Randy Pausch Quotes

My filing system's really crap because I can never decide whether to sort things by studio, or year, or where I lived.

I'm pretty good at getting things out of the way, especially paperwork. I hate it sitting about, as it somehow weighs me down.

I have yellow post-it notes plastered all over my office - they help me stay organized.

I'm an inveterate note taker - I scribble all these things down on pieces of paper. I wanted to create some way of organizing all of them.

I write everything down. I e-mail the second I think of something, or I write notes in my BlackBerry calendar. I set up reminder alerts on my phone. And I have a notebook by my bedside so I can write down any last-minute ideas.

I'm probably working on three different scripts at any time, so there's never a time where I've got nothing to do.

I have my whole life organized on an 11x17-inch tear-away weekly calendar.

Lists are how I parse and manage the world.

My filing system is messy but orderly.

Poor fellow, he suffers from files.

I'm trying to keep my days very efficient, and I keep my set really tight. Every single corner is active, and everybody gets to thrive in the job that they do. I don't waste people's time.

The question is: How are you able to organize your information, your tasks, and get stuff done spanning those different roles? Nobody lives in isolation.

I'm definitely a note taker.

I'm a planner, an organizer. I write things down because you can visually check them off and see progress. Writing things down is a lost art. I've got sticky notes all over my apartment.

I am methodical about my email inbox, and I always have a physical to-do list. Without those two things, I think I'd lose my mind.

Brain extenders are anything that get information out of our heads and into the physical world: calendars, key hooks by the front door, note pads, 'to do' lists.

Keeping records enhances the pleasure of the search and the chance of finding order and meaning in these events.

I do everything via email. Which in turn works as my tickler file and prioritization queue. I start at the top every morning and keep on going until I'm finished. I don't do calls. I don't do meetings.

I have got to figure out a system because I have bad filing, sorting, and organizing habits.

There've been times it's been just impossible to find a negative or whatever. But I'm basically just a one man operation, and so things get messed up. I don't have a filing system that's worth very much.

It's strange, people have asked me what my schedule is and what is my process like, and I can't even answer it.

I have three boxes on my desk: In, Out, and Too Hard.

I keep a journal/day planner, which really helps me stay organized and focused.

I don't take things off. I either check things off or I add things.

Then there's the joy of getting your desk clean, and knowing that all your letters are answered, and you can see the wood on it again.