D
dannybader
Guest
Making time to Process (and Organize)
guiyoforward - Your question/situation is similar to many folks beginning to implement GTD as a way of dealing with everything that comes at you.
The time that people set to Process and Organize - often putting it on their calendar - is a personal preference. Some folks I have worked with insist on Process & Organizing in the morning so they go off into their day/1st meeting/ 1st conference call/ 1st task with a zero reference point in IN. This, for many folks, generates a feeling of relaxed control - a good state in which to begin the day.
Others will Process & Organize at the end of the day so they go home with a zero reference point in IN, thus generating the the same feeling mentioned above - relaxed control.
Others may Process & Organize several times per day depending on their roles/responsibilities and their volume. For instance, some customer service folks must Process & Organize email/voicemail several times a day because their is not often a task more important than that of satisfying a customer.
Now, sometimes the world gets going real fast and you are oscilating between Collecting and Doing, fine. Just continue to capture everything that has your attention, and drop it into IN. You may want to do a quick scan just to make sure there are no vitally important things lurking there.
Nonetheless, the power of GTD comes through all 5 phases of workflow. It is virtually impossible to trust your choice to DO when you still have collected stuff in an undecided state.
Abe Lincoln once said, "If I had 6 hours to chop down a tree, I's spend 4 sharpening the axe." Process & Organizing is sharpening the axe, so that the DOING flows more effectively.
Hope this helps. Be well. Danny
guiyoforward - Your question/situation is similar to many folks beginning to implement GTD as a way of dealing with everything that comes at you.
The time that people set to Process and Organize - often putting it on their calendar - is a personal preference. Some folks I have worked with insist on Process & Organizing in the morning so they go off into their day/1st meeting/ 1st conference call/ 1st task with a zero reference point in IN. This, for many folks, generates a feeling of relaxed control - a good state in which to begin the day.
Others will Process & Organize at the end of the day so they go home with a zero reference point in IN, thus generating the the same feeling mentioned above - relaxed control.
Others may Process & Organize several times per day depending on their roles/responsibilities and their volume. For instance, some customer service folks must Process & Organize email/voicemail several times a day because their is not often a task more important than that of satisfying a customer.
Now, sometimes the world gets going real fast and you are oscilating between Collecting and Doing, fine. Just continue to capture everything that has your attention, and drop it into IN. You may want to do a quick scan just to make sure there are no vitally important things lurking there.
Nonetheless, the power of GTD comes through all 5 phases of workflow. It is virtually impossible to trust your choice to DO when you still have collected stuff in an undecided state.
Abe Lincoln once said, "If I had 6 hours to chop down a tree, I's spend 4 sharpening the axe." Process & Organizing is sharpening the axe, so that the DOING flows more effectively.
Hope this helps. Be well. Danny
