What is Reddit's opinion of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I've had luck with finding a methodology and running with it. I'm currently doing a modified version of "Getting Things Done" https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

My last sales manager used it and did way more than I thought a person could do, and seemed VERY on top of everything.

Ah yes, the ol' "getting motivated at night and then totally not following through." I am well acquainted with this. It started because I had a job where there weren't a lot of demands for the first few months. I came off a previous job that was super demanding. So I slipped into coast mode like a comfy barstool. It took me literally over a year to break these bad habits.

A few things that I focus on:

1. reasonable goals (not six hours of undistracted work, but three)
2. what actually needs to be done first
3. a really good organization system. May I suggest Getting Things Done. I don't follow it 100% but I plundered his good ideas. Ignore the really lame cover. I think this guy has a good system.
4. silence. music and work is not for me. Nor are any other distractions. Social media is a killer.
5. metrics for tracking work. I dunno, it just helps and makes me feel like I did something. I used to be a huge metrics hater when it came to productivity.
6. setting up an "entry point" for work. For me, it's responding to email and doing administrative tasks first. I know exactly what I'm going to do first each day when I sit down at my desk. Sometimes I even write a sticky note the night before of what to do first.
7. getting up earlier than I need to do and getting active first thing. I either work out or clean my house for 45 minutes before starting my work. No matter what time I get up, the first 45 minutes to an hour are garbage time anyway and I never accomplish any work.

Hope any of this is helpful. It's not a good feeling to make promises to yourself and not be able to keep them. I know exactly how you feel.

If you've never read Getting Things Done, you should. You can adapt however you like, but the basics broken down in that book are incredible. It was written before we had all the tech we have now, so it is the core principles of how we manage the things in our life.

I rely on my calendar, Things 3 for my tasks, and make sure I'm stepping back often to review my overall goals and progress on a weekly basis.

Getting things done, the art of stress free productivity.

https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

Read the book, and apply to your life. It will define your priorities, keep you focused at work, and relaxed afterwards. You don't have to apply it 100%, but even the basic implementation will give huge benefits.

Unfortunately, every company is different. I can tell you that you might want to pick up a book about Emotional Intelligence (easily googleable) as it's a skill based on dealing with people. A lot of people recommend Getting Things Done by Dave Allen for managing projects https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

>It is not something they tell you ("they" being all those people that have endured business ownership long enough to tell you about it, have enough energy to share, or giveafuck enough to warn you)

Excuse me, but do not take this out on other business owners. I have no doubt many of them would have warned you, had you bothered to ask, and even if they hadn't.... google? There's no shortage of information outlining the difficulties of going into business for yourself. Fellow entrepreneurs can be a great resource when you find yourself in the trenches, but I have a feeling they will be more helpful if you don't shoot them down first.

That being said, /u/nofugginway has the right idea. Get a mentor. Sometimes small business stresses are actually about the business, but a lot of the time they're just about you, your own personal capabilities, and your own approach to organization and self-discipline. Even a book is a step in the right direction (Getting Things Done by David Allen might be a great start).

I mean I can't help you with the bigger projects because honestly I have the same problem. But I'll let you know this, I have a big backlog of movies too and I could never figure out when I felt like watching such and such so I made a system where I wouldn't have to choose for myself, I wrote down all the movies I wanted to watch on little pieces of paper and I put them in a container and when I want to watch one I shake it up and pull one out, and that's the next movie I watch. even if I don't get to it that day, I know that's next on my queue. It's easy and it's fun because those're movies I want to watch just I get bogged down in the choosing, because there's so many.

I'd also actually read a book called getting things done it's a really good organizational system.

Good luck!

Oh cool! Yeah, Getting Things Done. It's a thin little book. Fun read, and useful too.

McGonigal's "The Willpower Instinct", you may just want to browse chapter 10 at the bookstore or library and see if anything resonates with you.

I have a few reasons for going with the bullet journal. When it comes to personal life, I just find it much faster to just open a book and double-check something than going into an app and having to click several times to get to what I need. I just flip to the bookmark in my notebook, and there it is. The second reason is that I use a desktop computer at work, but I'm in meetings fairly regularly. I use it to take notes, but it also helps me answer questions on work I've done while at my desk (have I heard back from this Dept about such and such? That sort of thing.) The last reason is that I like notebooks. I've been an avid journaler for years and I love the feel of a new notebook. This feeds that strange obsession.

