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December 07, 2006
What's your slippery slope?
Have you ever noticed that an area of your house that started as a temporary storage place is now the black hole for stuff? (Hey--after 2 years it's not likely you're going to need that empty box your printer came in so do yourself a favor and toss it.) Or, the first flat surface when you walked in your house that was a place you used to drop today's mail is now a two-foot pile? Or, leaving a few of those emails in your inbox that were must do's by the end of the day 4 months ago have somehow turned into 467? A few weeks of not exercising and the thought of getting back on the treadmill even for a simple workout feels like being asked to run a marathon? I call that the slippery slope. Before you know it, things can go from bad to worse and digging out of it can seem daunting.
The good news is that it's usually less work than you think to get it back to the place you want it to be, especially if you start with small steps. If email is your weak area, pick 25 old emails to go through to start. That'll take you about 12 minutes. (30 seconds per email.) If it's an area that like your paper filing that's out of control, break it into more doable steps like purging one letter or one drawer at a time. If you've got a storage area that is overgrown with stuff, decide to get rid of 5 things at a time rather than overwhelming yourself with the thought of having to clean the place all at once. With exercise, 5 minutes on the treadmill is better than nothing, at least in my case.
And if you're a GTD'er you probably know by now that ANY part of the Weekly Review is better than nothing! Pick one thing from the list and commit to that. Done a mindsweep lately?
Posted by Kelly at December 7, 2006 04:25 PM
