My friend Martin Lindeskog pointed me to this post recently:

My seven most hard-earned mistakes regarding structure | The Structure Blog

And we decided to share our own experiences with making mistakes, and learning from them. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Martin:

“Personally, I have done all the mentioned mistakes. The biggest for me is to really integrate the system in my worklife on a regular basis. I will think the best method for me is hands-on, back to basics, with index cards, a mindmap for projects (using GoalEnforcer) and web based GTD system, e.g. Gtdagenda. The important thing is that I have to take time for the weekly review, sit down, taking notes (using Pulse Smart Pen for recording my “notes to self”), going through the inbox and mail. I will look into the personal kanban system.”

I have done all of these myself, and I work smarter/harder now to avoid them! The Personal Kanban board has been a tremendous aid in tracking what is going on, what is stalled, and prioritizing the Urgent vs the Important.

From David Stiernholm’s blog:

Here are my seven most hard-earned mistakes in the area of structure and personal productivity. Do not let these blunders happen to you.

1. I have let a whole week pass before I summarized meetings I have had (because it “has been so intense”).
Consequence : Material I promised to send were sent much later than I intended.

2. I have let the portable inbasket in my briefcase become really full before I have emptied it and processed everything, instead of doing it immediately when I come back to the office.
Consequence 1: Once I go through the stuff in the inbasket, it’s a labourious task that tends to be procrastinated.
Consequence 2: Critical notes are hidden in the bunch and show up only when I empty the inbasket. Then it may be high time to do the task they represent.

Stephen: This is so very important, and I found a simple solution: When I come home from work (usually dog-tired and in no mood to process my inputs and collections from the day) I have a drawer that I put all of the “stuff” from my pockets, and the captured stuff goes into my inbox. Then, first thing in the morning, even before I eat breakfast or turn on Twitter, I process the inbox.

Martin: “1. I have gone through my notebook and I find notes from meeting with things that should have been taken care of some time ago in order to the process in a timely manner. Solution: use the digital pen, write down notes and mental recordings that I check during the weekly review.

2. I often fill my briefcase with stuff and don’t empty it for some time. I should create a routine to do it on a daily basis. But first I have to “find” the in-basket, see attached photo!”

Synchronizing between Applications

3. I have failed to be extra cautious when I have switched from one phone to another, and when syncing the new one with Outlook still does not work correctly. That is, I have scheduled a meeting in the calendar in the new phone, which I have not synced with my main calendar.
Consequence: I have missed a sales meeting (I’m sorry, Irene). That makes certainly not a good first impression if you are a struktör.

Martin: “3. I don’t sync my smartphone. I don’t use Outlook. I have several incidents with loosing mobile data, e.g. contact address book withphone numbers, calendar events, etc., when a mobile phone has gone “dead”… I don’t trust the mobile phone at the moment, so I have gone back to using a Moleskine weekly notebook diary calender. Maybe I will start to use Google calendar again. I have recently bought a Blackberry (not new, it is used) for a good value price, so I will take time and try to learn its features.”

Stephen: I do not use my Android phone for this type of sync-ing either, since it doesn’t seem to have an interface to my notebook or paper calendar…I just don’t have enough trust in the devices, not like I do with my pen-and-paper system.

Time Management

4. I have allowed myself to become so immersed in delivering a material before deadline that I have put my morning routine to the side and missed to check today’s calendar.
Consequence: I have missed a meeting with a client (please forgive me, Kerstin) and discovered it only after the deadline for the material to deliver. I don’t want that to ever happen again. Imagine how thorough I am with checking the calendar nowadays.

Martin: “4. I have almost missed meeting like this. Today I thought I had a morning meeting because I had a similar one two weeks ago with the same people, but when I checked my calendar, it was booked in the afternoon. Make a routine to check the calendar before going to bed?”

Stephen: I am sometimes late for meetings because I get immersed in whatever it is that I am working on, and this is a big problem for me. I know when the meetings are, because I do look at the next day’s schedule before going to bed and when I awake. But I lose track of time – and I will use my ADD as an excuse.

The Capture Device is Essential

5. I have been asked to fix something and thought “Well, what we just agreed on, I will remember. I do not have to write it up.”
Consequence: Of course I forgot, because I trusted that I was done when the to-do list tasks for the day was checked off.

