Sun, 21 Feb 2010

Task lists are pockets, not attics . . .

Take a look here -- quoting:

. . . our inbox/outbox trays (physical or digital) are not filing cabinets. The idea is that data goes in one tray, and out the other, and the goal is to keep both trays empty (meaning you’ve processed the data as it came in, and then shipped it on its way once you’ve finished with it).

It's frustrating when a supervisor, co-worker, business associate does this. You send an e-mail requesting information or action and later, follow up on it, only to find that they have missed it in the thousands that they have in their in box. I just can't work that way.

The first thing I do in the morning is "morning review". I go through my inbox and quickly go through my e-mail to categorize it, create tasks from it, and move it out of the way into the appropriate folders. It takes about 15 minutes maximum and makes sure that new e-mails are noticed when they arrive. Throughout the day, I try to mark and organize my e-mails to keep the inbox as empty as I can.

One other trick is the answer simple e-mails. Often, it is easier to quickly reply to an e-mail when I have the knowledge at my fingertips than to move it around, file it and, later, come back to it.

This helps me. Perhaps I'm just not a multi-tasker, but it works to keep me organized and working toward what is needful.

posted 10:29 [/SimpleThings] permanent link