GTD and cleaning a room

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dashik

0
After years of being left alone, I've finally decided to clean my childhood bedroom, which has gathered many items and objects from my school years, along with toys and baubles, as well as anything and everything ranging from books, board games, and art projects. (Not to mention piles and piles of dust.)

After reading David Allen's book, I decided that perhaps I should take a shot at cleaning my room GTD-style, but I've run into a bit of a snag.

The first part went without a hitch; I collected everything that didn't belong and immediately threw out things I knew I wouldn't need, and have gathered them all in my "in box".

Now I'm at the processing step, but I'm having trouble discerning what to do with some items. I'll come across things like (an opened but mostly unused package of) construction paper. I'll ask myself the questions

"What is it?"
"It's construction paper."
"Is it actionable?"
"No, I don't think so."

The workflow chart them directs me to Trash/Incubate/Reference, and I'm stuck. I don't really want to throw out some perfectly usable construction paper, so trashing it isn't the route I'd take.

Should I make a note about the construction paper and think about what to do with it at some later time? I could, but I want/need to clean my room now... and where would I put the construction paper in the meantime? It can't go back to where it was in my drawers, and it definitely shouldn't go back into "in".

That just leaves Reference... but I don't really consider construction paper as "reference material".

That led me to thinking that maybe it does have an action:

"What is it?"
"It's construction paper."
"Is it actionable?"
"Yes, I need to move this some place to keep art/office supplies."
"What's the next action?"
"Well, I don't have currently a place to keep supplies like that, so I need to make one. I'd like to make one in the home office (which isn't mine, but my father's), but to do that I'll first need to ask him where he wants to put it, and will probably need to clean some of his shelves too."

And so normally I would put "Ask dad re:supplies location" on my next actions list to do later, but then what do I do with the construction paper now? It doesn't belong in my bedroom, nor can it go back to in.

This happens with any kind of miscellaneous item I don't want to throw out, isn't really "reference" (not like a cellphone manual, which DA suggests filing in one's A-Z general reference system), and don't currently have a place for. Other examples could include empty and/or partially used binders and notebooks, full pencil boxes/cases (I have a lot of those for some reason), and old decorations I don't want in my room but could be used elsewhere in the house (which I'd need to ask my parents about, when they return, which might not be for a few days).

What should I do in this scenario? Any thoughts?
 
Well, what I'd suggest that you do is get a number of boxes, perhaps coardboard file boxes, and sort the stuff into the boxes by categories. Maybe

- consumable office supplies (the construction paper, notebooks, etc.)
- non-consumable office supplies (the binders, pencil cases, etc.)
- decorations
- miscellaneous little weird stuff

and so on. But I think that you're mainly asking how to fit this into GTD.

As I see it, this is not so much an inbox collection activity, as a project:

Project: Clean old bedroom

Next Action: Throw out trash.
Next Action: Categorize and box non-trash.
Next Action: Take home what I want
Next Action: Ask parents what they want.
Next Action: Find donation destination for what parents didn't want.

It sounds like you also have actions for helping your parents to figure out what they're keeping, but perhaps that's soemthing you can delegate to them? If not, it's probably another project that was spawned by this project.
 
dashik said:
The workflow chart them directs me to Trash/Incubate/Reference, and I'm stuck. I don't really want to throw out some perfectly usable construction paper, so trashing it isn't the route I'd take.

Should I make a note about the construction paper and think about what to do with it at some later time? I could, but I want/need to clean my room now... and where would I put the construction paper in the meantime? It can't go back to where it was in my drawers, and it definitely shouldn't go back into "in".

That just leaves Reference... but I don't really consider construction paper as "reference material".

....
This happens with any kind of miscellaneous item I don't want to throw out, isn't really "reference" (not like a cellphone manual, which DA suggests filing in one's A-Z general reference system), and don't currently have a place for. Other examples could include empty and/or partially used binders and notebooks, full pencil boxes/cases (I have a lot of those for some reason), and old decorations I don't want in my room but could be used elsewhere in the house (which I'd need to ask my parents about, when they return, which might not be for a few days).

