Assuming that you have collected everything that has your attention (discussed in chapter 5, please re-read if you are unsure), your job is now to actually get to the bottom of "in". When you have finished this processing, you will have
- Thrown away items you don't need
- Completed any less-than-two-minutes actions
- Delegated to others what can/should be delegated
- Included in your organizing system reminders of actions that require more than two minutes to complete
- Identified any larger commitments (projects) you now have
The best way to learn this and apply the processing system/model (already discussed in chapter 2) is by doing:
- Process the top item first!
- Process one item at a time!
- Never put anything back into "in"!
Top item first: Everything gets processed equally, starting at the top. For each item you decide what it is and what action (if any) is required to complete it. "Emergency scanning" is fine and necessary sometimes, for example if you just returned from a longer retreat and need to determine whether there are any "land mines" in the in-basket that are about to explode. However, "emergency scanning" is not processing your in basket. Therefore, you need to get into the habit of starting at one end and working through it one item at a time. You're going to get to the bottom of the pile as soon as you can anyway, and you don't want to avoid dealing with anything in there.
Process one item at a time: You may find you have a tendency, while processing your in-basket, to pick something up, not know exactly what you want to do about it, and then let your eyes wander onto another item further down the stack and get engaged with it. That item may be more attractive to your psyche because you know right away what to do with it - and you don't feel like thinking about the preceding item, which is in your hand right now. This is dangerous territory! What is currently in your hand might end up on a "hmppphhh" stack on the side because you became distracted by something easier, more important, or more interesting below it. Therefore, focus on one item at a time and only then move onto the next. Otherwise all these unprocessed / half-processed items will eat away again at your mental energy since your subconsciousness feels the weight of this unfinished business / open loop.
Never put anything back into "in": It is essential to eliminate the bad habit of continually picking things up out of your inbox, not deciding what they mean or what you are going to do about them, and then just leaving them there. The first time you pick something up from the inbox, decide what to do about it and where it goes. Never put it back as the inbox is not a storage place.
The key processing question is always "What is the next action?".
It is likely that a portion of your inbox will contain items that do not require any action. Such items fall into three categories:
- Rubbish / trash: Trust your intuition in what to throw away and be realistic about the space available to you.
- Items to postpone until possible later use: For example, an idea you had about next year's meeting or an event invitation for in a few months time when you are not 100% sure yet that you will be in town. Such items will either go (a) in your calendar as a day-specific action or (b) on your someday/maybe list. Doing is vital to get these items off your mind right now.
- Reference material: Manuals, receipts for warranty purposes and other materials/information which might be handy for later use. File this first in a general folder and if one of the sections grows too large, create a separate folder only for that section. You might also like to sort the general folder in alphabetical order from A to Z. A less-than-sixty-second, fun-to-use general-reference filing system within arm's reach of where you sit is a mission-critical component of full implementation of David Allen's GTD methodology. In the "battle zone" of real life, if it's not easy, fast, and fun to file, you'll stack instead of organizing. And then it will become much more difficult to keep things processed.
The next action step you define for the actionable items in your inbox should be the absolute next physical thing to do, i.e. it needs to be a description of physical behavior, e.g. "Call John", "Write down five ideas for next week's staff meeting" or "Talk to the clothing store assistant for advice on which style of suit pants to buy". If you haven't identified the next physical action required, there will be a psychological gap every time you think about it even vaguely.
Once you decided what the next action really is, you have three options:
- Do it if it takes less than two minutes: If it takes less than two minutes, do it now even if it is not "high priority". Two minutes is about the "efficiency cutoff" where it is more cumbersome to store and track the item, rather than to do it right now. And if the item is not important enough, then throw it away. Many people experience dramatic increases in their productivity simply from following this two-minute rule.
- Delegate if you are not the most appropriate person to do it: Delegate the item to another person, specify a clear deadline and track the item on your "FU", "Follow Up" or "Waiting For" list
- Defer/Postpone it until later: Include reminders of all these next actions on your "next actions" list or on a sub-list for a specific project.
In addition to your next actions list, you might also like to maintain/update a "Projects" list, which gives you a higher level overview over all your commitments that require more than one action step to complete. This is because, if the action step you identified will not complete the commitment, then you'll need some reminder that there is more to do until the project is completed.
Based on: David Allen (2001), Getting Things Done, Penguin Books, p.119-137.
