So, since I’m still relatively new to “Getting Things Done” I’m still pretty much in the collection phase.
For those of you unfamiliar with GTD, the first thing he has you do is go through your office and/or your life and grab everything that isn’t where it should be and place it in your “inbox” (which could by digital or physical).
As I mentioned yesterday, once I realized how organized I’m not, the thought of going through this collection process was rather intimidating. So, being the slightly organized person that I am, I realized that for me to do it at all, I was going to have to break the job down into something that isn’t quite so large.
So, my goal was to only deal with my desk. It’s probably the most visibly un-organized part of my life.
Now, David Allen has you collect as one phase and deal with the item as a second phase. But, if I did that, my entire desk would be in my inbox. So, I used his 2 minute rule. If I could deal with the item I picked up on my desk in less than 2 minutes, I just dealt with it. If it required any kind of thought beyond put away or throw out, I put it in my inbox.
The process of cleaning my desk in this way did several things for me:
- First, it showed me that while I might be able to keep most of my life in my computer, there will always be paper that I need to deal with. Therefore, I will need a physical inbox as well as a digital one.
- Second, by the time I had ended my day yesterday, I had a ton more energy than I normally do. Maybe it was the sense of achievement. Maybe it was the clear desk. But, whatever, I’m ready now to tackle my first book shelf.
How do you eat an elephant?
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Tagged with: getting things done