Quote Originally Posted by Almost Done View Post
I have a "to read" file. When I get a journal in the mail, I review the contents page. If I like the title, I put a sticky note on the page number, and drop it in my file.
Each month I book 1 1/2 hour at a coffee shop. I take my backpackbriefcasethingy and inside it I have a green action file, a yellow reference file and a red recycle/shred file.
No phone, no computer, no interruptions. The 90 mins is at the very end of the day, but at the coffee shop it is so relaxing! I rip out the article with the contact name of the author I want to call, and put it in my green action file. When I get back to the office, I empty the action folder into the appropriate context folders (phone calls, someone to delegate this action), file the reference material and shred/recycle.
I LOVE Almost Done's suggestion - what seems really wonderful about this is that the coffee shop provides a change of scene, eliminates most interruptions inherent in being at the office and can feel like a restful break and a pleasant reward. I'd pobably take post-it notes with me to be able to jot notes about any necessary actions from the reading. The challenge with scheduling reading items that might be relevant at the office is often that it doesn't feel as important, so those things just don't get read in any timely way. I think the idea that "stuff which might be useful" is often deferred makes perfect sense. I read a lot, but there's always a lot in the queue - a significant chunk of which constantly gets deferred. The coffee shop idea could even be translated to being a space for scanning larger items like books to see what the likelihood is that valuable information is lurking in the pages.

We'll never read everything that catches our attention or discover everything that could be useful. We always must carve out some time for creative, new inputs though to help us challenge our current thinking and to innovate.