The best quote for me from chapter 6 is,
"Nothing goes back into 'in.'" I struggle with this one the most because I
typically put everything back and say, "maybe next time when I have
time." But, Allen does a tremendous
job in breaking down every step in the 'in' workflow diagram. I have recently bought my physical inbox, but
due to midterms this week and next week, I won't dive into the process of
gathering my 'in' things until after.
But, I will say that I love the system, and I believe in the system, so
I will make sure that I will be "all systems go" after my midterms.
Another
great thing I took away from chapter 6 is Allen's definition of a project. I just recently started using this program,
Evernote. I love it and I typically just
have a couple of tags (i.e. tasks, goals, misc). Yes, those are very broad and I could easily
get lost with those tags. So Allen's new
system of tagging is helping me out tremendously. I especially love the way he presents
projects. At first, when Matt was
talking about having projects, I said to myself, "I have no projects." But, the perspective in which Allen defines
projects as any 'in' thing that requires more than one action, I now have many
projects. But, having many projects is a
good thing because from the perspective of Allen, projects become simple
Next-Action tasks. As long as you know
what the end of the project looks like, projects become a process of fulfilling
Next-Action tasks. This definition of
projects makes it much simpler and very much less stressful to manage
projects.
**I highly recommend Evernote. I don't work for them, so I'm not advertising, but this is an amazing program. It's a one-click note taker: you can take a picture, voice record, draw something, write something. And one of the best things about it, is that it syncs from your PC to your phone. They have a PC application, a browser application and a phone application. It's pretty awesome**
I also thought that I had no projects! But, after going through the whole process, I realized that I did have projects. "Nothing goes back in," I am still a little skeptical on this. I tend to just leave things, and say to myself "I'll do it later." Unfortunately "later" never comes and action never occurs. I hope that after I conquer a project I will be as optimistic as you are.
ReplyDeleteThank you for recommending Evernote. I have never heard of this program, but I'll definitely check it out. Now, I am using my email account, my IPhone notes app and Dropbox, but that program sounds very helpful. These days we have so much new technology that we have a hard time choosing.
I think that is a great quote! It was a good thing to keep in mind as I went through my inbox this weekend. Even if it was just writing down an item from my inbox to my calendar, knowing that it was processed [and not back in my inbox] just generally made me less stressed about it. His definition of projects is very helpful too. I agree, I also thought at first that I don't really have "projects" but then realized that as students, those midterms & essays are in fact projects. Tackling them by making Next-Action lists is a great first step in closing the open loop. Also, thanks for recommending Evernote, I'll check it out!
ReplyDeleteThat quote also stuck out to me. I tend to have a habit of putting things back in the "In" basket without realizing it. I also think I'll have to try out Evernote! Sounds like a potential organization system I can work with.
ReplyDelete