Clarifying your tasks: Get a clear idea what do next

seedling

planted Jul 26, 2021

To clarify what to do, first decide if the item is actionable. If it is, what is the next action? If it is not, trash it, incubate it, or file it.

This is the next step after you have captured all things in your inbox.

You now want to clarify, what to do about each item.

There are three important rules when processing your inbox:

1. only process one item at a time
2. nothing goes back into the inbox
3. process the top item first

For each item, you have first to ask yourself the following question:

Is it actionable?

No

This means it is only an information for you. One of the following steps should be done:

1. Trash it

If the information is not important enough, don't let it clutter your space. Throw it away.

2. Incubate it

Maybe there is something to do with the information, but not yet. In this case, create a reminder to come back to that topic later.

3. File it

If the item only has informational value, file it in your reference system, either digitally or physically

Yes

Ask yourself: What is the next action?

This means the next physical action. Formulate the step as clear as possible. Avoid abstract actions like schedule meeting. Who is part of the meeting? How do you invite everyone? Formulate it out so that it is easy to do it when you want to tackle the task and don't need to overthink it then. If the next action takes you less than two minutes, you should do it immediatly.

After you have defined what to do with each item, you can organize them according to your needs.