Martin: “5. I have done this several times. But now when I am back to the basics, carrying a Moleskine volant small notebook (6,5 x 10,5 cm) in my pocket all the time, together with a Tec pico pen, I am all set! I am carrying with me David Stiernholm’s formatted index cards in my briefcase and a separate in my wallet all the time.”

Stephen: I learned a long time ago that I cannot trust my memory for these things, especially working in the restaurant business. There is just too much going on, all at once, for me to epect myself to remember. I carry a FieldNotes brand notebook in my back pocket all the time.

The 2-Minute Rule – Just do it!

6. I have postponed trivial things to do until later, although I just as easily could have done them right now.
Consequence: Later, I have too much on my hands, when instead I could be free of these trivialities (which is now becoming urgent).

Martin: “6. Yes, I have to become better on taking care of trivial things at once. I have to be in the mood for these kind of stuff… ”

Stephen: Waiting to get “into the mood” can be a very dangerous thing. Almost as dangerous as simply not doing them at all. I work at doing all of the “trivial” things while I process my inbox each morning. It works, whatever mood I am in.

Your E-mail is not a Next Action List

7. I have kept e-mails in my mailbox instead of creating to-do items from them and then delete them.
Consequence: I have unconsciously begun to think of my mailbox as today’s to-do list, which meant that I “forgot” my real list. I thought that I was “done” when the mailbox was empty, but you know what? – On the to-do list, there were five or ten things that needed to be ready that same day.

Martin: “7. I have been struggling with my email inbox for a long time. I have to archive about 20,000 email messages and start from scratch again.
See my reply to Anita Campbell’s comment on my post, “Productivity Tools For Your Worklife“:
“Anita,

It is a challenge to get down to an empty email inbox. It is a good
idea to set up special folders as you say. You also put labels on your
incoming email messages and then sort them in different categories,
e.g., in contexts (at office, home, computer etc.), projects,
references, next actions, waiting on and someday.

The goal is to get a clear overview of your incoming messages and to
achieve a mental notion that you have control of the stuff coming at
you.

I have too much email in my inbox at the moment and I think the only
solution is that I take care of the messages at least once a week
during my review, in order to prevent the mailbox to pile up again. I
will start to experiment on how often I will check email during the
day. Timothy Ferriss says that you strive for checking your email
twice a day in his book The 4-Hour Work Week.””

Stephen: My inbox does get pretty full, but here is one area where my Android phone comes in handy: All of my emails are accessible to me via the phone. So the important or urgent items get handled right away, lesser or simply informative items get archived and then I process them when I get back to my desk.

Conclusions and Confessions

Have you done these things? Are you in need of a little refresher? Share your thoughts and comments, let’s help each other.

I received an e-mail a while back from a reader who has some trouble implementing the “2-minute” rule from Getting Things Done: “If a Next Action can be accomplished in 2 minutes or less, do it now.”

TS says:

What I haven’t read about is how to manage a job where most everything can be completed in two-minutes or is a fire that needs to be addressed right away (and where you still have big projects to tackle).

It seems to me that I can not sit down and work on certain projects except after a full day of work and being tired, because I do not have chunks of time to just sit and concentrate on the project until it becomes a fire which needs to be done tomorrow.

Set an appointment with yourself

In order to get your big projects done you need to do two things:

1. Break up the big project into smaller, actionable tasks
2. Set appointments in your Calendar to work on these Next Actions

I would recommend that you set these appointments for the beginning of your work period, after you have had time to assess the current status of your day. This way, if there are any fires that need to get put out you can do so, then start on your project’s Next Action while you are still fresh and ready to concentrate.

After your have finished that portion of the project, you can then address the multitude of 2-minute Next Actions that you have in front of you.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments.

From Website Magazine: Conversion Critic: Analyze Landing Page

Search marketing agency Engine Ready released ConversionCritic today, an online tool for search marketers designed to help them analyze and improve landing pages. The service is free of charge right now and is definitely worth a look if you’re aiming at generating a few more sales from landing pages.

ConversionCritic scores pages based on 37 criteria, for example, “Does the copy focus more on selling the benefits versus the features of the product or service?” The tool then provides feedback on the marketing effectiveness, offer clarity, readability and engagement or suggested modifications of the landing page. I tested Website Magazine’s new professional membership landing page and was pleased with the results, but did see some room for improvement.

