Getting Stuff Done – Get Clear

So far we’ve talked about two key habits in your personal productivity system. 

• 1 – Start With The End in Mind – Know what you want from your productivity system and your life. You must have this vision of the future to determine if the work you are doing is getting you closer to your desired outcomes. If it is not, you must make changes to your actions. 
• 2 – Collect – The habit of writing everything down. Every idea, task, dream – everything gets written down in a trusted place where you know you won’t lose it. You will find this simple step will give you a tremendous amount of peace and bandwidth for creativity. 

Before we jump into the next habit, I wanted to let you know that creating a great productivity system is not just for you. Yes, a great system will give you peace and allow you to be better for everyone in your life. But, if you share what you learn during this process it can dramatically improve your workplace and the lives of everyone you interact with. 

In life, we are all depending on each other to keep our promises. Some promises are made directly and others are implied. Failing to keep our promises not only feels terrible, but it goofs up the entire system and causes a lot of stress. 

Everyone of good character wants to keep their promises. By teaching them your productivity system, you can help them keep their commitments, get more done, and have more peace. 

Habit 3 – Clear

Habit 3 is simple once you create the habit and it feels great every time you get clear!

In the Clear habit, you clear your inboxes (notebook, email, physical in-box, or another collection tool of your choice) and make a decision on each item. 

Before you start to process your inboxes, you must have your “trusted system” or master list in place. 

What should you use for your master list? Some use Excel. You can use your notebook, but that requires too much crossing through and re-writing for me. I use a tool called Basecamp for all my to do’s and Evernote for my ideas. The great thing about Basecamp for me is that I can create secure, private “camps” for every client I am working with. Since I’m generally working with groups, I can invite all the client team members to a “camp” where we can assign tasks, plan, and communicate. Basecamp fits my unique needs well. 

What system should you use? That depends on your situation and what you are using now. Excel or Google Sheets is a great place to start. It is simple and easy to use. The key is to implement the habits, not obsess over tools. I’ve done that and it is a waste of time. The habits are what matter!

Context is a GTD concept that you don’t have to use but might find useful. A context is where you can do a task. Do you need to be at your office? In front of your computer? Can you do it in the car? Contexts are easy to use in a tool like Excel, a bit more painful in others. I can get by without contexts but do what works best for you. 

As often as you can, put each item into your master to-do list. Get them out of your collection spots and mark them as processed so you don’t have to wonder if you put the item in your master list every time you see the note.

Frequency is key for the Clear habit. If you are clearing your inboxes too frequently, you won’t get any of your big work done. If you Clear too infrequently, things pile up, customer service levels drop and you’ll procrastinate because the job has become too big. Once a day is a requirement. Twice a day is better. 

Below are the steps to clear every inbox in your system. Touch each item one time only. 

• Ask yourself, can you take action on this item?
  • If the item is not actionable, should you trash it or save it? My options in this step are Trash it or Store it. I rarely store my reference materials in paper files anymore. Paper filing takes too much time and space. Instead, I scan reference items to Evernote or my “research/learning” folder on my computer that is backed up on Microsoft’s cloud. Both of my filing options are digital (require no physical space), portable (always available if I have access to the internet), and searchable (this means I can easily find things I misfiled using search). 
    • To scan, I use a ScanSnap scanner by Fujitsu that I have set up to scan directly to Evernote. When the item gets to Evernote, I title it and tag it so I can find it later. I can also scan one or two pages using the Evernote app on my phone. 
    • If I am printing or collecting items for a short term project, I have a stack of manila tabbed file folders at my desk and a P-touch QL-500 label printer. I print a pretty label on the folder, stuff the printed information inside, and put it where it needs to go for short term storage. I scan reference items but keep paper and digital copies of client and project-related items. Why a label printer? Great question. You’ll be amazed at how organized and “clean” your desk feels when every piece of paper is tucked into a file folder with a pretty label!
  • If the item is actionable, it is either a Project or a Single Action. 
    • Projects are lists of single actions to achieve a defined outcome. Put all the single actions under the project. Identify the Next Action. Identifying the Next Action is critical to avoid projects stalling due to procrastination. 
    • Single Actions are everything that is not in a project. Options for single actions are Do It, Delegate It, or Defer It. Do it if the action takes less than two minutes to complete. It is not worth filing in your trusted system. If you delegate it, you need to file the delegated action in your trusted system and mark as “waiting for.” This allows you to follow up as needed. If you are not doing it or delegating it, you are deferring the task and you need to file it in your trusted system. If you need to do the item on a specific date it can go in your calendar or in your system with a date by it. 
    • An easy way to separate Projects and Single Actions are two tabs on an excel spreadsheet. On the Project tab, you list every action to achieve the project’s outcome. Your Next Actions come over to your Single Action list so it can be scheduled on your calendar or delegated (we cover that more in later habits).

The Clear habit is a biggy. To get through it you must have your trusted system in place. Once you’ve gotten through the clear habit, your inboxes should be “clear.” You will be able to review your trusted system and feel confident that every action, idea, and project is in there. 

At this point, you have a trusted system to know every promise you’ve made and every goal you dream of accomplishing. Congratulations. This is big. The next habits will make sure you keep or renegotiate all your promises while focusing on your most important work!

Are you ready to invest in your business to create long-term, sustainable growth? Head over to our Resource Page to find great tools to get you started.