What should I do in this scenario? Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Sounds like the project of Clean the Room spawned several others, Make space for unused office supplies, Decide on decorations to keep and so on.

What you describe, the construction paper and the binders and notebooks, are what i call action support. Most of the folks here seem to have as action support basically papers or computer files but I also have tons of things, mine tend to be ram harnesses, scrotal tapes, drench guns and so on but it's the same idea. I have a designated space in each major location, the main house, the guest house, the main barn, the red barn and the shop for "Project Support" materials for current active projects. In the house it's one counter next to the door with a basket or box that holds the stuff. So I'd put on my list the following items:

New project "Office supplies in a central location and readily accessible" with a next action of "Ask parents where a closet or shelf is that can be repurposed into a office supply cabinet," and the note that accompanies that action would be "construction paper, notebooks and pencil cases in action support box in my room" or whatever makes sense.

New project "Decorations in the house clean and tidy and pleasing to the entire family" with a next action of "Ask parents about decorative items" and a note that "widgets in action support box in living room".

The key is the projects have the outcomes included in them, the actions are clearly defined and the items that support those actions are corralled into a single place and you know where that is.
 
dashik said:
What should I do in this scenario? Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

The lists and filing systems suggested in GTD are for managing information, not physical supplies, tools, and the like. If you realize you need to do something about supplies, tools, equipment or what have you and you can't do it now, record the next action in one of your lists. Unless the physical item is presenting a hazard where it is, leave it there until you can accomplish the action you've identified about it. As long as you are reviewing your lists regularly and doing things one them, you'll get that item squared away soon enough.
 
bcmyers2112 said:
The lists and filing systems suggested in GTD are for managing information, not physical supplies, tools, and the like./QUOTE]

Correct, but you can easily generalize the GTD-mashine to include physical stuff as well. Great questions to ask when to decide what to keep and what to save is: will I use the item? Will I love the item? From Karen Kingstons classical book "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" (1999).
Click to expand...
 
bcmyers2112 said:
The lists and filing systems suggested in GTD are for managing information, not physical supplies, tools, and the like.
Click to expand...

Correct, but you can easily generalize the GTD-mashine to include physical stuff as well. Great questions to ask when to decide what to keep and what to save is: will I use the item? Will I love the item? From Karen Kingstons classical book "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" (1999).
 
GTD-Sweden said:
Correct, but you can easily generalize the GTD-mashine to include physical stuff as well. Great questions to ask when to decide what to keep and what to save is: will I use the item? Will I love the item? From Karen Kingstons classical book "Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui" (1999).
Click to expand...

I think we're saying the same thing. If physical item doesn't belong where it is, the way it is, it is perfectly reasonable to define and manage the next actions using the GTD process. I'm just saying there is no need to treat the physical item as some kind of "reference" or "project support" because it really isn't either. If it were me, I'd leave the construction paper where it was until I could talk with my parents about it.

Think of it this way: if I need to get my car repaired, I'll put the appropriate action(s) in my lists(s). But I don't feel the need to then treat the car itself as "reference" or "project support" material because it isn't something I can manage in an in-basket or a folder.

People can organize themselves however they like, but in my experience the simplest way possible is usually the best way.
 
bcmyers2112 said:
People can organize themselves however they like, but in my experience the simplest way possible is usually the best way.
Click to expand...

I agree. When it comes to backlog and old stuff it is definately Occhams razor that should be the ideal.
 
@GTD-Sweden: I think in any circumstance, the simplest way consistent with getting the job done is usually the best.

@dashik: Based on what you've written I think you've got the hang of what David Allen calls "action-to-outcome" thinking, BTW. Good luck with your project.
 
GTD-Sweden said:
I agree. When it comes to backlog and old stuff it is definately Occhams razor that should be the ideal.
Click to expand...

Remember to put all razors in one handy place to find them easily! :-D
 
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