The Savvy Entrepreneur

Even though it’s Saturday, I was able to take a huge step forward on organizing my office. That’s because I started implementing the first of five stages from David Allen’s book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: Collect things that command your attention.
In today’s Anti-Procrastination Month post, I’ll talk a little about Collection and how it helped take a load off.

I started getting a sense of Collection on Day 18 of Anti-Procrastination Month (see step 1).Collection is basically a system you put in place to capture everything you consider incomplete in your world.

A good place to start are things you attach these words to:

• I should…
• I need to…
• I ought to…
• I’m going to…

That ‘stuff’ will be:

• Things being collected for you (coming in externally like mail, emails, memos, voice mail, etc.).
• Things in your environment and in your psyche (like business strategies, projects, clutter, things to do around the house, ideas, appointments, etc.).

The only way to make the collection process work successfully is:

1. Get everything out of your head and into your collection system.
2. Have the fewest amount of collection points as you need to get by on.
3. Empty and process what you’ve collected (this isn’t the same as completing your ‘stuff’)

You may need to experiment with point #2, to see what works most consistently and what is most available anywhere you may be.

Because I’m more of a tactile and visual person, I opted NOT to use Outlook. I’ll collect my ‘stuff’ on recipe cards instead, one thing per card. I can carry these cards in my purse, have them by my bedside, and of course stack them up in my office.

So far, I’ve produced 66 cards, representing ‘stuff’ found in (a little under) 10 notebooks, Post-It Notes, and anything else bouncing around in my brain. Getting rid of those papers scattered about my desk has reduced much anxiety. My chest and shoulders feel much less tense.
My ‘stuff’ ranges from find a new pediatrician, to get professional photos done. From websites to visit, to domain names to buy. From courses to take, to teleclasses to give.

Also, I’ve involved my husband in the process. He’s been duly notified: If there’s something he needs me to do, he must write it on a blue card.

If you’ve been looking for a way to track everything needing to get done, I strong suggest you start collecting your thoughts in one place and get ready start doing something about it.

Stay tuned for how I tackle the second stage of David’s method: Process.