Getting Things Done

PRACTICING STRESS-FREE PRODUCTIVITY I PART TWO

time they glance at the screen. If you never had more

than a screenful of e-mails, this approach might

be reasonably functional, but with the volume most

professionals are dealing with these days, that doesn't

apply.

Again, getting "in" empty doesn't mean you've

handled everything. It means that you've DELETED what you

could, FILED what you wanted to keep but don't need to act on,

DONE the less-than-two-minute responses, and moved into

your reminder folders all the things you're waiting for and all your

actionable e-mails. Now you can open the "@ACTION" file and

review the e-mails that you've determined you need to spend time

on. Isn't that process easier to relate to than fumbling through

multiple screens, fearing all the while that you may miss some-

thing that'll blow up on you?

A Caution About Dispersing Reminders of Your Actions

There's an obvious danger in putting reminders of

things you need to do somewhere out of sight. The

function of an organization system is primarily to

supply the reminders you need to see when you need

to see them, so you can trust your choices about what

you're doing (and what you're not doing). Before you leave the

office for the day, the actionable e-mails that you still have pend-

ing must be reviewed individually, just like your "Calls" or "At

Computer" lists. In essence, "@ACTION" is an extension of your

"At Computer" list and should be handled in exactly the same

fashion. Your paper-based "Pending" workflow must likewise be

assessed like a list if the paper materials are being used as your

only reminders.

Distributing action triggers in a folder, on lists, and/or in an

e-mail system is perfectly OK, as long as you review all of the cate-

gories to which you've entrusted your triggers equally, as required. You

don't want things lurking in the recesses of your systems and not

being used for their intended purpose: reminding you.

It requires much
less energy to
maintain e-mail at
a zero base than at
a thousand base.

"Out of sight, out of

mind" is not really

out of mind.