We’re all swamped with information
during the day – email, memos, ordinary mail,
articles, synopses, instructions, manuals… the
list goes on and on. It’s not all equally important—the
challenge is prioritizing what comes in and deciding
what to do about it.
A useful system is comparable to the “triage” system
used by the medical community:
1. TRIAGE
- Urgent: Deal with it immediately
- Important: Put it in a dated TO DO pile/folder/bin
and deal with it when you have time
- Unimportant: Discard – if it is really important
it will come back to you
Here’s another way
of handling information:
2. SIX THINGS TO DO WITH ANY PIECE OF INFORMATION
- Discard: Get rid of it
- Delegate: Pass it on to someone else
- Do: Take care of it immediately
- Date: Put it aside in a daily file so you can
get to it later
- Drawer: Store it
- Deter: Keep it from getting to you in the first
place
The point is, you need some system for managing
information. The hardest thing is to discard stuff
for fear it might
be important. DISCARD as much as you can—if you’ve
made an error, whatever it is will come back to you!
You’ll have a second and third chance to deal
with it.
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