One of the tenets of GTD is to process/clarify all that is captured. To think before you can act. To clarify the ‘whys’. To decide if it is Actionable? Reference? or Trash? Below are a few tips on how to process your inbox:
- processing is not doing. It is defining the meaning of each item collected, deciding what it is, what it means, and what is to be done with it – in short, it is clarifying
- deal with one item at a time
- last in first out – process the last item first
- nothing goes back into the inbox – resist the temptation of putting an item back into the inbox saying “I’ll think about that later”
- ask this for every item: “what’s my desired outcome? why do I want to finish/complete it?” – this is outcome thinking
- next ask: “Does it require an action from me?” if so, what is the next physical action? let the answer be concrete, not vague.
- ex: throw mom a birthday party is vague. Send flowers to mom is concrete.
- remember, the action step needs to be the absolute next physical thing to do – unless we arrive to that, there’s still more thinking required to do
- if it takes less than 2 minutes to do, do it immediately.
- if it takes more than 2 minutes:
- defer it to the tickler file/Next actions list if it needs to be done as soon as you can get to it
- defer it to the Someday/Maybe list if not sure when you want to get to it
- if it is not actionable, save it as reference or trash it
- if you are not the right person, delegate it and record it in the ‘waiting for’ list & track the handoff
- if more than one step is needed to complete the task – make it a ‘project’ (any outcome that will take more than one action step to complete needs a stake in the ground indicating work is still pending to suceesfully say ‘completed’)
- ex: Mom’s birthday is a project. Send flowers to mom, buy her a cake, buy balloons decorate the house are individual action steps.
This post is a part of “GTD Tips” series. Click on the link to to view the other tips: GTD
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