GettingThings Done. The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

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

  Computers

  Office equipment

  Other equipment

  Utilities

  Filing

  Storage

    Inventories

    Supplies

    Office/site

    Office organization

    Furniture

    Decorations

    Waiting for...

    Information

      Delegated tasks/projects

      Completions critical to projects

      Replies to:

      Letters

      Memos

      Calls

        Proposals

 Requisitions

 Reimbursements

 Petty cash

 Insurance

 Ordered items

 Items being repaired

 Tickets

      Decisions of others

    Professional development

    Training/seminars

    Things to learn

    Things to look up

    Skills to practice/learn especially re:

      computers

    Tape/video training

    Resumes

    Outside education

    Research—need to find out about...

    Professional wardrobe

    Personal

    Projects started, not completed

    Projects that need to be started

    Commitments/promises to others

      Spouse

      Children

      Family

      Friends

      Professionals

      Borrowed items

    Projects: other organizations

      Service

      Civic

      Volunteer

    Communications to make/get

      Family

      Friends

      Professional

    Initiate or respond to:

    Phone calls

    Letters

    Cards

    Upcoming events

      Special occasions

      Birthdays

      Anniversaries

      Weddings

      Graduations

      Holidays

      Travel

      Weekend trips

      Vacations

      Social events

      Cultural events

      Sporting events

    R&D—things to do

    Places to go

    People to meet/invite

    Local attractions

    Administration

    Financial

      Bills

      Banks

      Investments

      Loans

      Taxes

    Insurance

    Legal affairs

    Filing

  Waiting for. . .

    Mail order

    Repair

    Reimbursements

    Loaned items

    Medical data

    RSVPs

  Home/household

    Landlords

    Property ownership

      Legal

      Real estate

      Zoning

      Taxes

      Builders/contractors

    Heating/air-conditioning

    Plumbing

    Electricity

    Roofing

    Landscape

    Driveway

  Walls/floors/ceilings

  Decoration

  Furniture

  Utilities

  Appliances

  Lightbulbs/wiring

  Kitchen things

  Washer/dryer/vacuum

  Areas to organize/clean

  Computers

  Software

  Hardware

  Connections

  CD-ROM

  E-mail/Internet

  TV

  VCR

    Music/CDs/tapes

    Cameras/film

    Phones

    Answering machine

    Sports equipment

    Closets/clothes

    Garage/storage

    Vehicle repair/maintenance

    Tools

    Luggage

    Pets

  Health care

    Doctors

    Dentists

    Specialists

  Hobbies

    Books/records/tapes/disks

  Errands

    Hardware store

    Drugstore

    Market

    Bank

    Cleaner

    Stationer

  Community

    Neighborhood

    Schools

    Local government

  Civic issues

The "In" Inventory

If your head is empty of everything, personally and professionally, then your in-basket is probably quite full, and likely spilling over. In addition to the paper-based and physical items in your in-basket, your inventory of "in" should include any resident voice-mails and all the e-mails that are currently staged in the "in" area of your communication software. It should also include any items on your organizer lists for which you have not yet determined next actions.

I usually recommend that clients download their voice-mails onto paper notes and put those into their in-baskets, along with their whole organizer notebooks, which usually need significant reassessment. If you've been using something like a Palm PDA or Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Organizer for anything other than calendar and telephone/address functionality, I suggest you print out any task and to-do lists and put them, too, into your in-basket. E-mails are best left where they are, because of their volume and the efficiency factor of dealing with them within their own mini system.

Connection is completed when you can easily see the edges to the inventory of everything that is complete.

But "In" Doesn't Stay in "In"

When you've done all that, you're ready to take the next step. You don't want to leave anything in "in" for an indefinite period of time, because then it would without fail creep back into your psyche again, since your mind would know you weren't dealing with it. Of course, one of the main factors in people's resistance to collecting stuff into "in" is the lack of a good processing and organizing methodology to handle it.

That brings us to the next chapter: "Getting In' to Empty."

6. Processing: Getting "In" to Empty