When we last saw our hero (that’s you), information was coming into your life at an alarming rate. And now, you have to figure out what to do with it until you’re ready to use it. In essence, we need to look at how you store your information.

Of course, there are lots of systems out there, and you have to find what works for you. What you’re about to learn here, though, is a system of organization that can be used on any standard computer—or, "in the cloud" systems like Google Docs—and it works because it’s built around two fundamental principles:

• how you think, not how someone else thinks for you.
• a usage mindset, not a storage mindset.

Looking at those two points, it sounds completely obvious. But you’d be surprised.

How You Think

Before you even take your computer out of the box, there’s a lot of stuff already on it, such as applications, pictures, fonts, etc. For most people, that’s pretty transparent stuff; whether you use it or don’t, you take it for granted. However, there’s another out-of-the-box component that most people don’t ever mess around with, and it’s the cause of hours of wasted time, multiple headaches, and the all-too-common facial expression of blankness mixed with confusion that graces most people faces as they search umpteen buried folders on their hard drives, looking for that one file that they know they saved somewhere, but just can’t seem to find… the default folder structure.

Take a look at a standard Finder window, and (if you’re using a mac, as I do) you’ll most likely see something like this snapshot from Apple:

Mac’s Finder window, via Apple

Take a look in the sidebar, and you’ll see the basic rundown: Desktop, Home, Applications, Documents… and sometimes Movies, Pictures, and such (I know Windows has a similar setup, and I tried to find a screenshot somewhere, but Windows user will just have to extrapolate for themselves on this one; it has been years since I was a Windows user, and like someone who got food poisoning at a B-grade greasy spoon, I can’t bring myself to go back and try again…).

The general idea, quite simply, is that applications get stored in Applications, your documents get stored in Documents, and on and on. Tthis is such a ubiquitous structure, that many people replicate it if they start storing information online, even. The currency? Stuff.

But does this describe how you think about your work? Doubtful.

Chances are, you don’t think in terms of "documents", you think in terms of projects and people. Rather than stuff,, you think in contexts.

So should you create a Projects folder?

Heavens, no! When you sit down to work, do you think, "I have to get to work on my projects?" Or do you think, "I have to write that article," or, "I have to create that presentation," or, "I’m working with x client this morning at 9:30."? My guess is, the latter.

The idea, again, is to make it easy for you to get what you need while maintaining (or improving) your mental state. The more intuitive your file structure, the less ruffled your mind’s feathers will get while you get to your stuff. So rather than swim through layer upon layer of folders ( Documents -> Projects -> Presentations -> ABC Corp. -> presentation.file ) to get what you need, organize your file structure by how you think. If you think "clients", have a Clients folder, with individual folders for each client. As an example, the structure I use to organize my client files is "Clients -> Last Name, First Name -> 08 (or whatever year) -> 031308.rtf" (for a session on March 13, 2008) … see example below:

My "Clients" folder structure

When you file by context rather than content, and you’re willing to reorganize a few folders, you’ll find that your file structures become much more intuitive to manage. Here’s how you can do the same:

My Sidebar, sorted contextually (click for expanded image)

• Have a folder for each of your contexts. This could be "Writing/Web/Graphics", or "Clients/Finances/Groups", or "Workshops/Speeches/Books", etc.
• Within each of those folders, have sub-contextual folders that make sense to you. As an example, within "Writing" could be "Posts/Guest Posts/Books/Handouts", and within "Web" could be "Pages/Graphics/Audio", etc.
• Drag your most commonly used Contexts into your sidebar, put them on your start menu, dock, or whatever gives you instant access to them.

Usage, Not Storage

We’ve already begun talking about having a usage mindset rather than a storage mindset; thinking in terms of context rather than content helps tremendously when you’re creating documents and folders. But where this will really save your bacon is when it comes to storing files, photos, and PDFs that you download, are emailed, or find online.

Think about your mindset when you’re in research mode. You browse and search the ‘net, looking for specific information. Then, like a hawk-eyed granny in the "blue-light special" isle at K-mart, you come across the treasure of a lifetime. You grab/click/download the thing, but now, where do you put it? You put it in your Documents folder, of course.

Noooooooo! Don’t do it!

Storing information by content type is silly. And yet so many of us do it out of habit. Why? Because when you’re in search mode, you’re looking for stuff. So, when you find it, you’re thinking, "stuff." You’re so in "stuff" mode that you can’t see past your little squirrel nose, packing away those nuts for a snowy day. But when you actually need to use it, you won’t be in search mode, you’ll be in do mode.

Do mode is the mode of action, of implementation, of productive forward motion. And when you’re in that mode, you’re thinking about stuff differently than when you’re in search-and-store mode. In fact, you’ll be thinking in the same mode you were in when you figured out all your contexts just a minute ago.

Storing information effectively means you need to shift your mental gears from search mode into do mode. Before you save that file, think about when you’ll need to use it, and what context you’ll most likely be in (in some cases, it may be hard to predict, so go with the most obvious one).