“The dynamics that persuade a visitor to be your customer are numerous and complex, and depend on your product/service offering, competitive influences and the demographics of your target audience,” reports Engine Ready’s CEO Jamie Smith. “ConversionCritic is a great online tool for search marketers to see exactly which on-page factors are contributing to higher conversions and what improvements are needed to further increase the conversion rate.”

The service is free with registration, and it gives you an excellent list of questions to answer about your page, things that you may not have considered.

While the Lovely Bride and I have been traveling across the country we visited the Museum of Art in Milwaukee, WI. A very cool place, in a very cool building. In the gift shop I picked up a book by Matthew Frederick entitled, “101 Things I Learned in Architecture School”.

In this little tome are a slew of excellent quotations and snippets of wisdom pointed at architecture students but applicable to a much broader audience. In that spirit, I present the first in a series of inspirations from this little book:

How do I Write a Post for my Blog?

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1. Architects use different lines for different purposes, but the line type most specific to architecture is drawn with an emphasis at the beginning and at the end. This practice anchors a line to the page and gives a drawing conviction and punch.

Your blog posts will be written in different formats for different purposes, but the basic framework of your post should remain the same. The post should begin and end with an emphasis on the title topic. To begin your post with punch, most internet style guides tell you to begin with a photo, as it helps to catch the eye. You should also edit your <h> title tags in order to create paragraph headings. This makes your post easier to scan, both on the page and in a feed reader. Many people read lots and lots of blog posts every day, and they need to be able to spot your value at a glance.

Write posts that have timeless value

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2.Overlap lines slightly where they meet.

Create “flagship content”, a series of posts on the main topic of your blog. These posts should overlap somewhat, leading the reader from one to the next in an orderly progression. Chris Garrett has an excellent article on selling with flagship content, and an e-book on the subject of witing flagship content that you can download, just for subscribing to his blog (and if you aren’t a subscriber, you should be). From Chris’ blog:

How does Flagship Content sell?

1. Attraction – You know your content is Flagship when that is how visitors find you. If people talk about your content then it will draw new pre-sold visitors to your door.
2. Education – In your niche is there subjects where people get confused? Is there something that you are especially well equipped to help with? Demonstrate your expertise, prove you are the person to come to.
3. Trust – What do you get when you combine third-party endorsements with great educational content? The answer, of course, is a good foundation for trust.
4. Decision – Is your approach and alternative to another method? Are you aiming to differentiate yourself from competitors? Work it carefully and you can help the reader, or now surely potential customer, take the decision in your favor.
5. Action – Finally you give the reader tools so they can take action, at the very least ways in which they can get in touch with you. …it doesn’t need to be a hard sell as by this point they will already be convinced you know your stuff.

As you can see, Chris does know his stuff.

Get to the point

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3. When sketching, don’t “feather and fuzz” your way across the page– that is, don’t make a vague-looking line out of many short, overlapping segments.

When writing, get right to the point. Blog posts should (generally) be kept short and pithy. Just a couple of paragraphs with catchy headings can deliver all of the value that you need to your readers. If you have a longer post, manifesto, important lesson, or rant that you’d like to share – put it on its own page and point to it with a short post.

There you go, how to write a blog post in 3 easy steps. Now what are you waiting for?

A common complaint that even well-organized people have has to do with storage of reference material & the archiving of old, completed records.

How long should you keep those important documents?

The short answer is – it depends. I did a little research and found a handful of lists and guidelines for record retention, that I have compiled here for you:

• Automobile records (title, registration, repairs) – as long as you own the vehicle
• ATM receipts – if to 6 years if you need them for tax purposes
• Bank statements – up to 6 years (but you should be able to access these online nowadays)
• Credit Card statements – up to 6 years, again for tax purposes
• Insurance policies – (auto, homeowner/renter, liability, medical, life, etc) up to 5 years after a policy ends, in case of late claims
• Investment purchase records – as long as you own them
• Investment sales records – up to 6 years for tax purposes
• Receipts -
  • Appliances – as long as you own the item
  • Art or antiques – as long as you own the item
  • Clothing – until the end of the return/exchange limit
  • Credit Card slips – personal – until you reconcile your statement, business – up to 6 years for tax purposes
  • Medical – up to 6 years
  • Tax-related – up to 6 years
  • Utility bills – up to 2 years
  • Warranties – life of the warranty, or as long as you own the item
• Resume -Keep one updated copy of your resume (and keep your LinkedIn account current too)
• Tax Records – Keep this year and the previous 6 years (and next year tax-time ought to be pretty exciting!) These records include:
  • Bank statements
  • Cancelled Checks (pretty soon these will all be online too)
  • Certificates of Deposit
  • Contracts
  • Charitable contributions
  • Credit Statements
  • Income tax returns
  • Lease and Loan agreements
  • Loan payment books
  • Pay stubs
• Vital Permanent records – There are a few papers and records that you should keep forever (like Dark Side of the Moon):
  • Birth certificate
  • Death certificate
  • Adoption records
  • Citizenship papers
  • Marriage certificate
  • Divorce certificate
  • Last will and testament
  • Medical records
  • Passport
  • Power of Attorney records
  • Social Security records

What can I purge?

Looking at the above list can be a little disconcerting, but those papers really don’t take up that much space. What does take up a lot of space are the things that you do not need (there’s that pesky 80/20 rule again). Things like junk mail, phone books (seriously, who uses a paper phone book anymore?), expired coupons and special offers, old greeting cards* and invitations.

*[Unless the card or invite has a very special meaning. "Happy Birthday, love Joe" doesn't cut it.]

You know what else can go in the shredder? All of the above items that are past the retention date. And those magazines that you are never going to read. And business cards of people that you will never call or do business with. Old brochures and travel junk. Old maps. That box of recipes that you’ve been collecting but never made a single thing. And clothes that you don’t wear because they are outdated/don’t fit/you just don’t like them.

Take a good, hard look and narrow your focus

I am willing to bet that there is a lot of stuff that you could get rid of, even if you’re not moving. Not only will a good purge make you feel better about where you live, it makes it easier to keep your home and living areas organized.

Storing Your Reference Materials

For reference materials you have 3 powerful tools: A file Cabinet, Bookshelves & Google Desktop Search. For physical record that you need to keep, depending on the format, they should be stored close at hand. Label them clearly,either with their own file folder or a sticker on the spine of th book/binder/whatever. It is important that each item that can go in a file cabinet get its own folder so that you do not have to search though a jumble of paper to find the one that you are looking for.

A useful tip for reference items is to attach a 3×5 card to each item so that you can track how often you use it. Of course, there may be items that you use daily, but you may discover that less-frequently-referenced items can safely be stored elsewhere, or archived. This feature will come in handy when you do your annual “Spring Cleaning” to purge your workspace of things that you do need.

Another recommendation is to scan as many physical records into an electronic format as often as possible. This frees up valuable storage space and these records can be inexpensively copied & stored off site as part of your disaster recovery plan. See this Work.Life.Creativity post:

I implemented a program in my dept. a few years back so we could cut down on the time it took to find documents. Everything to do with accounting is in there which makes our yearly audits a breeze. I burn all of the scans to DVD weekly and take them off site in case something catastrophic should happen to our building. We wouldn’t even miss a beat if the building was gone since all of the software is backed up daily and all of the paper is digitized.

When these records are digitized then Google Desktop Search becomes a valuable tool for referencing them. GDS is capable of indexing every file, document and application stored on your hard drive, including the e-mails in your e-mail client.

This means that you no longer need to print & save those “important” e-mails as they can be saved, tagged & labeled for ease of recovery. As the ultimate e-mail backup tool I have set up my e-mails accounts & e-mail client to BCC every in-and out-bound e-mail message to a special G-mail account for storage in the Cloud – accessible from anywhere.

Don’t forget your Spring Cleaning

There is one last tool I’d like to mention, and that is the “Spring Cleaning” mentioned above. It is important to go thru your workspace at least once a year in order to archive or toss these items that you don’t need anymore. It is remarkable how much stuff can sneak into your workspace when you aren’t looking.

I get asked this question a lot, and the short answer is, “You can’t.”

The long answer is that you can make more time for the important things, if you stop doing things that are not important. The trick is to identify those things and weed them out.

Do you know what you are doing with your time?

As previously discussed in the post “3 Steps to Better Time Management” we need to take a look at three things in our lives:

1. How do we really spend our time?
2. What is truly important to us?
3. How can we make our commitments more effective?

If you feel like you do not have enough time it is likely that you are busy spending your time rather than investing it.

Knowing what we are really doing with our time is essential, and in order to find out we need to create a time log, a blank piece of paper divided into three columns: “Time”,” Activity”, and “Interruption”. Carry this paper with you for an entire day, recording your actions and activities, according to these instructions:

1. Every time you take on a new activity, make an entry on the Time Log. You may feel foolish. It will interrupt your work. Do it anyway and do it for the entire day. Pick a happy medium in defining what constitutes a new activity. (Don’t stop to note every pen stroke, but don’t have only large blocks of time entered as a single activity.)

2. Under “time,” enter the time you start the new activity, to the minute. Under “activity,” enter a brief description of what you’re doing. Under “interruption,” explain why the activity felt like an interruption of your time, if it did. This last column is totally subjective.

Tracking your day like this will allow you to see exactly what it is that you have been doing, so be honest and disciplined about it. You may be surprised at how different it is from what you think that you have been doing. It also allows you to track the types of interruptions that you experience, and when. I would recommend that if you do this exercise, put the completed time tracker in your Tickler File for four weeks later and do it again then. This will enable you to track your progress on staying productive, and managing those interruptions (if possible).

The next step is to look over your actions and activities for the day with a hi-lighter in your hand. Hi-light the entries that you consider to be “important”, and make a list of them on a second sheet of paper. Then make a list of the “unimportant” or “interruption” entries. Staple these together and file them in your Tickler for comparison four weeks from now. You may want to write the “interruptions” on a 3″x5″ card and keep it in your organizer so that you can be reminded of what activities you are working on eliminating.

Make more time: Action steps

Look at your time-tracker log. Are you spending time doing things that you do not need to do? Are they wasteful of your resources? Are there tasks or activities that could be delegated?

• Stop doing the things that you do not need to do. This can be difficult but it is essential. Delegate as much as possible, delete the rest as best you can.
• Batch your activities. Some tasks, like checking e-mail, paying bills and filing can be done in groups. Create some filters for your e-mail account and only check it periodically (the period will vary based on your needs). In fact, if e-mail is one of those activities that pulls you out of a workflow mindset then you definitely need to get it under control.
• Set a regular time for a Weekly Review. Checking back on yourself is a powerful motivator to get things done in timely manner. Looking at a long list of un-done tasks can be depressing, but looking back upon a list of crossed-off activities is inspirational! Use your Review time to create a short list of Most Important Tasks – the things that have to get done next week. Focus on this list and your work will seem much less daunting.

Many readers and visitors to this site leave comments or send e-mail asking for specific tips on how to manage some portion of their workflow system. You say you don’t have a system, and that’s why you need help? Well, everyone has a system, some are just more robust than others.

No matter how busy you are, I am sure that you have some way of recording those “inputs” that come your way. Maybe you just try to remember them, and lay awake at night worrying about things that you forgot. Here is the number one secret to getting more things done so that you can enjoy your life and work again:

Capture your to-do list

The next most popular question is along the lines of “What tool is the best, and which tool do you use?” I have to tell you that I have tried a lot of things, and the one tool that I have found that works best for me is this:

My handy-dandy notebook. I never go anywhere without it. I write down everything that pops into my head, so that I do not forget. You can do the same, and likely with a $.99 spiral bound notepad from the grocery store. This is the very first step in creating a robust time-management system that is adaptable to your own particular needs and situation.

Capture: Write down everything that you need to do.

This notebook is the perfect place for you to jot down ideas and inspirations, your shopping list, a contact’s phone number, whatever. It is better than scratch-paper, because any jottings are bound in and won’t get lost. You can even stick some blank 3″x5″ cards in the back in case you need to jot down a note and give it to someone. Handy-dandy.

Analog vs Digital

This is where the use of a capture device becomes controversial. There are many in the Getting Things Done community that swear by their PDA/handheld device for doing this sort of capture and inputting it directly into their workflow system. This can be a very attractive option, and one that I do recommend if you already have a handheld that you can use for this purpose.

If you do not have one of these PDAs or smart phones, I do not recommend that you run out to buy one. Learning to use a capture device of any kind requires a shift in your thinking. You have to learn a new habit, that of collecting your tasks and organizing them into an action plan.

