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The real challenge is to make good communication a handy and well-used tool. Then you are likely to pick it up and use it without thinking.

~ Max Depree

Being productive in any environment is the result of identifying and fixing the weaknesses in your systems and processes. Communication, interaction, and production are inter-related in a way that many people do not realize. Bottlenecks occur when part of a system or process is out-of-sync with the rest. For example: “If someone on a team doesn’t respond to e-mails for two weeks, the entire group’s sensitivity and efficiency have been dulled.” [David Allen]

If you have been practicing GTD for any time at all, you know all about your Capture Device and your Tickler File, but have you analyzed the rest of your system to find any bottlenecks that may be impeding your progress toward completion? Like the staffer who does not respond to e-mail, is there a part of your own workflow that is not getting back to you?

Communicatie with Yourself

The underlying theme of the Getting Things Done practice is to get “stuff” out of your head where it is just swirling around and into a system for processing and doing. Take a look at the workflow diagram again, and get out a piece of paper (a big piece of flip-chart paper if you can get it!).
This is what mine looks like:

Draw out your own personal workflow diagram. Start at the beginning, and be sure to include all of your input devices/collection tools. As you can see, I discovered a recursive loop (Is it Actionable? > No > Hold > Back to Mailbox) that was causing a problem with ever getting some of my tasks completed. The In-box is not for storage!

Avoid Duplication of Effort

I also discovered that I was duplicating some of my tasks, in that I was tracking Delegated tasks and Deferred tasks in both the Hard Landscape of my calendar and in the @Waiting For context. Delegated tasks now get a note in the calendar only, on the day before the due date (or whatever time period I decide is needed to check on the status) and Deferred items go either to the Tickler File or the Next Action list. This gives them a target date for execution, and an appropriate Context.

This change in the process also allows me to use the @Waiting For context list for e-mail replies, answers to questions, submissions, etc.

Tagging Your Information

I like tagging, most of the posts on this site have two or more tags and can be sorted into a multitude of variations, depending on what topic you are interested in. I also use colored Post-it flags for tagging the papers and pages in my analog system. As you can see in the above picture, two of the listed Contexts are in green (the rest are blue). As I was drawing out the diagram it occurred to me that I was missing a link to items that were listed/captured in my notebook or research files.

As you can see, the flags, minicards, and Post-It cards all come in the same five colors, to indicate where in the system they will be going (I also print my organizer pages in the same colors):

• Red - Calendar
• Orange - Contacts/Notebook
• Yellow - Research Files
• Green - Waiting For
• Blue - Next Action

I recommend that you perform a workflow analysis for yourself at least once every six months or so, or whenever you change tools or methods. Especially if you get something juicy for your system this Christmas!

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/6zxxhy. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen