Workflow Basics

[colinxjcallahan]

During the week, I write down things that come to mind and put them in a physical basket or email them to myself. I also put things in my physical inbox such as mail, business cards, etc.

Do I leave everything in the Inboxes until my weekly review? Is that when I walk through the WorkFlow Diagram (Is it actionable?, If yes then, etc) to determine next actions and projects, etc? Or do I process things as they come in?

thanks in advance,
Colin

[GTDWorks]

I process regularly and try not to leave the office each day without processing my Inbasket to zero. And the day before my Weekly Review, I process it to zero so I don't have to spend time dealing with it during the review.

[Oogiem]

Do I leave everything in the Inboxes until my weekly review? Is that when I walk through the WorkFlow Diagram (Is it actionable?, If yes then, etc) to determine next actions and projects, etc? Or do I process things as they come in?

I started out doing that and quickly discovered it doesn't work. Now I try to spend about an hour a day processing all my inputs and another hour or so each week getting the stuck ones done. If you don't process during hte week the weekly review is a nightmare.

Plus, many of the things I process early in the week will need to be done and finished by the end of the week, I have to get them into my system ready for doing as soon as I can, within 24-36 hours at the latest.

[basilides]

At first all this processing can seem like a pain, but it's really just a question of enforcing some new habits.

I found (and still finds) it useful to have a checklist of my routine tasks to do during the day. It has "Process email inbox", "process physical inbox", and similar entries for both work and home. I process my email to zero 1-2 times a day and the physical ones at least every second day.

[malisa]

At first all this processing can seem like a pain, but it's really just a question of enforcing some new habits.

Yet another thing that boils down to habits. I notice that as a common answer to the questions in my life. ;)

[Brent]

Do I leave everything in the Inboxes until my weekly review? Is that when I walk through the WorkFlow Diagram (Is it actionable?, If yes then, etc) to determine next actions and projects, etc? Or do I process things as they come in?

Good question!

Ideally, process things as they come in. Practically, process as often as you can.

I process my physical inbox at home once every 1-2 days. One of my goals is to process everything within 24 hours, though that's difficult with a full-time job and lots of outside work keeping me out of the house many evenings and chunks of the weekend.

[abhay]

Do I leave everything in the Inboxes until my weekly review? Is that when I walk through the WorkFlow Diagram (Is it actionable?, If yes then, etc) to determine next actions and projects, etc? Or do I process things as they come in?


I usually process once every day, but sometimes I may skip that. I keep weekly review separate from processing. I look at weekly review as another chance to look at all the decisions that I have made.

Regards,
Abhay

[ellobogrande]

I believe the minimum rule of thumb for processing in-baskets is at least once every 24-48 hours. Processing your in-baskets is also the first step to prepare for a weekly review.