#readwise # Getting Things Done  ## Metadata - Author: [[David Allen]] - Full Title: Getting Things Done - Genres: [[Management]], [[Reference]], [[Productivity]], [[Self Help]], [[Business]], [[Psychology]], [[Leadership]], [[Nonfiction]], [[Personal Development]] - URL: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1633.Getting_Things_Done ## Highlights - And whatever you’re doing, you’d probably like to be more relaxed, confident that whatever you’re doing at the moment is just what you need to be doing—that ([Location 301](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=301)) - Note: Need to have confidence that whatever you're doing now is what you're supposed to be doing - Anxiety is caused by a lack of control, organization, preparation, and action. —David Kekich ([Location 323](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=323)) - The methods I present here are all based on three key objectives: (1) capturing all the things that might need to get done or have usefulness for you—now, later, someday, big, little, or in between—in a logical and trusted system outside your head and off your mind; (2) directing yourself to make front-end decisions about all of the “inputs” you let into your life so that you will always have a workable inventory of “next actions” that you can implement or renegotiate in the moment; and (3) curating and coordinating all of that content, utilizing the recognition of the multiple levels of commitments with yourself and others you will have at play, at any point in time. ([Location 399](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=399)) - The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators. —Edward Gibbon ([Location 497](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=497)) - Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax. ([Location 546](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=546)) - If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open for everything. —Shunryu Suzuki ([Location 559](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=559)) - You’ve probably made many more agreements with yourself than you realize, and every single one of them—big or little—is being tracked by a less-than-conscious part of you. These are the “incompletes,” or “open loops,” which I define as anything pulling at your attention that doesn’t belong where it is, the way it is. ([Location 571](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=571)) - Anything that does not belong where it is, the way it is, is an “open loop,” which will be pulling on your attention if it’s not appropriately managed. ([Location 575](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=575)) - Managing commitments well requires the implementation of some basic activities and behaviors: First of all, if it’s on your mind, your mind isn’t clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, or what I call a collection tool, that you know you’ll come back to regularly and sort through. Second, you must clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress toward fulfilling it. Third, once you’ve decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly. ([Location 584](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=584)) - You must use your mind to get things off your mind. ([Location 587](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=587)) - Write down the project or situation that is most on your mind at this moment. Got it? Good. Now, describe, in a single written sentence, your intended successful outcome for this problem or situation. In other words, what would need to happen for you to check this project off as “done”? Now write down the very next physical action required to move the situation forward. If you had nothing else to do in your life but get closure on this, what visible action would you take right now? Would you call or text someone? Write an e-mail? Take pen and paper and brainstorm about it? Surf the Web for data? Buy nails at the hardware store? Talk about it face-to-face with your partner, your assistant, your attorney, or your boss? ([Location 597](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=597)) - The ancestor of every action is a thought. —Ralph Waldo Emerson ([Location 615](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=615)) - Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes and requisite next actions is something few people feel they have to do (until they have to). But in truth, it is the most effective means available for making wishes a reality. ([Location 626](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=626)) - This consistent, unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy. —Kerry Gleeson ([Location 630](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=630)) - Most often, the reason something is on your mind is that you want it to be different than it currently is, and yet: you haven’t clarified exactly what the intended outcome is; you haven’t decided what the very next physical action step is; and/or you haven’t put reminders of the outcome and the action required in a system you trust. That’s why it’s on your mind. Until those thoughts have been clarified and those decisions made, and the resulting data has been stored in a system that you absolutely know you will access and think about when you need to, your brain can’t give up the job. You can fool everyone else, but you can’t fool your own mind. It knows whether or not you’ve come to the conclusions you need to, and whether you’ve put the resulting outcomes and action reminders in a place that can be trusted to resurface appropriately within your conscious mind.