GettingThings Done. The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

life, and it has gnawed away at their energy.

Don't let the 'not so important' trap gnaw away your energy at home.

Mental Gathering: The Mind-Sweep

Once you feel you've collected all the physical things in your environment that need processing, you'll want to collect anything else that may be residing in your psychic RAM. What has your attention that isn't represented by something already in your in-basket?

This is where the stack of plain paper really comes into play. I recommend that you write out each thought, each idea, each project or thing that has your attention, on a separate sheet of paper. You could make one long list on a pad, but given how you will later be processing each item individually, it's actually more effective to put everything on separate sheets. You will likely not keep these pieces of paper (unless you decide that low-tech is your best organizing method), but it'll be handy to have them as discrete items to deal with as you're processing.

It will probably take you between twenty minutes and an hour to clear your head onto separate notes, after you've gathered everything else. You'll find that things will tend to occur to you in somewhat random fashion—little things, big things, personal things, professional things, in no particular order.

In this instance, go for quantity. It's much better to overdo this process than to risk missing something. You can always toss the junk later. Your first idea may be 'Save the ozone layer,' and then you'll think, 'I need cat food!' Grab them all. Don't be surprised if you discover you've created quite a stack of paper in 'in' during this procedure.

'Trigger'List

To assist in clearing your head, you may want to review the following 'Incompletion Triggers' list, item by item, to see if you've forgotten anything. Often you'll just need a jog to unearth something lurking in a corner of your mind. Remember, when something occurs to you, write it on a piece of paper and toss it into 'in.'

'Incompletion Triggers' List 

Professional

Projects started, not completed

Projects that need to be started

Commitments/promises to others

Boss/partners

Colleagues

Subordinates

  Other people in organization

  'Outside' people

  Customers

  Other organizations

  Professionals

Communications to make/get

  Internal/External

  Initiate or respond to:

  Phone calls

  Voice-mail

  E-mail

  Pages

  Faxes

  Letters

  Memos

Other writing to finish/submit

  Reports

  Evaluations/reviews

  Proposals

  Articles

  Promotional materials

  Manuals/instructions

  Rewrites and edits

Meetings that need to be set/requested

Who needs to know about what decisions?

Significant read/review

Financial

  Cash flow

  Statistics

  Budgets

  Forecasts/projections

  P&Ls

  Balance sheet

  Credit line

Planning/organizing

  Formal planning (goals, targets, objectives)

  Current projects (next stages)

  Upcoming projects

  Business/marketing plans

  Organizational initiatives

  Upcoming events

  Meetings

  Presentations

  Organizational structuring

  Changes in facilities

  Installation of new systems/equipment

  Travel

Banks

  Receivables

  Payables

  Petty cash

Administration

  Legal issues

  Insurance

  Personnel

  Policies/procedures

Customers

  Internal

  External

Marketing

Promotion

Sales

  Customer service

Systems

  Phones