I do not use a digital device to capture my inputs for two reasons:

1. I just don’t like it. I seem to have an “unhealthy” love-affair with notebooks. I enjoy writing with a pen or pencil, and being able to create pictures or sketches or other non-verbal ways of expressing ideas. I suspect that I do more of my thinking in patterns and images than I do in words. This type of capture can be difficult in the majority of handheld devices.
2. The notebook as a capture device is independent of my workflow application. As a “productivity blogger” I get offers to use and review different applications (like Wrike, UltraRecall, OnePlace, etc) all the time. In an effort to provide value to my readers, I do take these systems for a test drive – and few of them are able to “sync” with any handheld devices. In addition, I don’t have to worry about upgrades or new versions of software suddenly becoming incompatible with my notebook.

Creating an Action Plan

Whichever method or tool you use for capturing the inputs, ideas, and tasks, you still have to process those tasks into an action plan for execution. For getting them done. Again, there are quite a few software applications out there that have attractive features and benefits for a wide range of personality types. Some people are more visual, some like adding a lot of detail, some people are comfortable with simply making a list and checking things off. No matter what application (software or legal pad) you choose you need to have the same goal for its use:

Contextualize: Assess each item on your list.

• Does it fall into the category of a task that needs to get done? Should you do it Today, Tomorrow or Later? Put it in the proper file folder, or enter it into your master list (paper-based or software application).
• Does it fall into the category of an appointment/meeting? Then it needs to go into your calendar.
• Does it fall into the category of reference material? Then it needs to go into your archive or your Tickler File for later use.

The Franklin-Covey method recommends assigning each task a letter- or number-based priority (A B C, A1 A2…). I have found this to be inefficient and inflexible. Things happen. “Fires” start. Your workflow needs to adapt to the situation you find yourself in at any given time. For this reason I recommend David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology and use the two-minute rule: If you can accomplish a task in two minutes or less, just do it. Do them all. Do not get bogged down in making your list or trying to sort the less-than-two-minute tasks.

When you look at your list and see a bunch of little things crossed off as completed it gives you a good feeling. Now you can work on the larger, more time-consuming tasks. There are two ways to address these more-than-two-minute tasks and projects: 1.) set an appointment with yourself to do it in your calendar, or 2.) enter it into your master to-do list (paper-based or software application). The kind of master list that you use is not important. Actually using the list and marking items “complete” is important. Take your time, feel free to experiment with different applications for a week or so. If it does not feel smooth and natural after a week’s use, go back to the legal pad until it’s time to try another one.

Your calendar is not a to-do list

Let me say that again: Your calendar is not a ‘to-do’ list and it is not an In-box. For those of you familiar with David Allen’s Getting Things Done productivity system, you know that only three things are to be entered into your calendar:

1. Time-specific actions
2. Day-specific actions
3. Day- or Time-specific information

That’s it. Because your calendar is a tool that you use to tell you where you need to be and when you need to be there, or when something is scheduled to happen. That is why Allen refers to it as the Hard Landscape. Keeping a separate, master to-do (paper-based or software application) list saves you from having to copy tasks or activities from one day to another if they did not get done.

In summary, you already knew how to manage your list. What you didn’t know was how to capture then organize your list. Now that you have a better understanding of what the tools are and how to use them, you should be able to tackle that list and get some things done.

I hear something like this almost every day:

“I have so much stuff to do, can you help me get it together?”

Every time I receive an e-mail like this, my first response is, “Look around your office or workspace. Is everything put away, are your supplies stocked and handy? Or are there piles on piles of stuff and you don’t even know where your stapler is?”

Nine times out of 10 the answer includes “piles of stuff”. My advice to these folks is always the same, and I will share it with you here. (Bookmark this page for future reference!)

How to organize your workspace, once and for all

Get up from your desk, go get a big trashcan and a box of manila folders. Then close your door (if you have one, put up some tape if you don’t) and ask someone to cover your phone for an hour. It’s time to get to work. It’s time for you to invest some time in preparing yourself for success.

