It's all in your head

I’ve got a product-line that’s in the process of a major revision. Despite my interest in GTD (Getting things done), I had a mental list of things I had to do on my end. Update price list, post specifications, send emails to the sales reps, etc. Not a big deal.

Then the boss asks for a written plan. Um, yea, coming right up.

I ended up spending almost a half-a-day writing down the plan. I also made more work for myself by adding a few things. I also documented the things still outstanding that I needed (decisions about certain details, mostly).

So I feel a little sheepish to say that: the boss was right; must use plans and action lists ala GTD; and written plans are easier to get input on.

With that lesson in my brain, I set to tackling the website to update that model series, which means splitting one webpage into several. This is a case where I would normally make a written plan, but this task defies doing so. I could try wire-framing it, but splitting the content up is such detail work that I can’t see any other way than doing on-screen. It allows me to balance my need to explain our product with the user’s experience in learning about it, too.

So I’ve spent several hours staring at my screen, moving things around, and hoping it all comes together…and wishing it was easier. This is real knowledge work, I guess.