Sons of Loki

Blimey. Not to sound like a corporate shill, but this Getting Things Done idea is fantastic. I’m only halfway through, and already I feel calmer and more … productive? Okay, I’m hardly the target market, being less of a high-flying fabulously-wealthy but over-stressed executive and more of a lazy unemployed student on the summer break, but just today I remembered I should work out transport for getting to Heathrow on the 29th of September for my flight to Japan. Normally I would have written a note somewhere, forgotten about it, remembered it again, stressed, forgotten about it, and finally got around to doing it about a week before. But there I was, knowing what I had to do, with a laptop, an internet connection, and enough money in my bank account, so I just went and, you know, did it, bought those train tickets. And now I don’t have to worry.

And also I know I need to get insurance for Japan. I’ve got the form filled out, but I don’t have enough money in my Nationwide account to write a cheque, and so it’s been hanging on my mind: I need to do something about that, I need to send that form, but I can’t because I don’t have the money! But the GTD philosophy says: identify your next action, which is obviously transfer money to Nationwide account. And I can’t do that today, but I can do that when I have the money. So I just write a reminder to transfer the money at a later date, and poof, that’s another worry off my mind. It’s incredibly simple, but it’s genius.

Today I got a mysterious bank credit which I realised was my travel bursary I sent off for (ask your council for details), £312 for (part of) my flights and mandatory medicals. Essentially free money, which is nice, and tomorrow student loans hit thousands of accounts across the country. That sound you hear is the gasping of overdrafts.