10 Beginner Behaviors

1. Purge your files

The biggest jam in the system for most people is reference files that aren't current. New Year's tip- spend a few hours attending to your paper or digital reference (yes, "My Documents" can get messy, too!). Through out the old and simplify where you keep the current items. If you have a safe place to put reference (non-actionable) items, every other piece of the system will go more smoothly.

2. Write it down

Get a tool for writing down your ideas, and keep it near you always. Even if the thought amounts to nothing, writing it down is the only way to give yourself a fair shot at handling it responsibly. The mind is a great place for having ideas, not storing them.

3. The 2 minute rule

If you're going to do it at all, and it takes less than 2 minutes from where you are now, do it now. It would waste more time and energy to try to remember and track it if you don't.

4. The waiting for list

Keep a complete list of everything you are waiting for from others that you care about. Items loaned, next actions delegated, online orders that should arrive. This one has instant payoff when you see how empowering it is to follow up before something slips through the cracks.

5. Use your inbox effectively

Your inbox is a runway, not a parking spot. Practice processing the items that come in (not doing them, not reshuffling them, not procrastinating on them). Simply make a decision one item at a time.

6. Read every email only once

Never re-read an email unconsciously. Unless you need to reflect on it while you are composing a response, you should be able to cue yourself up about how to handle it the first time you see it. Rereading emails can drain energy and reinforce procrastination.

7. The someday/maybe list

There are millions of things you would like to do someday if you had more resources, time, energy and money to do them. Rather than letting them nag at you, capture them in a complete list that you review regularly. You are much more likely to do them or renegotiate them if they are out of your head.

8. Be real with your calendar

The calendar is meant to give you some clear cut guidelines for your day, it is not a parking spot for all the things you wish you could do in one day (if you were superhuman). Use it well. Does that item need to be done on that specific day? If not, try an action list instead. Are there other items that you know you will only get to if you set aside some uninterrupted focus time (i.e. writing a paper, home maintenance, drafting up a project plan)? This is one of the easiest areas of your system to get squeaky clean.

9. Do it, Defer it, Delegate it.

If it's actionable, there are only 3 options: do, defer, or delegate. Do it in 2 minutes or less, or defer it to a more appropriate time on your action list or calendar, or delegate it if you can.

10. Start at "zero"

Give yourself a clean start whenever you can. I recently heard a financial advisor suggesting that people open a new checking account in order to ensure their electronic bank statements synchronize appropriately, with no old transactions clouding the view. Use this analogy of starting with a clean slate in your organizational system. Process your inbox to zero, start a new file cabinet, get a tickler file, buy a new personal organizer. Newness has psychological power. Your new system is more likely to attract you, which will help you give it appropriate attention as you maintain it.

Wishing you a productive and joyful 2007!