* If you haven’t done those things, it won’t quit working overtime. Even if you’ve already decided on the next step you’ll take to resolve a problem, your mind can’t let go until and unless you park a reminder in a place it knows you will, without fail, look. ([Location 634](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=634)) - Getting things done requires two basic components: defining (1) what “done” means (outcome) and (2) what “doing” looks like (action). ([Location 706](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=706)) - Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs. —Václav Havel ([Location 717](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=717)) - Horizontal and Vertical Action Management ([Location 724](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=724)) - Horizontal control maintains coherence across all the activities in which you are involved. ([Location 725](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=725)) - Note: All runway level actions - Vertical control, in contrast, manages thinking, development, and coordination of individual topics and projects. ([Location 732](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=732)) - Note: Higher areas of focus - There is usually an inverse relationship between how much something is on your mind and how much it’s getting done. ([Location 741](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=741)) - There is no reason to ever have the same thought twice, unless you like having that thought. ([Location 755](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=755)) - Any “would, could, or should” commitment held only in the psyche creates irrational and unresolvable pressure, 24-7. ([Location 759](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=759)) - Everything you’ve told yourself you ought to do, it thinks you should be doing right now. Frankly, as soon as you have two things to do stored only in your mind, you’ve generated personal failure, because you can’t do them both at the same time. This produces a pervasive stress factor whose source can’t be pinpointed. ([Location 778](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=778)) - It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. —Sally Kempton ([Location 781](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=781)) - THE CORE PROCESS for mastering the art of relaxed and controlled engagement is a five-step method for managing your workflow—the ([Location 791](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=791)) - We (1) capture what has our attention; (2) clarify what each item means and what to do about it; (3) organize the results, which presents the options we (4) reflect on, which we then choose to (5) engage with. This constitutes the management of the horizontal aspect of our lives, incorporating everything that we need to consider at any time, as we move forward moment to moment. ([Location 801](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=801)) - A task left undone remains undone in two places—at the actual location of the task, and inside your head. Incomplete tasks in your head consume the energy of your attention as they gnaw at your conscience. —Brahma Kumaris ([Location 858](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=858)) - As soon as you attach a “should,” “need to,” or “ought to” to an item, it becomes an incomplete. Decisions you still need to make about whether or not you are going to do something, for example, are already incompletes. ([Location 861](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=861)) - Basically, everything potentially meaningful to you is already being collected, in the larger sense. If it’s not being directly managed in a trusted external system of yours, then it’s resident somewhere in your mental space. The fact that you haven’t put an item in your in-tray doesn’t mean you haven’t got it. But we’re talking here about making sure everything you need is collected somewhere other than in your head. ([Location 868](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=868)) - The Capture Tools There are several types of tools, both low- and high-tech, that can be used to collect your incompletes. The following can all serve as versions of an in-tray, capturing self-generated input as well as information from external sources: Physical in-tray Paper-based note-taking devices Digital/audio note-taking devices E-mail and text messaging ([Location 871](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=871)) - These collection tools should become part of your lifestyle. Keep them close by so no matter where you are you can collect a potentially valuable thought—think of them as being as indispensable as your toothbrush or your driver’s license or your glasses. The sense of trust that nothing possibly useful will get lost will give you the freedom to have many more good ideas. ([Location 904](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=904)) - Note: the only way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas - You should have as many in-trays as you need and as few as you can get by with. You need this function to be available to you in every context, since things you’ll want to capture may show up almost anywhere. If you have too many collection zones, however, you won’t be able to process them easily or consistently. ([Location 908](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=908)) - For nonactionable items, the possible categories are trash, incubation, and reference. If no action is needed on something, you toss it, “tickle” it for later reassessment, or file it so you can find the material if you need to refer to it at another time. To manage actionable things, you will need a list of projects, storage or files for project plans and materials, a calendar, a list of reminders of next actions, and a list of reminders of things you’re waiting for. ([Location 994](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=994)) - I define a project as any desired result that can be accomplished within a year that requires more than one action step. ([Location 1005](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1005)) - What does need to be tracked is every action that has to happen at a specific time or on a specific day (enter those on your calendar); those that need to be done as soon as they can (add these to your Next Actions lists); and all those that you are waiting for others to do (put these on a Waiting For list). ([Location 1047](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1047)) - Three things go on your calendar: time-specific actions; day-specific actions; and day-specific information ([Location 1051](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1051)) - Time-Specific Actions This is a fancy name for appointments. ([Location 1053](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1053)) - Day-Specific Actions These are things that you need to do sometime on a certain day, but not necessarily at a specific time. ([Location 1054](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1054)) - Day-Specific Information The calendar is also the place to keep track of things you want to know