Getting Stuff Done- Setting Goals and Rewards for Myself

I’m occasionally asked “How do you get so much done? Do you ever sleep?”

Yes, I sleep. And I eat and shower and keep the house relatively tidy. The key is that I’m hyper organized and a list-maker.

As Communications Officer, I keep two running lists on my little desktop notepad application: A TO-DO list for my several Mensa functions and a WHAT I DID list for the same categories.

As I think of things, or read questions or comments on various threads, I jot down action items for my To-Do list. For example, I might read a post from a LG Webmaster expressing a wish for a clickable owl icon that would lead to the Group’s Steemit account so their members can participate and earn money for the Group. I'd add “Clickable owl for LG Steemit account” to my To-Do list. A conversation at an RG hospitality might result in “Develop training for how to moderate a Mensa Connect community.”

Some of the items on my To-Do list are tiny, such as “Ask staff to confirm the ACE Awards are gone.” Some items are large: “Establish clear guidance on local group the websites & social media.” Some are medium: “Discuss Bulletin advertising policy update ideas with Staff and Marketing Officer” and “Find a spreadsheet guru for the Volunteerism Task Force project.”

I have an overall goal of doing at least something for Mensa every day. As I sit at my computer noodling around unproductively, I’m constantly seeing the To-Do list and scrolling through it to find a task that is the right size for my mood and energy at the moment. Sometimes I’m just not feeling super productive, so I pick an easy one like dashing off a “Hey Charles, whatever happened to the ACE Awards?” email. Somedays I’m swirling with ideas and energy and tackle a larger thinking and writing project. Occasionally, all I manage to do is bump a discussion post in one of my committees so it will get noticed again.

Some of the items on the To-Do list can be broken down into smaller steps. “Find a spreadsheet guru for the Volunteerism Task Force project” becomes “Draft ad for Volunteer Marketplace,” “Send ad to staff to upload” “Ask Staff if there have been any applicants,” “Review applicants and contact them with a yay or nay,” “Ask Staff to add new spreadsheet guru to the Vol Task Force.” Lots of tiny, doable tasks that I can reward myself for.

Which brings me to my second list—the WHAT I DID list. This is my reward—being able to add a bullet point of accomplishment. 

Here’s October 23-November 23, 2021 (yes, this covers only a single month):

Communications Officer 

• Asked CB to confirm that ACE Awards are no longer and to update the website accordingly.
• Asked past Comm Officers what they know about Com3
• Some back and forth with Tim V and staff about a couple members not being able to  have access to their regional MC community. Responded to the people who’d been suspended from the Region 8 MC—basically told them it’s not my bailiwick.
• Dug into whatever became of Com3, which is still listed in the TOS for MC.
• Reviewed Nov/Dec Bulletin
• Teleconference with staff and Vogt about MC issues and needs.
• Mucked around learning how to be an admin on MC.
• Long phone call with CommComm member about ideas and training materials.
• Drafted intro post to new MC community for admins. Leanred that there is great need for manuals and training.
• Two hour zoom call with staff to learn how to be a super admin.
• Participated in a Meet the AMC session at HalloweeM.
• Consulted with Lead MC Moderator on improved wording for automated moderation messages.
• Sent a letter to LG communications people covering return addresses, communication preferences, and using MC for sharing content fodder.
• Curated library content of Pubs Officer MC community.
• Long productive video conf with IT and Comm staff regarding many topics: Mensa Connect use, training, & promotion; AML’s servers and PHP upgrade plans; Wordpress sites on and off the AML server, LG Editors’ software & content; how the NO can safeguard LGs’ Facebook presence if the member who created it stomps off in a huff; and Website organization.
• Checked back and closed out on suggestions made for onboarding email to editors.
• Nudged CB again for a few things on the September and October request list.
• Helped several editors find the library section of their MC community.
• Began editing & updating MC TOS.
• Attended AMC meeting in Charlotte & presented an LDW on Communications.
• Created graphic explanation of Comm Pref options.
• Asked Writer’s SIG for contributions to the Editors' library.
• Worked with RVC2 to draft a document of members’ rights & responsibilities.
• Responded to more inquiries about Oral History Project communications.
• Filled out form to do a M&G session at the 2022 AG.
• Clarified newsletter indicia information and LG membership directory rules for LG Editors.
• Wrote article about Mensa Connect for Bulletin.
• Began clarifying regulations about Known Office of Publication for LG newsletters using periodicals permits.
• Discussed policy on advertising in the Bulletin with Marketing Officer and Bulletin editor.
• Attended Webinar on using WordPress.

Communications Committee

• Added Michael F.
• Tweaked draft of Editors Survey
• Michael conducted a 4 question PHONE survey of all 124 LocSecs to find out what software is used for newsletters, what SM venues are used, and a bit about LG websites. Results are interesting and generating many items on the growing To-Do list.
• Created a training video on the basics of using Mensa Connect.
• Began creating training videos on the basics of Administrating/Moderating Mensa Connect.

 Volunteerism Task Force

• Reviewed an old LDWs on the topic.
• Reframed some questions topics and posted to get everyone back on task. Bumped a few times.
• Looked at massive data pull staff did to correlate each groups’ geographical square milage and general population density.
• Generated and refined a list of volunteer role categories in Mensa.
• Reviewed and re-posted questions the TF wants to answer.
• Drafted Vol MP ad for a spreadsheet wizard.
• Wrote up more reviews of LDWs.
• Drafted scale for RVCs to use to rank their groups’ volunteerism levels.
• Wrote up summaries of two more articles.
• Discussed AML’s current “Volunteer management system” with Trevor.
• Asked RVCs to rank their groups volunteerism levels.
• Created second draft of formal report so far.