Chapter 7 Post

Chapter 7 contains what I feel is the most practically useful information to date.  True, having an in box helped to collect all of my unclosed threads in a central location, but without a systematic way of acting on them, an in box alone can not organize and streamline my life.  Allen's introduction of the concept of "types", categories into which tasks fall that each have unique instructions to follow, paves the way for clearing one's inbox in a structured and effective way.  To further simplify things, these types, even though they have different methods and strategies, can all be created with simple lists and folder (with proper labels of course).  Allen's emphasis on having strictly defined distinctions between different types is essential to this process; if it seems that a task can belong to many different types, it is probably an indication that those types are not structured enough.

Also important to the execution of Allen's program is making good use of action reminders.  This in particular was helpful to me, as I tend to remember chores when I'm not in the right place or time to do them.  Making a list of threads of communication that I need to maintain, errands to run when I go out, and things to review/submit on my computer helps tremendously.  One especially useful aspect of this is keeping the lists in logical places.  For instance, the list of emails that I need to send or reply to and the list of applications I need to submit are kept on my computer, and the list of errands I need to run is kept next to my door.  This way, I see the list, and thus remember my chores, when I'm in the right context to act on them.