Start with the Brain Dump (1 hour)
Look at each of the following triggers (via David Allen), and see if anything comes to mind. Write it all down. Don’t worry about processing or organizing it for now.
Personal
- Projects - started, not completed, projects that need to be started
- Commitments - spouse, partner, children, parents, family, friends, professionals
- Communications - calls, emails, faxes, cards, letters, thank-you’s
- Upcoming events - birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, outings, holidays, vacation, travel, dinners, parties, receptions, cultural events, sporting events
- Family - projects/activities with spouse, partner, children, parents, relatives
- Leisure - books, music, videos, travel, places to visit, people to visit, web browsing, photography, sports equipment, hobbies, cooking, recreation
- Financial - bills, banks, investments, loans, taxes, budget, insurance, mortgage, accountants
- Legal - wills, trusts, estate, legal affairs
- Waiting for - mail order, repairs, reimbursements, loaned items, information, rsvp’s
- Home - real estate, repairs, construction, remodeling, landlords, heating and A/C, plumbing, electricity, roofs, landscaping, driveways, garages, walls, floors, ceilings, decor, furniture, utilities, appliances, lights and wiring, kitchen stuff, laundry, places to clear, cleaning, organizing, storage areas
- Health - doctors, dentist, optometrist, specialists, checkups, diet, food, exercise
- Personal development - classes, seminars, education, coaching, career, creative expressions
- Transportation - autos, bikes, motorcycles, maintenance, repair, commuting, tickets, reservations
- Clothes - professional, casual, formal, sports, accessories, luggage, repairs, tailoring
- Pets - health, training, supplies
- Errands - hardware store, pharmacy, department stores, bank, cleaners, stationers, gifts, office supply, groceries
- Community - neighborhood, neighbors, service work, schools, civic involvements
- Admin - home office supplies, equipment, phones, answering machines, computers, internet, TV, data backup, appliances, entertainment, filing, storage, tools
Professional
- Projects - started, not completed, that need to be started
- Commitments to others - boss, partners, colleagues, subordinates, others in organization, other professionals, customers, other organizations
- Staff - hiring, firing, reviews, staff development, communication, morale, feedback, compensation
- Systems - phones, computers, software, databases, office equipment, printers, faxes, filing, storage, furniture, fixtures, decorations, supplies, business cards, stationery, personal/electronic organizers
- Sales - customers, prospects, leads, sales process, training, relationship building, reporting, relationship tracking, customer service
- Marketing - campaigns, materials, public relations
- Meetings - upcoming, need to be set or requested, need to be de-briefed
- Waiting for - information, delegated projects/tasks, pieces of projects, replies to communications, responses to proposals, answers to questions, submitted items for response/reimbursement, tickets, external actions needed to happen to continue or complete projects...(decisions, changes, implementations, etc.), things ordered
- Professional development - training, seminars, things to learn, things to find out, skills to develop or practice, books to read, research, formal education (licensing, degrees), career research, resume
- Wardrobe - professional
- Communications - calls, emails, voicemails, faxes, letters, memos
- Writing to finish/submit - reports, evaluations, reviews, proposals, articles, marketing material, instructions, summaries, minutes, rewrites and edits, status reporting, conversation and communication tracking
- Meetings - upcoming, need to be set or requested, need to be de-briefed
- Read/review - books, periodicals, articles, etc
- Financial - cash, budget, balance sheet, P&L, forecasting, credit line, payables, receivables, petty cash, banks, investors, asset management
- Planning/organizing - goals, targets, objectives, business plans, marketing plans, financial plans, upcoming events, presentations, meetings, conferences, travel, vacation
- Organization development - org chart, restructuring, lines of authority, job descriptions, facilities, new systems, change initiatives, leadership, succession planning, culture
- Admin - legal issues, insurance, personnel, staffing, policies/procedures, training.
Process Your List
- Look at each item one at a time, starting at the top.
- Ask yourself if it’s something that is actionable.
- If not, either delete it, archive it, or have a placeholder for it to put into your Knowledge Management System.
- If it is actionable, and it’s something you can do immediately in 2 minutes or less, go ahead and do it.
- If not, ask if you need to be the one to do it. If not, delegate it to the appropriate party and add a note to your Waiting For list.
- If you have to do it, ask if you need to do it soon. If not, either add it to your calendar (if it’s needs to happen at a specific day and time), or add it to your Task Management system and defer it to a future date.
- If it needs to happen soon, ask if it’s a single task or a project. If it’s a single task, identify what the physical action would be and add it to your next actions list.
- If it’s a project, name the project, ask yourself what “done” and what “amazing” look like, and identify the next physical action. Add the project to your project list and your next action to your next actions list.
- Repeat for every item on your list until you’re done.