Managing Life Like You're Out Of Underwear

Don't you hate it when you're down to that last pair of old underwear that just doesn't feel right? While putting a reminder on my task list to do laundry is easy it doesn't accomplish the task. Some electronic calendars or task lists will even remind you to do what you need to do (although, it's easy to just ignore the reminders). You bet I'm more inclined to do laundry when I've got to use my old underwear, though. I don't have to spend time trying to remember to do laundry at that point-- I'm reminded of it every time I get up from my desk or walk around and feel that oh so constricting waist band!

Many times there's no need to put things on a task list because you can naturally remind yourself. Other times, it's helpful to add things to a task list or even set them up so they automatically happen. And finally, in some cases it just makes sense to do things when you think of them the first time. In this article I'll explain the idea of including graceful degradation in your life to manage the tasks that you don't do right away, but shouldn't have to waste time on to add to a task list or calendar.

Graceful Degradation

Sometimes there seem to be two types of people: those who create organized tasks lists because they never get around to doing anything and those who get around to doing things but never have them organized because they don't have a task list. In other words, it takes time to stay organized, but there's a cost to doing so. If you spend too much time planning, you don't do anything. But if you don't spend some time planning, you may not do everything you need to at the right times. What if there were a more natural way to remember to do things, but without as much overhead as keeping a list or calendar of them? Thus my idea of living a gracefully degrading life!

What do I mean by graceful degradation? Wikipedia defines graceful degradation as "the property that enables a system ... to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of ... some of its components". In reality, the system (your life) keeps going even if you don't complete all the tasks you need to, but you notice a reduced quality of life. It's this reduced quality of life that reminds you of what you need to do, but it's more gradual and perhaps natural. Task lists and calendars aren't as natural. The concept of time is really a man-made invention or model anyway. Does your alarm clock really know when you should wake up better than your body?