Other people I work with, who are setting timelines and dealing with teams, tend to use OneNote to keep things straight. You can use OneNote as a digital bullet journal, but that might even be selling the program short. My coworkers are also big fans of David Allen's book, Getting Things Done. I've read a few places that it fits in with bullet journal really well, but I... haven't quite gotten around to read it yet.

I can think of nothing I want to do less than being a project manager, but I have a friend who is very firmly in the INTJ camp (scoring high in all aspects), and she excels at it. :)

I've been using Things for a couple years now, but its lack of MobileMe support to sync up between my various computers and iPhone has been a giant hassle. To the point where I've dropped the whole GTD habit for months now. As of today, I'm now using OmniFocus (which syncs via many different options – including MobileMe) as of today. So far I love it. There's a hotkey that lets you add a todo from anywhere. Super handy. You can also highlight text from the web (not sure if you can also do it from anywhere, but I think you can) and then add that clipping as a todo.

EDIT: In case you haven't heard of GTD (Getting Things Done) your life will be changed once you read this book.

I guess that is kind of a reasonable description in the sense that a list is just a page with things to do in linear order. I think the power comes from being broken free from the linear way of thinking and representation. They should not really just consist of a central theme with a collection of bubbles radiating out but each concept or task or whatever is composed of child nodes of grandchild or ggchild etc nodes,which describe further the problem or task and connect it to other aspects of central theme or idea. There certainly is the possibility that these maps can become unruly and chaotic just like the human mind. So using them takes discipline.

I would say that the books by tony buzan would be the place to start to understand better (he is credited with originating them, but I would imagine people have been using them or something like them before him). He emphasizes the use of colour and the maps in his book are very readable.

In case you havent heard of it. The book "Getting things done" or simply GTD is what you should read I think if you are interested in organisation and productivity. Mind maps can and probably should be incorporated in your system and are fully compatible with a GTD style system of organisation which is not rigid, you choose what tools work for you.

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

Buy this book.

I read it 1.5 months ago. I already felt more relaxed in the first week and it keeps getting better. It really helps you to focus on the thing that needs to be done.

David Allen's Gettings Things Done is a read worth the time. The gist of it is that you should maintain a list of on-going projects so that you are able to focus on one thing at a time, and not constantly keep everything in your head. Anything that comes up shall be processed according to the “do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it” rule.

I came here to say this. GTD seems like it would exactly meet your needs. I was a disorganised mess. After reading it I am still a mess, but I am organised. The general thrust of GTD is:

• your brain can hold one thought at a time

• you need to manage when things appear in your mind so that they are only there when you can actually do something about them

• Once you know what you can do right now then do it right now

There is much more to it than that, seriously though, read the book

I recommend the book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. It's an entire organization system, but it makes so much sense that you actually see the benefit of putting it into practice, and you just do it as a result.

>The problem is that I come in here and basically do nothing all day. If something urgent comes up, like a client needs something or I’m asked to do a specific task, I get it done. But the bigger, vague projects never go anywhere. I should be organizing seminars and trying to proactively reach out to clients as much as I can, but I simply just don’t. I sit here and dream about what I’d rather be doing instead of getting anything done.

I don't think your problem is laziness, lack of motivation, or an inability to discipline yourself. It sounds like you're having trouble structuring your long-term goals in a way that breaks them into specific, manageable tasks that you to accomplish in the short term. Having large goals that aren't clearly defined, like gradually taking over your father's book of business, is useless if you don't turn those goals into a daily to-do list. In fact it's worse than useless, because you're going to constantly feel bad (at least at a subconscious level) about not progressing toward achieving these big-picture goals. Even worse, it's likely you'll try to push back against the source (i.e. the seemingly unachievable goals) of these negative feelings (doubt, guilt, anxiety, etc.), because it's unpleasant to think about our perceived failures, and avoid doing the very work that would ultimately make you feel better. Your problem isn't some amorphous character flaw, it's that you simply don't know enough about what you need to be doing. The "specific tasks" that lead to you achieving your long-term goals exist, you just don't know what they are.

