I don't kid myself that four days spent in Tokyo, staying in Western-oriented hotels and with someone around to translate most of the time, is going to lead to in-depth insight into Japanese culture and work approaches. Nonetheless, there were a few self-evident lessons about the future of technology. Click after the jump for some quick ideas to help you approach organising from a different angle. (Photograph of votive prayers at the Meiji Shrine, which might put your to-do list into perspective.)

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Editor: Meet io9 contributor Lisa Katayama. When she's not blogging about robots and futurism, she's spreading the word about how to GTD in the most unexpected ways. Here's a sampling of a few clever tricks you'll find in her new book, Urawaza.
When it comes to life and getting things done, we like to do things a little differently in Japan. When I break a glass in the kitchen, I don't use my vacuum cleaner to clean it up; I use a slice of bread. When my socks become dirt-stained from running in a muddy ravine, I don't pour bleach on them; I stuff them with marbles. And to save space and money, I have never bought a document shredder. I just stuff incriminating documents in a stocking and toss them in the washing machine.

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