Step # 3 in the Getting things done process is to Organize everything, and as I pointed out in my last post, I do not have a good system for this yet. My desk hasn't spun out of control again, but that is mostly because I have been traveling this week and Starbucks doesn't let you leave stuff there.
I am attacking this problem in 2 separate manors, Physical Filling & Digital Filling.
Physical Filling: I have never been good at this, I keep to much stuff, never get to it for review and end up shoving it in a drawer at some point to make room for new stuff I will never look at. I have been pretty ruthless with my purging of new documents / physical things that cross my desk, but the stuff I do need to keep I am still at a loss for how to properly review it then store it.
I do have the GTD suggested alphabetical filling drawer, but I am already finding that I store things in different places depending on my mood. Credit card statements are a good example, did I store it under Visa - Bank Name, Bank Name, or Credit Card Statements (and why do I now have 3 separate files for the same basic info)?
I'm sure over time this will work its self out but right now this is a big source of my frustration, which leads me NOT to file things (or at least not to enjoy filing things)
Digital Filling: Digital filling is going much better, but I have had to divide it into 3 separate areas that address different types of digital files:
1) E-mail: E-mail is still coming at me with a furious pace, but I have scheduled 1/2 hours 2 times a day (sometime a 3rd at night) to review and process all the incoming email. I still haven't found a good way to do this from my mobile device so for the time being it will all be done in Outlook.
Any item that has an actin tied to it, I have created a Quick Step button to Create a Task with the Email attached to it so I have the required information tied to it.
I have created a folded called @Task Inbox and a rule that moves any email that I send to myself (including from my other email accounts) into that folder. This way I can send myself notes (and other features explained in a second) for further review. From the @Task Inbox I can then Create a Task or move to the @Review folder.
To create @@Waiting On Tasks, I BCC myself on the request to the person, which then shows up in my main Inbox. I am really disappointed that there is no way to create rules on BCC'ed emails in Outlook 2013, I would love these emails to also end up in the @Task Inbox folder so I can address them at a later time.
One thing that I have found most handy so far is the creation of an @Meeting Notes folder. During meetings I still take notes with pen and paper (mostly because I have really nice pens) then immediately after the meeting I send myself an email with Client Name - Meeting Notes in the Subject line, which then triggers another rule to move it to the @Meeting Notes folder. The plan is then I am on my way to a client I can open the old Meeting Notes email and review it quickly, then after the meeting just add the newest info on the top part of the email and resend it to myself.
As for storing all my Reference emails, I have created a couple of Quick Step buttons to move email to folds names Internal, Clients, Partners, Review and Other, each of which moved the said email into the appropriate folders.
Currently (as of writing this blog) I have only have 42 unread emails in my Inbox (which I should be able to rip through before my weekly task review) 3 emails to Review and 6 new Meeting Notes.
Its not zero (yet), but a far cry from where I was when I started this process.
2) Documents: When I say documents I mean anything that I am working on (client proposals, presentations, action plans). The Filing of these for me is quite easy, I have been using the same basic filing structure for 15+ years.
I have created folders in My Documents representing Clients (with sub folder Client Name), Events, Expenses, Travel, then create both folders and files underneath them with a YYYY.MM.DD-Descriptive Name. This way I can quickly track when I worked on something (especially events and travel). Like I said, I have been using this file structure for ever, and it hasn't failed me yet.
3) Archive Stuff: This is stuff that I just don't need to keep on my laptop. Software images and Pictures/Videos are the biggest space hogs on my laptop so I move them off to a small portable external USB drive that is attached to my docking station in my home office. I also have a script that runs each night to copy anything new on this USB drive to another server on my network just in case. Most of the stuff here isn't in the YYYY.MM.DD-Descriptive Name format but more of the SoftwareVendor/VersionNumber format.
All in all, a couple of weeks in and things are going pretty well, now if I could just address my issues with Tasks on a mobile device (both entering and reviewing) I think I would be all set.
Physical Filling: I have never been good at this, I keep to much stuff, never get to it for review and end up shoving it in a drawer at some point to make room for new stuff I will never look at. I have been pretty ruthless with my purging of new documents / physical things that cross my desk, but the stuff I do need to keep I am still at a loss for how to properly review it then store it.
I do have the GTD suggested alphabetical filling drawer, but I am already finding that I store things in different places depending on my mood. Credit card statements are a good example, did I store it under Visa - Bank Name, Bank Name, or Credit Card Statements (and why do I now have 3 separate files for the same basic info)?
I'm sure over time this will work its self out but right now this is a big source of my frustration, which leads me NOT to file things (or at least not to enjoy filing things)
Digital Filling: Digital filling is going much better, but I have had to divide it into 3 separate areas that address different types of digital files:
1) E-mail: E-mail is still coming at me with a furious pace, but I have scheduled 1/2 hours 2 times a day (sometime a 3rd at night) to review and process all the incoming email. I still haven't found a good way to do this from my mobile device so for the time being it will all be done in Outlook.
Any item that has an actin tied to it, I have created a Quick Step button to Create a Task with the Email attached to it so I have the required information tied to it.
I have created a folded called @Task Inbox and a rule that moves any email that I send to myself (including from my other email accounts) into that folder. This way I can send myself notes (and other features explained in a second) for further review. From the @Task Inbox I can then Create a Task or move to the @Review folder.
To create @@Waiting On Tasks, I BCC myself on the request to the person, which then shows up in my main Inbox. I am really disappointed that there is no way to create rules on BCC'ed emails in Outlook 2013, I would love these emails to also end up in the @Task Inbox folder so I can address them at a later time.
One thing that I have found most handy so far is the creation of an @Meeting Notes folder. During meetings I still take notes with pen and paper (mostly because I have really nice pens) then immediately after the meeting I send myself an email with Client Name - Meeting Notes in the Subject line, which then triggers another rule to move it to the @Meeting Notes folder. The plan is then I am on my way to a client I can open the old Meeting Notes email and review it quickly, then after the meeting just add the newest info on the top part of the email and resend it to myself.
As for storing all my Reference emails, I have created a couple of Quick Step buttons to move email to folds names Internal, Clients, Partners, Review and Other, each of which moved the said email into the appropriate folders.
Its not zero (yet), but a far cry from where I was when I started this process.
2) Documents: When I say documents I mean anything that I am working on (client proposals, presentations, action plans). The Filing of these for me is quite easy, I have been using the same basic filing structure for 15+ years.
I have created folders in My Documents representing Clients (with sub folder Client Name), Events, Expenses, Travel, then create both folders and files underneath them with a YYYY.MM.DD-Descriptive Name. This way I can quickly track when I worked on something (especially events and travel). Like I said, I have been using this file structure for ever, and it hasn't failed me yet.
3) Archive Stuff: This is stuff that I just don't need to keep on my laptop. Software images and Pictures/Videos are the biggest space hogs on my laptop so I move them off to a small portable external USB drive that is attached to my docking station in my home office. I also have a script that runs each night to copy anything new on this USB drive to another server on my network just in case. Most of the stuff here isn't in the YYYY.MM.DD-Descriptive Name format but more of the SoftwareVendor/VersionNumber format.
All in all, a couple of weeks in and things are going pretty well, now if I could just address my issues with Tasks on a mobile device (both entering and reviewing) I think I would be all set.
