45. ORGANIZE (3RD STAGE OF MANAGING WORKFLOW FOR BUSINESS)

After you’ve completed your processing stage, you will have eight categories of reminders and materials that will result from your processing (see workflow diagram). Together they make up a system for organizing just about everything that’s on your plate. All of these categories need to be organized and physically contained in some form, such as a list or another retrievable set of reminders.

For non-actionable items (or things you said ‘no’ to in the diagram), the possible categories are trash, incubation tools (Someday/Maybe), and reference storage. For items that fall into Trash, you need to get rid of quickly. Someday/Maybe lists can be useful and inspiring, as they contain a list of things you might want to do someday, much like a parking lot of possible projects. This may include learning a new language, sport or artistic activity. The Reference file contains information that has intrinsic value and may be useful in the future.

To manage actionable things (the ‘yes’ group of items), you will need a list of projects, storage for project plans and support materials, a calendar, a next actions list, and a list of reminders of things you’re waiting for.A ‘Projects’ list need not be listed in any particular order; they just need to be on a master list that you can review regularly. For example, a partial ‘Projects’ list may look something like .Get new staff on boardAugust vacation Staff off-site retreat Publish book Finalize computer upgrades Update will Finalize budgets .

Deciding on the next action for something simply means deciding on the next physical, visible activity that needs to be engaged in, in order to move the current reality toward completion. It can simply mean making a phone call, writing down ideas for the next meeting, talking to someone, or doing research. no, then you can either throw it out, or keep it because it might need action in the future (incubate), or keep it because it could be useful.