Getting Things Done

170
PRACTICING STRESS-FREE PRODUCTIVITY | PART TWO
• Ideas—Misc. (meaning you don't know where else to put
them!)
These kinds of lists can be a cross between reference and
"Someday/Maybe"—reference because you can just collect and
add to lists of good wines or restaurants or books, to consult as
you like; "Someday/Maybe" because you might want to review the
listed items on a regular basis to remind yourself to try one or
more of them at some point.
In any case, this is another great reason to have an organizing
system that makes it easy to capture things that may add value
and variety and interest to your life—without clogging your mind
and work space with undecided, unfinished business.
The Danger of "Hold and Review" Files and Piles
Many people have created some sort of "Hold and Review" pile or
file (or whole drawer) that vaguely fits within the category of
"Someday/Maybe." They tell themselves, "When I have time, I
may like to get to this," and a "Hold and Review" file seems a con-
venient place to put it. I personally don't recommend this particu-
lar kind of subsystem, because in virtually every case I have come
across, the client "held" but didn't "review," and there was numb-
ness and resistance about the stack. The value of "someday/
maybe" disappears if you don't put your conscious awareness back
on it with some consistency.
Also, there's a big difference between something that's man-
aged well, as a "Someday/Maybe" list, and something that's just a
catchall bucket for "stuff." Usually much of that stuff needs to be
tossed, some of it needs to go into "Read/Review," some needs
to be filed as reference, some belongs on the calendar or in a
tickler file (see page 173) for review in a month or perhaps at the
beginning of the next quarter, and some actually has next actions
on it. Many times, after appropriately processing someone's
"Hold and Review" drawer or file, I've discovered there was noth-
ing left in it!

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