1. Look at your desktop, your shelves, in your desk drawers and file cabinets. Is there anything there that you do not need to get your work done? Of course there is. Toss it in the trash or take it home. A couple of pictures or decorative items are okay, even good for you, but your desk shouldn’t look like grandma’s mantle. Use the manila folders! Every piece of paper gets it’s own folder. Label the folder, and make a new stack on the floor, we’ll come back to it shortly.
2. Collect all of the sticky-notes, memos and reminders that you have plastered all around. You leave these things out so that you don’t forget – well, sorry to tell you but, you stopped “seeing” those things quite a while ago. Create a text file with Notepad on your computer and type the essential information into it. Save it as “Reminders” and place the icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. Now all of your reminders are in one place and out of the way.
3. Go through the files in your filing cabinets. Apply the principles from Step 1 above: if you don’t need it to perform your job, get rid of it or archive it.
   NOTE: Everything that goes into an archive box must be tracked. Make a list of the items/files/documents that you put in that box. Number and date the box. Then create another text file and enter the list of contents. Save the text file as “Box # date”, and put it in a new computer desktop folder called “Archives”. Now whenever you need to find something in an archive box, you can use Google desktop search.
4. Tear down those piles of stuff. Steps 1-3 should have cleared up some storage space in and on your desk, and in your filing cabinet. Now you have some room to put away the stuff in those piles, and that stack of file folders on the floor. This is where it gets a little more personal, and I am going to describe the simplest, most stripped-down organizational system ever.
   All of the stuff in those piles is going to get sorted into 4 stacks:
   1. “Today”
   2. “Tomorrow” NOTE: this does not mean tomorrow in a literal sense, it means soon
   3. “Later”
   4. “Delegate”

   Look at each item/document/folder in the pile and decide which stack it should go in.

   • Is it urgent? Yes – Put it in the “Today” stack. No – put it in the “Later” stack with a due date on it.
   • Is it just important? Put it in the “Tomorrow” stack, with a due date written on it.
   • Is it neither urgent nor important? Well, it should go in the trash can unless it needs to be archived.
   • Is it something that someone else can or should handle? Put it in the “Delegate” stack, with a note of who it is assigned to and when it is due.
   • Not sure what to do with it? Archive it.

   Take some time to consider each item in the pile, but not too much time. Also, you may begin to feel your excitement build as you clean up your workspace & organize your tasks. Be careful. Resist the urge to actually start doing these tasks. Yes, you will get flashes of inspiration about some of these items. Write it down and attach it to the item.

You are almost there!

After your desk and file drawers have been purged and organized, all of your piles have been conquered, it’s time to make something happen.

1. Put the “Later” stack in your file cabinet. You will not need to look at it until the end of the day tomorrow.
2. Put the “Tomorrow” stack in the file cabinet too. You will look at this stuff in the morning.
3. Put the “Today” stack on top of your desk, you are going to address these items in a few minutes.
4. Pick up the “Delegate” stack and go find the people that you are assigning these items to. They deserve to get these assignments as early as possible. When you hand off these assignments be sure to communicate clearly what is to be done and when it is due.
5. Take a break! You’ve earned it. Congratulations on overcoming your mess and getting your tasks organized!

Hooray! I’m organized…now what?

Now it is simply a matter of doing and of ongoing maintenance. When you are done with your break, sit down at your desk and do the things in the “Today” stack. You may not be able to get them all done today, and that is okay. They have likely been building up for a while.

While you are working, more inputs (tasks and other “stuff”) may be coming your way. You need to handle each incoming item the way you just handled your piles:

• Is it urgent? Yes – Put it in the “Today” stack. No – put it in the “Later” file with a due date on it.
• Is it just important? Put it in the “Tomorrow” file, with a due date written on it.
• Is it neither urgent nor important? Well, it should go in the trash can unless it needs to be archived.
• Is it something that someone else can or should handle? Put it in a new “Delegate” file, with a note of who it will be assigned to and when it is due.
• Not sure what to do with it? Archive it.

At the end of the day, take your remaining “Today” items and put them in the “Tomorrow” file. Then go home, you are done.

When you get to work tomorrow morning, you will find that you are still caught up and organized. Now you have a simple routine in place to handle all of your tasks:

1. Pull out the contents of the “Tomorrow” files, this becomes your “Today” list of activities. Do them.
2. Follow up on any delegated items that are due today.
3. Process all incoming tasks and “stuff” into your filing system.
4. At the end of the day, put any remaining items in the “Tomorrow” file and look at the “Later” file – review the due dates and choose one or more items to work on tomorrow.

Good luck, and keep on working. Here’s to being done!

For more helpful tips and discussions of practices like this, visit the Work.Life.Creativity forum.

Now that I am working from home again, it is even more important to maintain my system, and to keep it as stripped-down as possible. In this way I can get more done in less time and get done. Because it really is about being done, not working all the time.

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