Is it Ok to categorize the things while Making Physical Gathering?

G

Goutam Hegde

Registered
When collecting the stuff from Physical Gathering?

Is that ok to categorize, the stuff like
On the desktop
-- these stuff.
Inside the Cabinet
--- These Stuff.


---- UPDATE -----
Sorry for the unclear question.
When I Referred as "stuff", I meant Notes representing action items.

For example
Inside the cabinet.
i) Get that "Old Clock" Fixed.
ii) Move those "Nostalgia stuff" to a different cabinet dedicated for "Nostalgia stuff"

What I meant by "Is that Ok?"
Will this solve the purpose or make it more complex?

So the clearer Version of the question would be something like
Will the Categorization of Notes in the Inbox during Physical Gathering Stage help in process Notes and Taking action on them or will make further process more complex?

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Goutam Hegde said:
When collecting the stuff from Physical Gathering?

Is that ok to categorize, the stuff like
Click to expand...
What purpose does the categorization server you?

If you are not physically moving the stuff into a big pile so that you see how much you have and what you need to deal with, then yes it can make sense to leave it where it is and just put a reference to it as you do your initial collection and process the reference into your system.

If you will tend to lose track of it then perhaps physically moving it all out into one location is better.
 
I'm a little unclear. Are you saying that you make a pile of stuff presently on your desk, and you make a pile of stuff presently in your cabinet? I can't see any issue with that.

If you're saying that you sort things based on where you're GOING to put them, before doing the evaluation that's a part of processing, I feel that that might be some extra work. I think it's harmless extra work, but you might find that you've just spent time getting a bunch of things ready to file, only to discover that--for example--you're going to throw those things out or transform them into electronic reminders and throw the physical object out, and so on.

Somewhat related: When I declutter, I always throw stuff out first, before I sort. I would only sort first if I found that I couldn't focus on the "trash or not trash?" decision because I was overwhelmed by the variety of stuff.
 
I agree with Gardeners response above but wanted to offer my perspective on "is it OK...". What I have found in my practice what determines if something is OK or not is does it work for me. I have more than a few "unconventional" flows in my system. I think it is a good baseline to start implementing strictly according to the book or one of the set up guides but what are the odds that is going to be perfect for you given the diversity we face in our personal and professional life.
 
@Goutam Hegde, at one time I was hung up on wondering whether it was "OK" to do this or that with GTD. I used to think it was a precise chemical formula and the slightest deviation would result in a disastrous blowing-up of my system. To borrow a phrase from @DavidAllen himself, it's OK to do anything that works for you and not against you. The question is not whether something is "OK." The question is will it serve you or not?

I'm not sure what you're asking when it comes to "categorizing stuff," though? Are you talking about reference materials? Or actionable things?

If it's something actionable, like "purge and organize" a cabinet then it makes sense to simply create an action for that in your system.

If it's action or project support material, I think it makes sense to create an "index" of where that support material lives. For instance, if I have an action in my computer list that "points" to an email, I'll put something in the action title like "email - action support folder."

If it's just reference material, the best practice according to GTD is to file everything that isn't specialized (like a cabinet full of contracts, for example) into one flat alphabetical system rather than leaving things in splinter systems like in piles on your desk.

I don't know if that helps. If not, feel free to share more detail about what you're asking.
 
Goutam Hegde said:
So the clearer Version of the question would be something like
Will the Categorization of Notes in the Inbox during Physical Gathering Stage help in process Notes and Taking action on them or will make further process more complex?
Click to expand...

I think it's harmless, as long as you don't try to force yourself to ignore thoughts that aren't about the topic you're working on.

I think that it might even help to dredge up more thoughts.

I don't think that it will really help with processing or planning actions or working those actions. But since it probably is harmless, I see no problem with trying it to see.
 
Goutam Hegde said:
So the clearer Version of the question would be something like
Will the Categorization of Notes in the Inbox during Physical Gathering Stage help in process Notes and Taking action on them or will make further process more complex?
Click to expand...
It depends. If you are comfortable with your organization and can easily put any note into the proper location/list then no it probably won't really help you to put them into categories first.

If, however, you are still struggling with what goes together as a project, or are unsure of how to enter in your projects and action items into your list manager of choice, or have so many things that you must triage them first to be sure you don't miss a critical deadline, or you have a huge number of things that are really someday/maybe but you can't take time to properly enter them in now then it may be of benefit to put them into the major categories first.

Try without the categories and see what happens. You can always sort them if that proves useful or helpful.
 
I think such categorization can save time when processing. This of course only makes sense if the categorization itself is not overly time-consuming.
 
Goutam Hegde said:
Will the Categorization of Notes in the Inbox during Physical Gathering Stage help in process Notes and Taking action on them or will make further process more complex?
Click to expand...

I'm still not sure what you mean by the "categorization of notes." When a thought occurs to me that I realize may have future value, I scribble down as much as I need so that the note will mean something to me later but as little as I can get away with so that the process of capturing doesn't become burdensome.

But my suggestion is this: try categorizing the notes as you capture them. If it helps, great. If it doesn't, stop doing it.

This is not meant to be flippant. Sometimes trial-and-error is the only way to learn.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top