Many business articles include motherhood statements (”Strategy”, “”Vision”, “Knowledge Management”) or in other words “top-down” analysis of business issues. The idea of personal productivity rarely gets a mention in business literature. How do I manage email, SMS, IM chats and the information clutter that results? How can I change small things in my office, under my control to make real positive long term gains? My interest in this area was piqued just over a year ago when I read about David Allen, author of “Getting Things Done” on a business podcast. Allen’s theory is that organisation is the key to productivity gains – be it business or personal. So over the past year I have adapted some of his teachings and moulded it to fit the way I work. I will be talking about the concept of “Action” and “Waiting For” task lists and how it organises my life. (I must admit that sometimes tasks slips through the gaps – just ask my wife – but at least it’s a structured process and it has helped me enormously).

Tracking “Actions” and “Waiting For” Tasks

One key concept from the “Getting Things Done” methodology is a) tracking your “Actions” and b) tracking other people’s actions that you have requested (or “Waiting For” tasks). For example, you decide that you need to order more printer paper. You record your action (more on this later) and this is added to your action task list. Once you have ordered it, clear this action item. You are now waiting for the paper supplier to deliver it. You now need to record this in your “Waiting For” task list. When it is finally delivered, you clear that item. It is a simple method of tracking both your tasks and other’s that you are depending upon. It helps keep you and others accountable.

Execution

So how do I implement this system? Since email is the predominant method for communication, I use email and MS Outlook to implement this system. I have created two unique email addresses one for my “Actions” tasks and one for “Waiting For” tasks. These two emails are forwarded to my main email address.

When I think of an action I send an email to my “Action” email address. MS Outlook then receives it, puts a red flag on it and automatically moves it to an @ACTION folder (Use Outlook’s has powerful rules and filters). Thus I can keep track of my actions without cluttering my main Inbox. When I have completed the task I clear the Red flag.

The real power I find is in my “Waiting For” email address. More often than not you request actions via email. I simply place my “waiting for” email address in the BCC field of the message. I use Outlook’s filters to mark them with a Blue Flag and move these items to an @WAITINGFOR folder. If I request task via other non-email mediums (eg. Phone, faxes, etc.) I simply send an email to my “Waiting For” address and the same effect is achieved.

Some of you may wonder why I go through this effort when outlook already have a Task manager built into Outlook. I have used the Task list previously but did not like the fact that you couldn’t divide the tasks into groups like “Action” and “Waiting For” lists. I also tried some GTD (Getting Things Done) plugins but never really found them useful. I do, however, use Outlook’s Tasks list for recurring tasks (eg. Backing up my laptop, birthdays etc.)

In conclusion, having an “Action” list and a “Waiting For” list will improve the way you handle the “small things” to allow you to get a handle on the ever increasing demands on our time.