Newbie asks: How do you stop collecting?

[otterbyte]

Ok, I've done all my physical gathering. But the Mind-Sweep is taking forever. Just as David says, when I started writing things down, my brain offered me more and more. :shock: I'm up to a couple hundred items and although it's slowing down, I'm still getting these little trickles of "oh wait! here's a few more!" Should I just stop myself and start in on the Processing phase, maybe allowing myself to keep adding if more things come up? Or should I first wring my brain dry?

 

[Jason Womack]

...don't...

Ok, I've done all my physical gathering.

...don't stop collecting (oh, it sounds like a song!). I mean, just let it happen. Keep a pen/paper handy, and when things come in write them down. If the SAME thing comes in, and you know you've processed it, try processing it again to decide on and capture an "easier" next action.

Leslie wrote a nice piece on "starting" to process things as they show up:

http://www.davidco.com/coaches_corner/Leslie_Boyer/article4.html

Ana Maria put this piece together on getting the mind sweep going, and having a mind like water...

http://www.davidco.com/coaches_corner/Ana_Maria_Gonz%E1lez/article5.html

 

[otterbyte]

Thanks, Jason, for your superfast reply.
I think I'm beginning to feel the edges of this thing. But I guess I'm still curious - is it time to start processing? Otherwise I can see myself collecting more and more (especially of the Someday/Maybe type) and never getting to the next step. I suppose Collecting will always be happening, but for my first go through, can I say 'enough for now' and move on? Or does the initial Mind Sweep entail capturing everything I could possibly think of first? I'm afraid I could turn it into a reason to postpone action - which is something I'm unfortunately good at, and part of what I hope to conquer.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Newbie asks: How do you stop collecting?

I think Jason means you will never stop collecting. You will be collecting things that pop into your mind, your voice mail, your email, etc., for the rest of your life. But it sounds like you have collected the bulk of your stuff, so it's time to start processing and organizing. If items trickle or pop into your mind as you process or organize, just capture them right away too.

Above all, if you are a perfectionistic procrastinator, do not wait until you have "perfectly" and "completely" collected before doing anything else!

-andersons

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, andersons...I had a feeling that was the answer. Into the breach!