You need to break down your big-picture goals into discrete, actionable steps. These also need to be manageable. If you put too much on your plate at once, you'll become overwhelmed and won't genuinely attempt to get your work done (If it's impossible, why even try?). Part of this process consists of thinking about what's involved in achieving each of your long-term goals, breaking down the actual steps involved, and so forth. This will take some thought, but you probably already know enough to get it done. The other part, which is arguably more important, is creating an organizational system that allows you to keep track of daily/weekly/monthly tasks, monitor your progress towards specific goals, and manage your schedule. You can invent your own system, but you might find it easier to adopt someone else's. Here's one popular approach. Clearly defining your goals, breaking them down into manageable steps, and tracking your progress in terms of short-term tasks will change the way you look at your job and, hopefully, make the path ahead of you seem more achievable.

>I sit here and dream about what I’d rather be doing instead of getting anything done....I find myself craving a job where I don’t have the opportunity to be lazy...I’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what job to switch into.

I can't tell you if you'd be happier doing a different job, but I can tell you that this sounds like escapism. It's possible that a different job might be more compatible with your personality, but there's no reason to assume that switching jobs will automatically make you happier. To me, a more plausible explanation for your daydreaming is that you're stressed out and looking for a distraction. It's more enjoyable to daydream about having a different job than it is to sit around worrying about what you should be doing in your present one. The solution isn't to keep daydreaming - it's to figure out what you should be doing and do it. As you've stated, you're not entirely ignorant of what that is. You've spent a decade working in the industry and you have a willing, successful mentor to guide you. You need to leverage those resources into a daily to-do list that will eventually take you where you'd like to go. Once you're busy checking tasks off of that to-do list, I don't think the escapism/grass-is-greener-elsewhere thinking will occupy much of your time. If you find yourself doing everything right, moving along your desired path, etc., and still spending all your time daydreaming about different careers, that's when you start to think about a career change. Based on what you've said, I don't think you're there yet.

One more thing - don't be afraid to develop your own financial advising "style." The stereotypical financial advisor may be the extroverted salesmen "type," but there are many successful advisors who defy that stereotype. You have to figure out what works for you. Play to your own strengths. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to adopt someone else's persona to succeed in the industry.

Bootstrapped 10 years ago, kept the team tiny until just about 3 years ago. So I know the feeling!

You don't need to do it all. You need to do enough.

You're already on to a good first step: you've got a list of the 'buckets' you're spending your time in. Researching gigs, prospecting leads, emailing with clients, website redesign, social media. Plus, you know, the actual work. (For you: videography; for me: software engineering and operations.)

One sanity check is to accept that you're not going to get everything done. This is not the same as giving up, or lowing the bar, or accepting less for yourself or your business. It's a legitimate forcing function that will help you get organized and working on the right things.

If you can't do it all, then what do you do? How do you decide on what it is the most important?

Start with your buckets. There may be an inherent order of priority to them. I might suggest you start with billing and accounting for work that's been done. You don't want to neglect that, otherwise you just invalidate your hard work. Then there's the actual doing of billable work, which everything else is meant to support. Last, the supporting activities, like marketing.

You have a fixed amount of time in the day. Give each of these buckets a fixed amount of time, and a position on your schedule, relative to their priority. You could spend the first hour sending invoices, receiving payments, doing general bookkeeping and planning. Then your project management, reviewing emails with clients, prioritizing tasks for the day. The rest of the morning, dive in to your billable work. If you don't have billable work at the moment, build a hobby project that you can use for marketing.

After lunch, spend an hour on promotion, then back into a couple hours of work. Closing out the day, another block of communication with clients, then research opportunities and prospect for leads, along with whatever other habit might help you unplug and unwind so you can get some rest and recovery.

So time management is important. You don't have to plan out your day in five-minute increments, but it's good to have some rhythms and rituals. The important part is that you apply some thought to the kinds of tasks you're doing, where they're coming from, and the relative value of those types of tasks and the tasks themselves. You can't control the volume of supporting tasks, so focus on controlling your blocks of time. Limit the unlimited, apply whatever sorting criteria you can, and focus on finishing what you start.

You may not be able to do it all, and you don't need to do it all in order to be successful. You need to do good valuable work for your clients, and enough supporting work to get paid for it, to keep more work coming, and to keep improving the business itself.

