Chapter 2

The 5 stages of mastering workflow

1. Collect things that command our attention.
2. Process what they mean and what to do about them.
3. Organize the results, which we
4. Review as options of what we choose to
5. Do

• Collect
• Gathering 100% of the incompletes
• As soon as you attach a “should”, “need to”, “ought to” to an item, it becomes an incomplete.
• The collection tools
• Physical in-basket
• Paper-based note-taking devices
• Electronic note-taking devices
• Voice-recording devices
• E-mail
• Collection success factors
• Every open loop must be in your collection system and out of your head.
• You must have a few collection buckets as you can get by with.
• Empty them regularly
• Process
• What is it?
• Is it actionable?
• No
• Trash it
• No action for now, something might need to be done later – incubate
• Potentially useful, might be needed for something later – reference
• Yes
• What “project” or outcome have you committed to?
• What is the next action required?
• Will it take less than 2 minutes?
• Yes – Do it!
• No
• Delegate it -waiting someone else to do it
• Defer it
• Calendar – to do at a specific time.
• Next actions – to do as soon as I can

• Organize
• Projects – desired results that requires more than one action step
• Next-action
• Calendar
• time-specific – simply tracking on the calendar
• day-specific – again, tracking it on the calendar
• day-specific information – info for future reference
• Next actions – can categorize
• Review
• Critical success factor – the weekly review
• Gather and process all your “stuff”
• Review your system
• Update your lists.
• Get clean, clear, current and complete.
• Do
• 4-criteria for choosing actions in the moment
• Context
• Time available
• Energy available
• Priority
• Threefold model for daily work evaluation
• Doing predefined work
• Doing work as it shows up
• Defining your work
• 6-level model for reviewing your own work
• 50,000 feet – Life
• 40,000 feet – 3 to 5 years vision
• 30,000 feet – 1 to 2 years goal
• 20,000 feet – areas of responsibility
• 10,000 feet – current projects
• Runway – current actions

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Chapter 1

• The problem: new demands, insufficient resources.
• “Mind like water”, doesn’t overreact or underreact.
• “In knowledge work, the task is not given; it has to be determined…And results have to be clearly specified, if productivity is to be achieved.” Peter Drucker
• Why things are on your mind
  • you haven’t clarified exactly what the intended outcome is;
  • you haven’t decided what the very next physical action step is;
  • you haven’t put reminders of the outcome and action required in a system you trust.
• Whence the basic requirements for managing commitments are:
  • Unfinished stuffs must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, and come back regularly and sort through.
  • Clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide what you have to do.
  • Once actions are decided, keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly.

• Transform all the “stuff” into actionable stuff we need to do.
• Managing actions – get things off your mind.

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