GettingThings Done. The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

• Decision catalysts

Triggers for Activating Projects If you have a project that you don't really need to think about now but that deserves a flag at some point in the future, you can pick an appropriate date and put a reminder about the project in your calendar for that day. It should go in some day-specific (versus time-specific) calendar slot for the things you want to be reminded of on that day; then when the day arrives, you see the reminder and insert the item as an active project on your "Projects" list. Typical candidates for this treatment are:

• Special events with a certain lead time for handling (product launches, fund-raising drives, etc.)

• Regular events that you need to prepare for, such as budget reviews, annual conferences, planning events, or meetings (e.g.,when should you add next year's "annual sales conference" to your "Projects" list?)

• Key dates for significant people that you might want to do some-thing about (birthdays, anniversaries, holiday gift-giving, etc.)

Events You Might Want to Participate In

You probably get notices constantly about seminars, conferences, speeches, and social and cultural events that you may want to decide about attending as the time gets closer. So figure out when that "closer" time is and put a trigger in your calendar on the appropriate date—for example:

"Chamber of Commerce breakfast tomorrow?"

"Tigers season tickets go on sale today"

"PBS special on Australia tonight 8:00 P.M."

"Church BBQ next Saturday"

If you can think of any jogs like these that you'd like to put into your system, do it right now.

Decision Catalysts Once in a while there may be a significant decision that you need to make but can't (or don't want to) make right away. That's fine, as long as you've concluded that the additional information you need has to come from an internal rather than an external source (e.g., you need to sleep on it).

(Obviously, external data you need in order to make a decision should go on your "Next Actions" or "Waiting For" lists.) But in order to move to a level of OK-ness about not deciding, you'd better put out a safety net that you can trust to get you to focus on the issue appropriately in the future. A calendar reminder can serve that purpose.[11]

It's OK to decide not to decide—as long as you have a decide-not-to-decide system

Some typical decision areas in this category include:

• Hire/fire

• Merge/acquire/sell/divest

• Change job/career

 This is a big topic to devote so little space to, I know, but go ahead and ask yourself, "Is there any major decision for which I should create a future trigger, so I can feel comfortable just 'hanging out' with it for now?" If there is, put some reminder in your calendar to revisit the issue.

The "Tickler" File

One elegant way to manage nonactionable items that may need an action in the future is the "tickler" file.[12] A three-dimensional version of a calendar, it allows you to hold physical reminders of things that you want to see or remember—not now, but in the future. It can be an extremely functional tool, allowing you to in effect set up your own post office and "mail" things to yourself for receipt on a designated future date. I myself have used a tickler file for years and can't imagine being without it.

Essentially the tickler is a simple file-folder system that allows you to distribute paper and other physical reminders in such a way that whatever you want to see on a particular date in the future "automatically" shows up that day in your in-basket.

If you have a secretary or assistant, you can entrust at least a part of this task to him or her, assuming that he/she has some working version of this or a similar system. Typical examples would be:

• "Hand me this agenda the morning of the day I have the meeting." 

• "Give this back to me on Monday to rethink, since it applies to a meeting on Wednesday."

• "Remind me about the Hong Kong trip two weeks ahead, and we'll plan the logistics."

Then every day of the week, that day's folder is pulled and reviewed.

 While you can (and probably should) utilize staff to handle as much of this as is appropriate, I recommend that, if you can integrate it into your life-style, you maintain your own tickler file. There are many useful functions it can perform, at least some of which you may want to avail yourself of outside the pale of your assistant's responsibilities. I use my tickler file to manage my travel tickets and confirmations; paper-based travel directions, agendas, and maps; reminders of event notifications that come in the mail; information about "might-want-to-buy" kinds of things I want to reconsider in the future; and so forth.