I'll wrap up with maybe slightly more prescriptive pieces of advice.

If you don't already have one, you definitely want a bookkeeper and an accountant. Clean books from day one is super valuable. You don't want tax season to be a major time sink. There are plenty of solo or small CPA shops in your area that work with small businesses on a retainer basis. I'd rather spend $500/mo on a bookkeeper+CPA combo than a virtual assistant.

Outsource to software tools as much as possible. This Twitter thread is probably overkill for what you need at your scale. But you may get some good ideas. Software scales really well, you can get a lot done with a $50/mo or (eventually) a $500/mo tool.

If you choose not to use software, and scale with people, make sure that everything is written down and inspected! You should be able to take someone's notes on how they're doing a task, and replicate it yourself. If I was doing one thing differently, this is something I'd do more of. Do a task the first time, document it the second, and by the 10th or 20th time you can think about delegating or designing a system.

Get really good at email. Gmail has a bunch of great tools, get to know them. Commit to inbox zero every day; multiple times a day. Snooze liberally. If it's in the inbox, it's an action item you're working on right now. If it's not actionable, get rid of it. You can skim quickly, but remember, you can't do it all.

If your email back and forth consists of scheduling calls or meetings, stop now and check out Calendly. You need it, or something like it, to take the guesswork out of scheduling.

Your personal productivity is important. Getting Things Done is worth studying, if you haven't already. Check out GTD in 15 minutes for an overview of the book's content.

And last but not least, remember to take time for yourself! You need time away from work to rest and recharge and be a person. That's the wellspring of your creativity and drive to be an entrepreneur and a creator. Nurture it. And have fun!

You most certainly do not need PM software for your to-do list.

I struggled with this for a long time. I highly recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen - Amazon Link.

I ended up settling on MS OneNote to keep track of everything in my life. The desktop version is very powerful, and the mobile app is good for review and short notes on the go.

WARNING: It is very easy to go overboard with organizing with the GTD method. It took me a long time to get it running smoothly (David Allen suggests a full 2 years before you reap the full benefits), but now I have all of my Tasks, Projects, Someday/Maybe's, and various levels of Goals for work and home neatly organized and out of my head.

If that is too much here is a much more simple method for the short term. Grab a notebook and write down everything you have to do. As for prioritizing, pick 2-4 things you absolutely have to get done tomorrow and write those on a separate piece of paper. Repeat this daily.

https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

edit, much easier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZp0eHCOEJs < ignore that it's selling a particular iOS product, after a minute or two it's very helpful and doesn't mention the product any more.

It's a great idea to get on this early. I've started properly organising things (following "Getting Things Done" principles over the last couple of weeks and I feel it's making differences as far as my mood, not to mention productivity.

You'll need a calendar, a good to-do list (doesnt really matter if paper or software, just what works for you), and somewhere to keep notes.

I use Google calendar, Todoist (premium but there is a free version) and OneNote for digital notes.

I highly recommend reading/listening to the book by David Allen. (amazon link).

Anything I say will be repeating what can be found in that book. A summary can be outlined in this diagram

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b1/b4/7e/b1b47e5ea1ed53dfe0ef8d50734b2dfe.jpg

This book really changed my life and how I manage my to-do list. In fact, it's time for me to give it another read: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

Of course! And if you haven't read it, I couldn't recommend enough the book Getting Things Done.

Read this book, Getting Things Done.

Getting Things Done, by David Allen. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0142000280/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_t1_.D89FbD0HYGVT

It can get better, but it doesn't happen on its own. It takes intentional effort to learn how to focus your efforts and attention on doing the right thing during the time that you have and not focus on anything else. It's possible that when you have time for research, the scatterbrainedness is coming from a million open loops in your mind that haven't been put into the right place to be dealt with at the right time, and each one exerts a tiny pull on your attention. This also may explain the all-nighters spent grading.

I don't mean this as a scold, it's just a fact. I struggled with the same feelings for a long time. A lot of faculty think they're simply at the mercy of what's happening around them and for those folks, it never gets better.

Over the break, I highly recommend checking out the Getting Things Done methodology of time/task/attention management either by reading David Allen's book or if nothing else checking out this brief overview, then trying to implement it as best you can next term. You might find some major improvements with just a little bit of investment there.