about on specific days—not necessarily actions you’ll have to take but rather information that may be useful on a certain date. ([Location 1059](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1059)) - Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. —Michael McGriffy, M.D. ([Location 1065](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1065)) - The way I look at it, the calendar should be sacred territory. If you write something there, it must get done that day or not at all. ([Location 1077](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1077)) - Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. —Albert Einstein ([Location 1086](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1086)) - If you have only twenty or thirty of these, it may be fine to keep them all on one list labeled “Next Actions,” which you’ll review whenever you have any free time. For most of us, however, the number is more likely to be fifty to 150. In that case it makes sense to subdivide your Next Actions list into categories, such as Calls to make when you have a window of time and your phone, or Computer action items to see as options when you’re at that device. ([Location 1088](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1088)) - There are two kinds of incubation tools that could work for this kind of thing: Someday/Maybe lists and a tickler system. ([Location 1102](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1102)) - Review whatever lists, overviews, and orientation maps you need to, as often as you need to, to get their contents off your mind. ([Location 1166](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1166)) - Projects, Waiting For, and Someday/Maybe lists need to be reviewed only as often as you think they have to be in order to stop you from wondering about them. ([Location 1170](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1170)) - Everything that might require action must be reviewed on a frequent enough basis to keep your mind from taking back the job of remembering and reminding. ([Location 1176](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1176)) - All of your Projects, active project plans, and Next Actions, Agendas, Waiting For, and even Someday/Maybe lists should be reviewed once a week. This also gives you an opportunity to ensure that your brain is clear and that all the loose strands of the past few days have been captured, clarified, and organized. ([Location 1179](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1179)) - The Weekly Review is the time to: Gather and process all your stuff. Review your system. Update your lists. Get clean, clear, current, and complete. ([Location 1185](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1185)) - You have to use your mind to get things off your mind. ([Location 1187](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1187)) - Most people feel best about their work the week before they go on vacation, but it’s not because of the vacation itself. What do you do the last week before you leave on a big trip? You clean up, close up, clarify, organize, and renegotiate all your agreements with yourself and others. You do this so you can relax and be present on the beach, on the golf course, or on the slopes, with nothing else on your mind. I suggest you do this weekly instead of yearly, so you can bring this kind of “being present” to your everyday life. ([Location 1192](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1192)) - Every decision to act is an intuitive one. The challenge is to migrate from hoping it’s the right choice to trusting it’s the right choice. ([Location 1200](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1200)) - There are three models that will be helpful for you to incorporate in your decision making about what to do. ([Location 1206](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1206)) - 1. The Four-Criteria Model for Choosing Actions in the Moment ([Location 1209](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1209)) - At 3:22 on Wednesday, how do you choose what to do? At that moment there are four criteria you can apply, in this order: context, time available, energy available, and priority. ([Location 1210](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1210)) - 2. The Threefold Model for Identifying Daily Work ([Location 1226](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1226)) - Doing predefined work Doing work as it shows up Defining your work ([Location 1228](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1228)) - 3. The Six-Level Model for Reviewing Your Own Work ([Location 1242](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1242)) - Horizon 5: Purpose and principles Horizon 4: Vision Horizon 3: Goals Horizon 2: Areas of focus and accountabilities Horizon 1: Current projects Ground: Current actions ([Location 1246](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1246)) - Horizon 1: Current Projects Generating most of the actions that you currently have in front of you are the thirty to one hundred projects on your plate. These are the relatively short-term outcomes you want to achieve, such as setting up a new home computer, organizing a sales conference, moving to a new headquarters, and getting a dentist. ([Location 1252](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1252)) - Minute-to-minute and day-to-day you don’t have time to think. You need to have already thought. ([Location 1277](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1277)) - THE KEY INGREDIENTS of relaxed control are (1) clearly defined outcomes (projects) and the next actions required to move them toward closure, and (2) reminders placed in a trusted system that is reviewed regularly. This is what I call horizontal focus. ([Location 1286](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1286)) - Horizontal focus is all you’ll need in most situations, most of the time. ([Location 1290](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1290)) - You’ve got to think about the big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction. —Alvin Toffler ([Location 1293](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1293)) - More formal and structured meetings also tend to skip over at least one critical issue, such as why the project is being done in the first place. ([Location 1310](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1310)) - Your mind