CHAPTER 7 I ORGANIZING: SETTING UP THE RIGHT BUCKETSnext thing to do on them is just to do them. "Hang new print,"
"Organize CDs," and "Switch closets to winter clothes" would be
typical items for this grouping.
If you have an office at home, as I do, anything that can be
done only there goes on the "At Home" list. (If you work only at
home and don't go to another office, you won't need an "Office
Actions" list at all—the "At Home" list will suffice.)
"Agendas" Invariably you'll find that many of your next actions
need to either occur in a real-time interaction with someone or be
brought up in a committee, team, or staff meeting.
You have to talk to your partner about an idea for
next year; you want to check with your spouse about
his schedule for the spring; you need to delegate a
task to your secretary that's too complicated to
explain in an e-mail. And you must make an
announcement at the Monday staff meeting about
the change in expense-report policies.
These next actions should be put on separate
"Agenda" lists for each of those people and for that meeting (assum-
ing that you attend it regularly). Professionals who keep a file folder
to hold all the things they need to go over with their boss already
use a version of this method. If you're conscientious about deter-
mining all your next actions, though, you may find that you'll
need somewhere between three and fifteen of these kinds of lists. I
recommend that separate files or lists be kept for bosses, partners,
assistants, spouses, and children. You should also keep the same kind
of list for your attorney, financial adviser, accountant, and/or com-
puter consultant, as well as for anyone else with whom you might
have more than one thing to go over the next time you talk on the
phone.
If you participate in standing meetings—staff meetings,
project meetings, board meetings, committee meetings, what-
ever—they, too, deserve their own files, in which you can collect
things that will need to be addressed on those occasions.
Standing meetings
and people you deal
with on an ongoing
basis may need
their own "Agenda"
lists.