of this monstrous state. However, all they give are vague ideas of how to find a way up to the ladder to the supply of keys, which is labeled “goals”. Some people also just sit there in thought. This is a metaphor for when I realized that something needed to be done about my tasks management. Although I planned to take action, the goals which I tried to set were not specific, nor did I make them active enough to actually take steps on them beyond the thinking stage.
Action
People realize that action needs to be taken, so they start to build towers to reach the ladder. However, their towers do not have direction, and thus head towards the wrong location. This represents how I often didn’t begin my goals with the end in mind, and commonly found myself miles away from my destination, even after doing a lot of work.
The Entrance
After a lot of work, a person has finally done it. They have reached their goals, collected a key, and are now opening a gate with a large Things icon displayed in it’s centre. In my life, this is akin to my discovery of Things and the skills that come with it.
The Flourishing Crystal
Just past the things gates, sits another time crystal. This crystal is different however, as it has no attackers aiming to drain it, and all around it there is life and prosperity. Two fountains sit on the edge of the floating island supporting the crystal, which distribute water, or the “essence of time” across the entire landscape. This water is distributed equally to all the task plants. This represents how the equal distribution of my time, through the process of time blocking, is truly the heart of everything Things does for me.
Prioritization
A person calmly cuts away at a task bush, which is the biggest plant in this realm. This represents how through Things, I am not only able to be proactive, but I can also put first things first. This is because when I use the skill of time blocking, it forces me to take action when something is blocked, and realize the amount of time I have, forcing prioritization.
Due Dates
Instead of being chased by it, a person rides a top a due date monster. This is a metaphor for how after I was able to keep track of my due dates in Things, I found myself in complete control and flying through them.
Shooting for the Stars
With an understanding of how to achieve goals, people work together to reach them. This new found synergy, direction, and proactivity now allows them to shoot for the stars. This parallels with my life, as I don’t just use things as a task manager; I use it as a goal planner. When I write my goals down within it, I find I can make them a lot bigger as I can keep track of all the steps, along with write down the specific tasks and end goal needed to give them direction. I can also put these tasks in my daily planner so they are active, timed, and measurable, and so I can show these concrete steps to others in order to synergize with other’s goals and receive feedback to make sure they are reachable.
Protection
Time vampires and mosquito tasks are ever present, but they’re quickly warded off with some proactive thinking. This represents how I have been able to much more effectively manage distractions as of late due to committing my time to my time blocks.
Sharping the Saw
With the absence of the constant threat of danger, people have time to sharpen their metaphorical saw, and relax, or improve on skills. This relates to my journey with Things as although I keep myself quite busy, I now can time block set break times which force me to focus on, well, me.
The Girl
At the very top of the mural, there is another picture of a girl. She looks olde than the one at the bottom, and has her eyes wide open. Surrounding her, there are symbols. A Yin and Yang, a representation of inner peace. A calendar, a representation of planning for the future. A thought bubble, a representation of remembering, and ideas. A check list, a representation of organization. Past these objects, there are 2 scales. One holds a pencil, representing a private victory of balance with focus on work, personal growth, interests, etc. The other holds a heart, representing a public victory of balance with focus on relationships, community, understanding, etc. Past those, there are two more phrases; “ΜΑΣΤΕΡΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΟΣ” and “ΕΡΓΑΤΙΚΑ ΚΑΘΗΚΟΝΤΑ”, which translate roughly to “master time” and “conquer tasks”. All of this represents the areas of my life which have been vastly improved since discovering Things, and the time blocking, goal setting, prioritizing, task managing, organization, and more which comes with it.
Thinking back to all the hours I wasted, the days spent I worrying, the due dates I frequently missed; it’s almost comical that I didn’t think to look for a better method of task managing that a simple to do list. I never had goals before this year, never had priorities, and certainly never had a way to make sure I could fit all of my work within a day. Without Things and it’s attached skills, my life truly was chaotic, and I only wish I had known about it sooner. As for the project it’s self, some of the things which went really well included how I got on to working and planning for it right away, and how I was able to cut down on my work so I could meet the due date. I originally wanted to use a pyrograohy pen to outline my art, but after time blocking, I realized I just didn’t have the time. The final product still turned out excellent in my opinion, and proved that sometimes it is okay for me to put ideas down. However, not everything went smoothly. I will improve upon my artifact by going through with this idea in the future.
I did not work on my project during our Circle B.C. trip, and this lead to a massive rush to get it finished in the end. From this experience, I learned that even if you get a good start on something, you have to plan ahead for future road blocks to maintain this progress. Another thing I want to talk about here is my time management. In this post, I outlined all the good that has come from Things, and the improvements that I have made this year. However, this does not mean I am perfect. I still struggle with my work/life balance and staying organized in my over-planned to do list. These are two things, keeping in mind what I learned from the improvements I speak about in this post, that I am going to continue to work on.