Getting Things Done

THE ART OF GETTING THINGS DONE I PART ONE

every context, since things you'll want to capture may show up

almost anywhere. If you have too many collection zones, however,

you won't be able to process them easily or consistently.

An excess of collection buckets is seldom a problem on the

high-tech end; the real improvement opportunity for most people

is on the low-tech side, primarily in the areas of note-taking and

physical in-basket collection. Written notes need to be corralled

and processed instead of left lying embedded in stacks, note-

books, and drawers. Paper materials need to be funneled into

physical in-baskets instead of being scattered over myriad piles in

all the available corners of your world.

Implementing standard tools for capturing

ideas and input will become more and more critical

as your life and work become more sophisticated. As

you proceed in your career, for instance, you'll proba-

bly notice that your best ideas about work will not

come to you at work. The ability to leverage that

thinking with good collection devices th

at hand is key to increased productivity.

Empty the Buckets Regularly

The final success factor for collecting should be obvious: if you

don't empty and process the "stuff" you've collected, your buckets

aren't serving any function other than the storage of amorphous

material. Emptying the bucket does not mean that you have to

finish what's in your voice-mail, e-mail, or in-basket; it just means

you have to take it out of the container, decide what it is and what

should be done with it, and, if it's still unfinished, organize it into

your system. You don't put it back into "in"! Not emptying your

in-basket is like having garbage cans that nobody ever dumps—

you just have to keep buying new ones to hold all your trash.

In order for you to get "in" to empty, your total action-

management system must be in place. Too much "stuff" is left

piled in in-baskets because of a lack of effective systems "down-

stream" from there. It often seems easier to leave things in "in"

Men of lofty genius
•when they are
doing the least
•work are the most
active.
—
Leonar