goes through five steps to accomplish virtually any task: 1  |  Defining purpose and principles 2  |  Outcome visioning 3  |  Brainstorming 4  |  Organizing 5  |  Identifying next actions ([Location 1321](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1321)) - your purpose and principles were the defining impetus and boundaries of your planning. ([Location 1333](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1333)) - You probably also imagined some positive picture of what you might experience or how the evening would turn out—maybe the people involved, the atmosphere, and/or the outcome. That was your outcome visioning. ([Location 1336](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1336)) - Once you’d identified with your vision, what did your mind naturally begin doing? What did it start to think about? “What time should we go?” “Is it open tonight?” “Will it be crowded?” “What’s the weather like?” “Should we change clothes?” “Is there gas in the car?” “How hungry are we?” That was brainstorming. ([Location 1339](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1339)) - Once you had generated a sufficient number of ideas and details, you couldn’t help but start to organize them. ([Location 1348](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1348)) - Finally (assuming that you’re really committed to the project—in this case, going out to dinner), you focus on the next action that you need to take to make the first component actually happen. ([Location 1355](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1355)) - Don’t just do something. Stand there. —Rochelle Myer ([Location 1403](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1403)) - Here are just some of the benefits of asking why: It defines success. It creates decision-making criteria. It aligns resources. It motivates. It clarifies focus. It expands options. ([Location 1427](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1427)) - Ultimately you can’t feel good about a staff meeting unless you know what the purpose of the meeting was. ([Location 1435](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1435)) - You won’t really know whether or not your business plan is any good until you hold it up against the success criterion that you define by answering the question, “Why do we need a business plan?” ([Location 1437](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1437)) - Often the only way to make a hard decision is to come back to the purpose of what you’re doing. ([Location 1441](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1441)) - If you’re not sure why you’re doing something, you can never do enough of it. ([Location 1448](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1448)) - if there’s no good reason to be doing something, it’s not worth doing. ([Location 1449](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1449)) - Is your purpose clear and specific enough? ([Location 1459](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1459)) - if you don’t really know when you’ve met your purpose or when you’re off track, you don’t have a viable directive. The question, “How will I know when this is off purpose?” must have a clear answer. ([Location 1463](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1463)) - Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior. —Dee Hock ([Location 1465](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1465)) - A great way to think about what your principles are is to complete this sentence: “I would give others totally free rein to do this as long as they . . .” ([Location 1470](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1470)) - Imagination is more important than knowledge. —Albert Einstein ([Location 1487](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1487)) - Your automatic creative mechanism is teleological. That is, it operates in terms of goals and end results. Once you give it a definite goal to achieve, you can depend upon its automatic guidance system to take you to that goal much better than “you” ever could by conscious thought. “You” supply the goal by thinking in terms of end results. Your automatic mechanism then supplies the means whereby. —Maxwell Maltz ([Location 1499](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1499)) - Suffice it to say that something automatic and extraordinary happens in your mind when you create and focus on a clear picture of what you want. ([Location 1510](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1510)) - It’s easy to envision something happening if it has happened before or you have had experience with similar successes. It can be quite a challenge, however, to identify with images of success if they represent new and foreign territory—that is, if you have few reference points about what an event might actually look like and little experience of your own ability to make it happen. ([Location 1514](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1514)) - One of the most powerful life skills, and one of the most important to hone and develop for both professional and personal success, is creating clear outcomes. This is not as self-evident as it may sound. We need to constantly define (and redefine) what we’re trying to accomplish on many different levels, and consistently reallocate resources toward getting these tasks complete as effectively and efficiently as possible. ([Location 1521](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1521)) - Outcome/vision can range from a simple statement of the project, such as “Finalize computer-system implementation,” to a completely scripted movie depicting the future scene in all its glorious detail. ([Location 1528](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1528)) - The best way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas. —Linus Pauling ([Location 1533](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1533)) - Once you know what you want to happen and why, the how mechanism is brought into play. When you identify with some picture in your mind that is different from your current reality, you automatically start filling in the gaps, or brainstorming. ([Location 1535](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1535)) - If the project is still on your mind, there’s more thinking required. ([Location 1649](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1649)) - Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. —David