For example, let’s say you’ve just Googled "computer organization", and found a blog that linked you to this article. You enjoy my slightly bizarre sense of humor and keen organizational acumen, and you want to save this for later. Scrolling up to the top of the page, you see the "PrintThis" link at the top of the post, and print it as a PDF to your desktop.

• If you were still in search-and-storage mode, you’d probably put this into a folder about "organization" or something (thank god you’re reading this, though…).
• Once you shift into Do mode, you realize that this would best serve you in a "maintenance", or "do this!", or "read me" folder, or some place you use to store information that you want to stay current with, so you would see it again and again until all your habits became good ones, and you now revel in the simplicity of your folder structure, and sing my praises from rooftops (hey, I can dream!).

Get the idea?

Good. Now get in there and think for yourself.

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2008. | Permalink | 15 comments

So, why am I writing this series?

Because when I talk with people about how I manage information, their jaws drop. They’re shocked that I only have three physical file folders to my name. That my desk is spartanly clean, all the time. That 95% of the time, I have no files cluttering up my computer desktop, no email messages in my inbox awaiting attention, and I can find any information I need in about seven seconds, on average.

And, lest you think I was born this way, my mother will attest that I used to be a slob. I wasn’t always like this. I used to be buried under papers, unanswered emails, and lost in a sea of confusion about what to do next. And so, I got organized. I listened to the gurus and bought my labelers, file folders, palm pilots, planners, and productivity tools, and set to work. It worked, too.

But, I found that while I was organized, it took a lot of mental energy to maintain such a system. And if I fell off the wagon for any length of time, it was hell trying to catch up again. So, I gradually allowed myself to refine the systems I’d assimilated, trust my intuitive tendencies, and let myself find a way of working that was natural to me.

I would not give a fig for the simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

And I found it. I found a way of working that allowed me to keep everything—and I mean everything—organized, accessible, and lean. And, gloriously calm in the process. My system tamed the infamous "monkey mind" state of disorder and disarray that plagues you when you aren’t clear about what you should be focusing on.

As I see it, the goal of all productivity measures, efficiency initiatives, and organizational efforts should be Thought Management. If you’re focused on time management, or managing the amount of information you encounter primarily, you’ll miss the mark. Just as Tim Ferris likes to say, "Money is useless without time," time- and information-efficiency can easily spiral into a situation where you may be handling a lot more, but you’re spent from doing it. Rather than make your situation better, you’ve only compounded the problem by adding more in a smaller window of time. Therefore, the premium commodity here is truly your mindset.

The core of Thought Management is this: you want to be efficient and streamlined with your thoughts. No wasted thoughts on stuff that:

• you don’t need to think about,
• don’t need to think about more than once,

Which frees you to

• only think about something when you need to think about it.

Think about that.

To facilitate this, let’s look at how information comes at you, so you know how to deal with it, and get it where it’s supposed to go.

When it comes to incoming information, it essentially comes to you in two ways:

• There’s what is sent to you, via email, feeds, phone calls, meetings, snail mail, etc.
• And then there’s what you go out and find, via the ‘net, books, magazines, movies, tv, whatever.

In this article, we’ll look at "what is sent", and save the "what you find" for a later article.

What Is Sent : Email

Email is a commonly-talked about topic, because its use and abuse are so ubiquitous. Over the years, I’ve become indoctrinated into the "an empty inbox is a happy inbox" philosophy, and I recommend it to everyone. Why?

Because an inbox is like the entryway to a house. It’s where you greet someone, but not where you sit to have dinner or ask them to sleep when the night comes. If you leave email in your inbox after you get it, you’re violating Rule #2 of Thought Management ("don’t think about something more than once").

I used to subscribe to the idea of having multiple sub-folders, where email gets filed for storage. But that’s like stuffing houseguests in the coat closet until dinner is ready. Instead, I now only one sub-folder, called "Bills." Let me explain why.

What you want to do with incoming email is (and this should look familiar):

• delete it,
• reply to it, or
• print/copy-and-paste it to wherever the information really belongs.

Because savable information that comes to you via email is meant to be used somewhere else. If you got a magazine in the mail that you wanted to keep, would you store it in your mailbox? Of course not, that’s ridiculous. But so is storing email in your email program. It’s only a mailbox. Repeat to yourself, "it’s only a mailbox… it’s only a mailbox…"

Here’s where your frontal cortex comes in handy: Ask yourself, "When I need this information in the future, what will I be doing?" If it’s a project, put it in your project folder. If it’s working with a client, put it in the client’s folder (we’ll be talking more about organizing folders in a future episode, never fear). Because that’s where it becomes useful. Not in your mailbox.

(So, you ask, why do I have a "Bills" folder? Because there is information that my email program is the only logical place for, and that’s the storage of time-sensitive links. When bill-paying time comes around, I just go down the list and click the outgoing links to pay my bills online. And, of course, I use automatic email filtering to put those bill notices directly into the Bills folder, so I don’t have to ever see them in my inbox. Simple.)

