The work-by-routine-tray

[Myriam]

hi,

you must always be aware not to overcomplicate things.

I bet all of us have a certain number of these "work-by-routine-trays", and you don't always need a check list to remind you what to do with them. They could be bills to pay, laundry to iron or to fold, ... we have a bag in our house where we put all clothing that needs repair (I don't really like that type of work), and every time my grandmother passes by (almost every week), she looks in it and repairs some stuff.

After all: you could call the kitchen sink a "work-by-routine-tray", you put all the used dishes and plates in it, and you simply know (no check list needed to remind you, no writing on your NA-list) that these need to be washed...

Myriam

[Oogiem]

I bet all of us have a certain number of these "work-by-routine-trays", and you don't always need a check list to remind you what to do with them. They could be bills to pay, laundry to iron or to fold, ...

There is a very good reason to make checklists for even the routine stuff you know how to do. If you are ever injured or incapacitated or die suddenly, having those checklists will be of great benefit to the people who have to pick up and continue doing what you did. Even simple things like paying bills (esp. if you use on-line bill paying) are critical to have documented for emergencies. Consider making such checklists even if you never use or need them yourself.

[Mic]

There is a very good reason to make checklists for even the routine stuff you know how to do. If you are ever injured or incapacitated or die suddenly, having those checklists will be of great benefit to the people who have to pick up and continue doing what you did. Even simple things like paying bills (esp. if you use on-line bill paying) are critical to have documented for emergencies. Consider making such checklists even if you never use or need them yourself.

Hi,

I display a checklist in front of me, even for tasks I do a few time a day, if the task at hand is something like - update here, update there, print an invoice, make an envelope, mail it out, update the CRM of mailing it out, etc. which contains many computer updates to make - if I forget one of them, no trace will be left.

Mic

[Myriam]

... but it still is important to not overcomplicate things.

If the considered work is really very simple and explains itself, then no check list is needed... after all, we don't attach a check list to our "read & review" box, stating "have you read page 1? have you read page 2? have you read page 3?" and so on... the fact that something is in that box means "at some point I thought this might be interesting stuff to read"...

Myriam

[mthar1]

But I suggest (And I think DA also mentions it somewhere) that items you deal with according to a specific routine over and over again - CAN serve as such a reminder, because the thinking is done and known already, not less than just reading it off a list.

Step 11 in the GTD implementation guide (https://secure.davidco.com/store/cat...ZE-p-16636.php) mentions this specifically, and I'm sure it's in the book somewhere as well.

[mthar1]

hi,

you must always be aware not to overcomplicate things.

I bet all of us have a certain number of these "work-by-routine-trays", and you don't always need a check list to remind you what to do with them. They could be bills to pay, laundry to iron or to fold, ... we have a bag in our house where we put all clothing that needs repair (I don't really like that type of work), and every time my grandmother passes by (almost every week), she looks in it and repairs some stuff.

After all: you could call the kitchen sink a "work-by-routine-tray", you put all the used dishes and plates in it, and you simply know (no check list needed to remind you, no writing on your NA-list) that these need to be washed...

Myriam

Brilliant example with the kitchen sink! Thanks!

The laundry basket comes to mind as well. I certainly don't have a checklist for doing the laundry either...

[Barb]

There is a very good reason to make checklists for even the routine stuff you know how to do. If you are ever injured or incapacitated or die suddenly, having those checklists will be of great benefit to the people who have to pick up and continue doing what you did. Even simple things like paying bills (esp. if you use on-line bill paying) are critical to have documented for emergencies. Consider making such checklists even if you never use or need them yourself.

Making this a project, Oogie. My husband has no idea how to pay bills online. Thanks for making me think!

[artsinaction]

Oogie & Barb - it's a great idea to be explicit with processes!

I started out as a theatre stage manager back in the day (and still do a couple of shows a year) and the best thing I ever learned was to be sequentially detailed.

For each show I had a "calling script" - a script that had all of the cues for lights, sound, flys, scene shifts, etc. that never left the theatre. I made sure it was not only easy to read, but that I wrote it in such a way that anyone, even someone who had never even seen the show, could call the cues. On one show I ended up with the flu and couldn't get out of bed, let alone drive to the theatre. The director called my show that night with no hitch, and all of that prep work paid off.

So I've added these checklists to my project list thanks to this thread. I hope I can get my 88-yr old father to do them, too... I'm not looking forward to deciphering his paperwork when he's not able to.

[Mic]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I had my first weekly-review since I started implementing my work-by-routine-tray. I had a fairly big pile of stuff in my inbox to begin with, because I cleaned up a file closet just before the weekend, and many items went into my IB.

It took me an hour and a half to finish processing it, and only two items were quickly moved into my work-by-routine-tray, but processing an hour-and-half-thick inbox was so much easier for me because I knew that nothing is going to delay me in the middle.

Till now, since I knew that such items I don't like turning into projects because of the extra-overhead, and the urge to start-and-finish with them, so I do them in the middle of processing, there was resistance to processing. And it amazed me how easily it just disappeared!

I saw the bottom of my inbox this week so many times! Great.

Mic

[artsinaction]

<jumping up and down> Woohoo! Congratulations!!!