One of my stack baskets is used for “Action Support” items. This area categorizes action pieces to simplify access and to control paperwork in progress. This represents a "holding" station for the information on NEXT ACTIONS that comes in paper form.

During the day, I approach tasks in an orderly one-by-one fashion; then, the reality may include lots of surprise input, interruptions, additional paperwork, mail, etc., showing up to disrupt these “pre-defined” actions. If all the paperwork has no good place to go once it’s been processed/evaluated, I am prone to stack it somewhere. The “Action Support” basket provides an effective way to manage my information and next actions; and, this gives me the ability to shift focus and regroup rapidly with control. I need to minimize loose pieces of paper which I haven't psychologically put "in their place"; and having the next action in my system (with a note to trigger the action support) makes it easy to maximize focus and energy.

Again, I stress the importance of having all pieces functional and "alive" in a closed system. If there is a "leak" anywhere, every part of the system loses some effectiveness and becomes more trouble in relation to the value that piece creates.

The key to effective management of the ACTION SUPPORT area is regular review of everything in it. One useful approach is to review all of the pending papers at the beginning of a day, and to pull out those items which could be handled that day. In addition, I review this each week, during my Weekly Review.