Suggestions from Mark Volkmann's "Getting Things DONE summary", nicely capturing some of productivity-guru David Allen's recommendations of practices to adopt:
Always have paper and a writing instrument with you. Ideas can come at any time. Process these notes as new inputs ASAP so they aren't lost and are considered when planning next actions.
* Always bring something from your "To Read/Review" stack to meetings. Meetings nearly always start late and the time spent waiting can be used to catch up on reading.
* Daily Practices: determine if anything described in the following locations needs to be addressed today.
43 Folders (sets of things to address on a given day within the next month, or in a given month during the next year)
* your calendar
* your "Action" email folder
* flagged items in your next actions list
* Periodic Practices
At least once per week, review all incomplete items in your lists and flag the ones that need to be addressed soon.
* At least once per year review the content of all the folders in your reference filing system and throw out items that are no longer relevant.
* Once a week or less, review your "Projects", "Waiting For" and "Someday/Maybe" lists to see if anything in them needs to be addressed soon. This review can generate new items in the "Next Actions" list.
* At least once per week, gather new inputs and add them to your system.
... well, yes — and flossing more often too!
... so yes, perhaps the place to begin is by being kinder to one's self, on the way to getting better-organized — as per Mantra - Love Your Self and Mantra - Be Your Own Best Friend ...
(cf Mind Like Water (2011-12-24), Getting Things Done - Summarized (2012-05-14), Mindless Mind (2012-10-06), David Allen Summarized (2014-04-29), Feel Good about What You Are Doing (2016-05-25), David Allen on Opportunities and Gracefulness (2018-07-02), ...) - ^z - 2018-10-10