Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: In Context Blog

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 found this little piece of wisdom at Behance Magazine, and felt that it needed a bit more exploration: Tip: References Are Overrated from Behance Magazine

Behance did a very unscientific study of how we use our own reference items. Over the past three years, we have accumulated 4 faux-leather-bound plastic sleeve books full of magazine cut-outs, printouts, and book excerpts on creative people. The first thing we found was dust.

It seems that these invaluable references were not as valuable as they appeared. While we plan to someday flip through them, we seldom do. In the age of Google and some kick-ass blogs, we tend to turn to the mighty might web for information. What is the point of keeping 600 reference items if you seldom refer to them? If you are bored or need to be inspired, and the internet connection is down, then maybe…

When Reference Items are Used Well
However, there was one book that had no dust and was centrally located in our office. “Take-Out Menus” was a compilation of restaurants in the area. It seems that the title for this collection of reference items was specific enough to make the collection useful. If we had titled the collection “Random Mailings” and included the other coupons and marginally helpful items we receive in the mail, then we would probably refer to the collection less frequently. The lesson: tag or title each reference file with a SPECIFIC name, rather than something generic.

No, the lesson is that the staff at Behance Magazine are saving and filing the wrong things. Yes, tagging and titling are important, but like the author says collecting info on “creative people” from magazines and books is kind of silly when this info lives on the web. It is when that info can not be found on the web that it needs to be saved.

I would also recommend to the staff at Behance that they do an annual review each year, and purge or archive those types of files and materials that they do not use or need anymore. Letting things like clippings, books and magazines pile up just causes mental and physical clutter that reduces personal and team productivity.

What are your thoughts on saving things for reference? Do you have a big stack of magazines that you never look at?

Simon Hill gives us an update on his transition to paper:

Free Flow Life

Three observations I’d make so far:

1. The initial exercise of transferring all my Next Actions, Someday/Maybes and Projects from Outlook to paper provided a great opportunity to really think about my commitment to each of the items I was transferring, particularly those that had been on the list for a while. Essentially I committed to myself that if I was going to spend the time and effort writing and maintaining this item on paper then then I’d better be planning on actually striking it off sometime too.

Today we are pleased to have a guest-post from Phil Stanoch, the editor of A Better Life, Every Day. Through personal development and personal productivity articles, A Better Life, Every Day aims to help people make each new day better than the day before.

Over the years, I’ve tried many different techniques/philosophies for getting organized and getting work done. I’ve used many different types of paper organizers and software on different PDAs in an attempt to ensure that I was getting everything done that I needed to do. While I’ve had some success with these various tools, none of them ever really “stuck”.

That all changed a couple of years ago when I had the good fortune, through work, to attend a three-day training course on Getting Things Done taught by Jason Womack. To say that the GTD training course improved my life would be an understatement. While I still have some work to do on my GTD implementation, my productivity has gone up and my stress level has gone down. While reading various GTD-related blogs, I discovered the Moleskine, and I decided to add a ruled, pocket Moleskine to my productivity arsenal.

My Moleskine comes just about everywhere with me, whether at work or outside of work. While I use my Treo to house my Calendar and Task lists, my Moleskine is a repository for everything. Along with my Cross Tech3 (black pen, red pen, & pencil in one) I use it to:

• Write out any thoughts, ideas, or feelings I may have. Since I always have my Moleskine and pen with me, I am able to capture any thought or idea that I deem important at the time. I will either develop these thoughts and ideas further at the moment, or when I have time later, I sit down and expand upon them. I also note any tasks that I may need to complete at a later time.
• Write out my Most Important Tasks every morning. I usually write out 3-5 tasks that I want to accomplish throughout the day, and I immediately begin to work on the first one. As I complete a task, I check it off with my red pen, and move on to the next task. Using the red pen makes it stand out, and gives me a great feeling of accomplishment as I review it throughout the day.
• Keep meeting notes when I meet with someone face-to-face or over the phone. This works well for me because I can refer back to these notes whenever I need to, no matter where I am.
• Create mind maps for some of my projects. For instance, I created a mind map about this blog post a few days ago when Stephen first told me he was giving me the opportunity to write it. I’ve referred to it and added to it multiple times this week when using my Moleskine for another purpose.
• Create checklists projects I am involved with or with events I am attending. Having the checklist helps prevent that nagging thought that I am forgetting something. There is nothing that ruins an event more for me than constantly thinking about what I may have forgotten. With my checklist, I am able to ensure that I am fully prepared.

In addition, I add my own notations, in red, to many of the things that I write down. This makes it much easier to find various things when I review my Moleskine weekly. Some of the notations I use are:

1. A checkbox for tasks that I need to complete
2. A check mark for tasks that I have completed
3. A star for those things that I deem very important
4. The word “blog” for ideas for my blog posts
5. The acronym “TDS” for the things that I want To Do Someday. These are later added to my Life List

Discovering, and then using, my Moleskine has definitely helped increase my productivity. It has also helped clear my mind so that I have more time to think about deeper, more important things. Since I am not always in “fire fight” mode, I am much more relaxed, and I have found that I am enjoying life more than ever.