Getting Things Done by David Allen is a good guy, I am really fucking loving Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker.

> Klinkt als een goed idee, dit is dus wel een stap die je bewust hebt genomen en niet iets wat vanzelf minder werd?

Bewust. Sterker nog, als je er niet scherp op blijft wordt 't vanzelf weer meer ;-)

> Ik doe het tussen taken door en onderbreek er geen taken voor, het is soms wat rustig.

Hoewel ik begrijp waar je vandaan komt ligt hier wel een gevaar op de loer. Zo heb ik zelf ook regelmatig een excuus waarin het lastig is om niet naar de reddit mobile app te graaien (die ik met m'n eerdere post dus maar gedeinstalleerd heb) in plaats van wat nuttigs doen zoals even op en neer voor een kopje thee/koffie terwijl ik nadenk hoe wat ik gedaan heb eventueel nog beter kan of hoe ik de volgende taak op ga pakken.
Je 'resetmomentje' (zoals /u/AcabJef 'm beschrijft) nuttig gebruiken helpt om in 'de flow' te blijven en is daarnaast ook goed voor je imago op de werkvloer imho.

> Ben je werkzaam in de financiële wereld?

Zo zou ik het zeker niet noemen.

> Heb jij vaste ochtend rituelen die je aan zou raden?

Mjah, dit hangt natuurlijk gedeeltelijk van je persoonlijkheid af. Zelf probeer ik 's ochtends zo snel mogelijk in 'werk-modus' te komen. Hierbij helpt het als je vroeg op kantoor bent (weinig mensen die je afleiden) en als je de dag vooraf al bepaald hebt waar je mee gaat starten. Bijkomend voordeel is dat de winkels nog open zijn tegen de tijd dat je naar huis gaat ;-)

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Afsluitend dan maar een paar 'klassiekers' die je zouden kunnen helpen 'effectiever' te zijn:

• Getting things done
  
• The 7 habits of highly effective people
  
• How to win friends and influence people
  

Minder 'klassieker' maar wel zeer nuttig vond ik Willpower Instinct. Verder vind ik de boeken van Dan Ariely nuttig en vermakelijk. Daarnaast, omdat je marketing studeert zou ik kijken of je wat boeken van bijv. Seth Godin in de bieb kunt vinden.

Getting Things Done is required reading for management staff at my company. I highly recommend it.

This

>Whatever idea or task you have, write it down somewhere. Once you have written everything down, your mind becomes decluttered and free from distractions. Since you know that your thoughts are safely stored somewhere, it removes the incessant feeling of “I need to remember… something” in your brain. This makes you completely focus on the task at hand. > >Edit: Holy shit, blew up
>Edit 2: If you want a more detailed strategy than just simply "writing it down", be sure to read this this book by David Allen: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280
>Edit 3: Some people do not seem to understand this post. I mean write down all your good ideas and tasks, not things like "I really hate getting stuff stuck in my teeth" or "I should always put hot sauce on my pizza". Sigh.
>Edit 4: Google Keep is a fantastic app for this.
>Edit 5: This workflow diagram has made my life so much easier
>Edit 6: To quote one of the comments which explains my post pretty well: "I get very scatter brained and frustrated the more tasks I keep saying I need to get to. Usually a million little small odd jobs that don't require any real effort to complete but also easy to put off by not being urgent either. >Eventually my mind feels stressed and cluttered and it takes a toll on my ability to think and be productive. Like my mind is expending effort to remember so many little tasks. >When I write EVERYTHING down, and I mean everything, my mind feels a million times lighter because I can forget it all and let go - the thoughts are on paper, not in my head, so I don't have to remember them. When I feel productive I just grab the list and knock some tasks off. When new things come up I add to the list. >It's one of the VERY few things that GENUINELY helps my mind feel better and less stressed. >Seriously give it a try if you feel a heavy mind. Hopefully you'll get as much benefit as I do from it."

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity A lot of great stuff in this book

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280 This book is absolutely amazing! CGPGrey strongly recommended it saying it changed his procrastination habits and made him a better person

You need more staff. In the meantime, this...

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

Disclaimer: what works for me might not work for you. I can also be a bit . . . odd.

1)daily habit of 5-10 min of tiding and knolling every day. Deep clean once a month.

2) I don't schedule, but I always set a timer when I game for 2 hours or less. I'm making a concerted effort to game less and perhaps take a month off.

3) Work out in my P90X home gym immediately after work. I have to walk in the door, change clothes, and get started immediately after waking in the door or it's not going to happen. I can't even allow myself to sit down. Some people can do mornings, but sleepy me will not get up earlier than I have to.

4) Read the book Getting Things Done As far as software goes I use Omnifocus.

5) Soylent

If you're serious about time management and productivity then I highly recommend you check out David Allen's "Getting Things Done".

Here is a summary video to get you started.

Here is David's website and the Amazon page for the book.

Best of luck.

I guarantee that Grey would recommend reading <em>Getting Things Done</em> by David Allen. On Hello Internet he says that it changed his life.

This has personally been a big problem for me but I have done some personal soul searching and reading a particular book, “Getting things done by David Allen" that have really helped me. My problem isn't simply I don't have the energy because if I do have a coffee or a red bull I have energy but let it out on distractions. The issue is focus. I believe the question you are asking is how I focus on a task. From my research and from personal reading (I never read fiction, I hate reading and if I have to I better be learning something) I have learned this. Humans have a set daily amount of self - control. Imagine you are a car with horrible gas mileage. You get one fill up a day. Every time you exercise self-control it’s like driving, you use gas. So lesson one if you have habits you don’t like make it extremely hard to accomplish them so you don’t waste self-control on them. Having a workspace that you enjoy working is paramount. Personally I bought myself everything I need for a smooth workflow. I am a student and I work fulltime I have a desk in my room but it spans the whole wall now. I have a filing cabinet an organizer, pleasant decorations some of which remind me why I am working in the first place ( my daughter) Around my desk I have things I am proud of. A picture of my daughter, a Jamaican beanie to remind me where my blood is from, a Banksi book reminding me of my love for conscious street art. A library for fast go-to reference right next to my desk filled with business books (I am a business major), etc. Personally I have scents that make me want to stay here as well. My desk anchors me here through sensual stimulation I want to work here. Lesson 2 make a workspace you actually want to be in have ques there that let your brain know this is where I get work done and nothing else. There are no games on this computer. Games are in the living room. Lastly and this may sound crazy but before I know I am going in for a long haul I pop a caffeine pill but when it kicks in I meditate for 10 minutes. I focus on my breathing and try to forget everything else. After 10 minutes I arise with the discipline and focus I need to get things done. This is a short summary of what I do but it works for me and I think they are basic building blocks to help anyone. I don’t believe humans just get work done you need to find a way to get in the zone.

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280 http://www.audible.com/pd/Science-Technology/Understanding-the-Mysteries-of-Human-Behavior-Audiobook/B00DDTGKBI http://www.amazon.com/Personal-MBA-Master-Art-Business/dp/1591845572/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1435394089&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=personal+mba

Your averages are no small feat! Keep that in mind. There are two types of people who leave engineering, those who find greener pastures, and those who don't have a good work ethic.

I know plenty of people who left engineering because they just wanted to focus different things like on math, which is an open option because engineers take everything.

I think if you have a strong work ethic you'll be able to get through it no problem. It's not difficult there's just a lot of it.

Here are some good books to help you get productive

http://www.amazon.ca/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

http://www.amazon.ca/How-Become-Straight-A-Student-Unconventional/dp/0767922719

I just finished my undergrad, and my advice would be:

Constantly review your process, find out where you lack and try to improve on that

Join clubs or do something outside of school, a degree will only help you get in the door, good marks aren't the whole picture, show that you are capable of doing something

Getting things done

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280

you might be interested in the Getting Things Done system, it's sort of like what you're trying to do.

here's a quick overview. there's also a book and about a billion other websites about it

Reading Getting Things Done and far more importantly Meditating has really worked wonders for me this year.

This. I also highly recommend David Allen's book Getting Things Done.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen

Ha, just for the fun.

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Getting Things Done

I've found the organizational system in Getting Things Done really helpful.

The one most important thing I seem to be learning lately is that perspective is everything. There's a good book that I've been reading lately called Getting Things Done. Just implementing a few of the things over the course of a week has open up a door to go oversees. First time I'll be outside of North America.