L. George ([Location 1743](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1743)) - The ideal time for me to work with someone in implementing this methodology is on a weekend or holiday, because the chance of outside disturbance is minimal then. ([Location 1753](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1753)) - Note: This guy probably NEVER visited Germany :) - Dedicate two days to this process, and it will be worth many times that in terms of your productivity and mental health. ([Location 1758](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1758)) - You need to use your system—not continually have to re-create it. ([Location 1808](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1808)) - Some organizations are interested in the concept of “hotel-ing”—that is, having people create totally self-contained and mobile workstation capabilities so they can “plug in” anywhere in the company, at any time, and work from there. That can provide savings in office space requirements, as companies operate more virtually with a workforce that can function independently from the “mother ship.” But that presupposes that each worker involved has a locus of control on his or her own. Experiments have failed in this scheme, because they disrupted the stable workstation. There must be zero resistance to using the systems we have. Having to continually reinvent our in-tray, our filing system, and how and where we process our stuff (“Where’s a darn Post-it, and a stapler?!”) can only be a source of incessant distraction. ([Location 1809](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1809)) - Once you know how to process your stuff and what to organize, you really just need to create and manage lists. ([Location 1865](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1865)) - One of the best tricks for enhancing your productivity is having organizing tools you love to use. ([Location 1882](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1882)) - If your reference system is not under control, it creates a blockage in your workflow that causes amorphous content to back up into your world. ([Location 1893](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1893)) - I strongly suggest that you maintain a personal, at-hand filing system—both physical and digital. It should take you less than one minute to pick something up out of your in-tray or print it from e-mail, decide it needs no next action but has some potential future value, and finish storing it in a trusted system. The same is true for scanning and storing documents or copying and pasting information in the computer. You may have a preponderance of digital over paper-based reference material (or vice versa), but without a streamlined system for both, you will resist keeping potentially valuable information, or what you do keep will accumulate in inappropriate places. If it takes longer than a minute to file something in an easily retrievable format, you’ll likely stack it or stuff it somewhere instead. ([Location 1936](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1936)) - Keep Your General-Reference Files Immediately at Hand ([Location 1952](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1952)) - One Alpha System ([Location 1957](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1957)) - People have a tendency to want to use their files as a personal management system, and therefore they attempt to organize them in groupings by projects or areas of focus. This magnifies geometrically the number of places something isn’t when you forget where you filed it. ([Location 1958](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1958)) - Using an effectively simple and easily accessible general-reference filing system gives you the freedom to keep as much information as you want. ([Location 1965](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1965)) - “I don’t need to organize my stuff, because the search feature can find it sufficiently” is, from what I’ve experienced, quite suboptimal as an approach. We need to have a way to overview our mass of collected information with some form of effective categorization. ([Location 1977](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1977)) - Make It Easy to Create a New Folder ([Location 1982](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=1982)) - Things you name, you own. Collected but unnamed stuff owns you. ([Location 2003](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=2003)) - In the fire zone of real work, if it takes longer than sixty seconds to file something where it belongs, you won’t file, you’ll “stack.” ([Location 2009](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=2009)) - Purge Your Files at Least Once a Year ([Location 2011](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=2011)) - You can only feel good about what you’re not doing when you know everything you’re not doing. ([Location 2051](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=2051)) - can only feel good about what you’re not doing when you know everything you’re not doing. ([Location 2071](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=2071)) - Are the mementos really something you still want to keep? ([Location 2104](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=2104)) - Consider whether your collectible and nostalgia items are still meaningful to you. ([Location 2173](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=2173)) - Don’t let things to be handled that you have considered “not so important” gnaw away at your energy and focus. ([Location 2186](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=2186)) - *I consider “work,” in its most universal sense, to mean anything that you want or need to be different than it currently is. Many people make a distinction between “work” and “personal life,” but I don’t: To me, weeding the garden or updating my will is just as much “work” as writing this book or coaching a client. All the methods and techniques in this book are applicable across that life-work spectrum—to be effective, they need to be. ([Location 5713](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=5713)) - *An excellent book that covers this topic (and many others) is Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney (Penguin, 2011). ([Location 5732](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00KWG9M2E&location=5732))