Getting Things Done

CHAPTER 7 | ORGANIZING: SETTING UP THE RIGHT BUCKETS
should be put into your briefcase, pack, satchel, or purse. What
might you need when you're working in your office? That should
be put into your personal filing system or your networked com-
puter. What about rare situations relative to your job? Material
needed for those could be archived in departmental files or off-
site storage. What could you find anytime you might need it, on
the Web? You don't need to do anything with that information,
unless you need it when you're away from a Web connection, in
which case you should print the data out when you're online and
store it in a file you can take with you.
Do you see how that personal organization of reference
material is simply a logistical issue? Distinguishing actionable
things from nonactionable ones is the key success factor in this
arena. Once you've done that, you have total freedom to manage
and organize as much or as little reference material as you want.
It's a highly individual decision that ought to be based on the ratio
of the value received to the time and effort required to capture and
maintain it.
Someday/Maybes
The last thing to deal with in your organization system is how to
track things that you may want to reassess in the future. These
could range from a special trip you might want to take one day, to
books you might want to read, to projects you might want to
tackle in the next fiscal year, to skills and talents you might want
to develop. For a full implementation of this model
you'll need some sort of "back burner" or "on hold"
component.
There are several ways to stage things for later
review, all of which will work to get them off your
current radar and your mind. You can put the items
on various versions of "Someday/Maybe" lists or
trigger them on your calendar or in a paper-based
"tickler" system.
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Someday/Maybe's
are not throwaway
items. They may be
some of the most
interesting and
creative things
you'll ever get
involved with.

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