I finished reading David Allen's book "Getting Things Done". Michael and I have had several discussions about this organizing system, and he taught me most of what I needed to know. But actually reading the book was one of the things on my list of "action" items, and I felt I really needed to read the complete book.
Last Christmas Michael and I had fun in a Staples buying me the organizer notebook, the blank pages, and getting my book set up for my lists. I worked with it for a month or so, and then let it slide. This weekend I finished reading the book and I'm going to start again. Starting over is a good thing, as long as you start at all.
Today I used the system called 43 folders, which is also called a "bring up" file. It is a term which has been around forever, but David Allen seems to think that it can't be improved upon. You make a folder for every day of the month, and another set for every month of the year. Thirty-one day folders and twelve month folders equals 43 folders. Then you file the pertinent materials for that day in the folder, and check it first thing every day and it "brings up" the items that need attention that day. It may not be a great system for actions that are important enough to act on immediately, but it works well when you have something that needs to be done six weeks or six months from now. Christmas cookie recipes can be filed under December, and when December first rolls around, there you are!
A big part of the book explains making a list of ALL the things that are important in your life that are pending, and separating them into groups of projects, action items, and resource materials. It is a great book, a great system to organize ALL your "stuff", and I'm ready to go!
Have a great day.
