To Be, Or Not To Be Organized...That Is The Question

Organization...hmmmmmm...I am Totally organized in my personal and professional life...ok, I'm pretty organized...well, I do an average job...honestly, I am organized and then I am not and then I am again...LOL!

Organization is one of those "time" things. When I have time to sit down and work at being organized, I am very good at it. I will take a weekend and organize my office, my desk, my calendar, my to-do list, my work and my life. By Monday morning, I am organized and I have a plan of attack...I will stay organized this time! By Thursday, it's all over and I am back to my old ways. I don't think I am only one here, right? Please, tell me I'm not the only one...

I think organization is a very important part of life. We have to remain organized or life would screech to a sudden stop and the world would cease to exist. The problem is getting organized and staying that way. I consider myself a fairly smart guy and capable of many things...so, why is staying organized so hard? There, ladies and gentlemen, lies the BIG question! Why do we struggle so much with staying organized in our daily lives?

I was recently introduced to a technique that David Allen discusses in his book "Getting Things Done." David's "Mastering Workflow" techniques seem quite simple and easy to accomplish. As I read it, I thought to myself...so what's the big deal? I do all of these things and it never works for me. Then I began to really look at what he was saying and began to be honest with myself. Yes, I have done all of the things that he discusses; but, I have never put them all together in the manner he describes. What he was saying began to make sense and I started to see that light brighten above my head...this just might work! So, I'm going to share with you his technique.

David's "Mastering Workflow" technique is a five step process; you have to Collect, Process, Organize, Review, and Do. Sounds simple? Well, it is. That's the beauty of it!

First, you have to collect. This means everything...you have to get all of your "eggs" in one basket, so to speak. To begin the process, write down everything that you have on your plate. This means daily tasks, weekly, tasks, long-term projects, personal and private. Get everything you need to control in one place. This can be a list, papers and notes in a shoebox, or collected electronically. The method is not important; accomplishing the task of collecting everything is all that matters at this point.

Once you have collected everything, you need to process it. Basically, as David puts it, this is where you make decisions on everything you have collected and he suggests that you go through a list of questions for everything you collected. These questions are: What is it? Is it actionable? If no, toss it out or put it in a file for a later time. What is the next action to be taken? Will that action take less than 2 minutes? If yes, do it. No, then...defer or delegate. This will take some time in the beginning, but from what I have seen, it is key to the success of this process.

Now that you have processed everything, you have to organize it all. David expresses that in the Process step you decided what each item was and whether or not it was actionable. Now, you have to decide where each of your "actionable" items belongs in your organizational system. The organizational areas that David proposes are: Projects (things you have made a commitment to finish), Calendar (actions that must occur on a specific day or time), Next Action (actions that need to be done asap), and Waiting For (projects and actions others are supposed to be doing, which you care about or have involvement in). From these four main categories you can create sub-categories, lists, checklists, or any other method you need to use to help you organize all of your items.

The fourth step is to review - which is what Davis says holds the entire process together and makes it work over the long run. You have to commit and follow-through with a weekly review process where you "make sure your projects, calendar, and next action steps are clean and up to date."

Finally, you actually have to do. Yes, unfortunately once you have collected everything, processed it all, and organized your actionable items...you have to do these things on your calendar and lists...LOL! This is based on things such as the priority of your actionable items, the amount of time you have to accomplish tasks, and the energy you have to put towards completing items. This is personal and changes minute to minute, so David recommends that you be flexible in this step.

After reading this system and David's ideas, I decided this was well worth trying. I will be honest, it was not easy in the beginning and took some time to get everything collected, processed, and organized. But, so far it is working well for me and I am following through with reviewing items and making sure things get done.

The one thing I found is that paper and pen, organizers, calendars, nor my laptop worked for me to use this process. I found that I never had my paper lists with me or my laptop was unavailable. I am a minimalist and to carry an organizer or a calendar of some sort for me is just not going to happen. The tool I found most useful was my phone! My phone has a calendar complete with alarm reminders, it had a notepad section where I can create my lists, and I never go anywhere without my phone...so it was always there when I needed it.

Now, this is where I need my friends and colleagues to chime in. Currently, I have the EnV Touch and it is a great phone. I like the “flip” feature and the full QWERTY keypad. However, I am finding that I am as the threshold of its capacity. It is now time to move on to the next generation…so; I am seeking your knowledge, advice, and input. What are your thoughts on the IPhone, Droid, and Blackberries? I am with Verizon and I will not switch…I am a Verizon customer for life! However, the nice thing is I can choose from any of these phones since Verizon now offers all 3!!! So, let me know what you think…which one is your tool of choice and why?