"But, I don’t have time to reply to all my email right then!" Well you know what? You shouldn’t be checking your email then! You should only check your email when you have the time to do so. It needs to be a part of your schedule (another item we’ll get into in more detail soon), not something you sandwich between working on "important" projects. If The Four Hour Work Week hasn’t yet converted you over to the idea of not checking your email more than twice a day, then go re-read it.

"What if I need something later?" Chances are, you won’t. I once switched email programs cold turkey, and I only once had to go back to the old program and look for something (Sean D’Souza of Psychotactics has said that he even deletes everything in his Trash once every six months). But hey, if you do need something, it’ll probably be sitting in your Trash waiting for you to search and find it. And if you’re a Gmail user, you’ve got enough storage space never to delete anything.

What Is Sent : RSS Feeds

The beauty of RSS feeds is that it’s like having a bookstore at your disposal; all that information doesn’t land in your inbox, it waits for you when you’re ready to go there. (If you’re not familiar with RSS, click here to see how RSS can help you simplify your information streams.)

What? You get RSS in your email? Madre de dios, stop now!

Why? Because RSS isn’t email. RSS-based-information (90% of the time) isn’t stuff that you use in the same way that use email. It’s "optional" information; enriching, sure, but not something that requires your reply. Of course, there are feeds that do contain information that’s similar to email, and if you want to keep those feeds coming into your email, that’s probably a good idea. But for all the "newsletter"-like feeds you subscribe to, use an online reader. The reasons for this will become evident as we go, but for now, it makes if only considering one factor: finite local storage capacity (whereas online storage capacity is close enough to infinite to just call it infinite).

My favorite is Google Reader; simple, free. If you haven’t tried it, try it. Like the other Google Apps, its beauty is in its simplicity and effectiveness. Yes, other options do exist, and if you have one that you like, go for it. As for me, I’m sticking with my Reader.

What Is Sent : Phone calls, meetings, snail mail, etc.

Here you have an interesting situation… you’re away from your computer (most likely), and you learn something fascinating/helpful/useful/necessary. You want to remember it for later, so you whip out your moleskine/Post-It pad/Chinese food restaurant receipt, scribble your note, and tuck it away for later.

But what do you do with it when you get back to your office? If you say, "put in it a file", listen to me: don’t. Don’t ever file it. Once you file it, it’s dead to you. Why? Because when you’re in the flow of working on your project, you won’t remember that you have it tucked away in that, "great ideas for later" file. And even if you do, having it in a remote storage situation means it’s less handy (and thus more of an interruption to retrieve) than if it was stored on your computer. Ideally, everything you need to access should be at a fingertips’ length away, without being in your face until you need it (recall Rule #3: only think about something when you need to think about it). Only electronic resources can do that.

And, if none of these reasons convinces you (try to ignore that voice in your head saying, "He doesn’t know me; I’m different!"), stashing notes into file folders violates our Rule #2 (only think about things once).

So, what do you do with the Chinese-restaurant-receipt note? Put it in an inbox? Heavens, no… the last thing you need is another place to store something before dealing with it. When you get into your office, toss it right on top of your desk, where you can’t miss it. Then you’ll be forced to deal with it when you sit down. You’ll copy the note into whatever electronic resource makes sense for what the idea is, and then recycle the paper. Done. No fuss, no mess, and your zen-like space stays honored.

Can you see the system being created here?

Can you feel the simplicity? It applies just the same when it comes to creating paper, too…

• If you’re at your computer and the urge strikes to reach for paper, ask yourself, "Is this the best place for me to put this thought?" Because if you’re going to have to re-type it, save yourself the time and reinforce the habit of putting it, first time around, where it belongs.
• If you’re about to print something, ask yourself, "Do I need to print this? What will I do with it after I read it? Will it only add to my pile of things to sort through, my recycling load, and create more to manage?" (You’re right, it will… so read it on your screen instead.)

Is This A Bit Extreme?

Perhaps for some, it will be. The underlying intention, of course, is not to restrict you, it’s to free you. Free you from creating more to manage. Free you from the tyranny of inappropriately placed information. Free you from managing information, and allow your mind to flow with the creativity that comes from being unfettered by trivialities and muddle.

Action Steps

Obviously, this is a progression; something you want to ease into. Or, not. Sometimes (depending on your character), taking a big leap is what does the trick.

Anything can be achieved in small, deliberate steps. But there are times you need the courage to take a great leap; you can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. -David Lloyd George

Case in point: email. Paring through all your folders, saved garbage, etc. may take too much time, and too much effort to escape the gravity of all that inertia you have moving in the wrong direction. You may find, as I did, that it can be easier to just switch email programs and start with a clean slate (about a year ago, I started using Thunderbird, and didn’t import any data from Eudora — best move I ever made).

So, here are some actions you can take to start simplifying your intake:

Email:

• empty out any subfolders you have, and delete them.
• if you keep any, ensure that filters (or "rules") are established to automate what goes into that folder.

When you check email:

• delete it,
• reply to it, or
• print/copy-and-paste it to wherever the information really belongs.

And:

• unsubscribe to extraneous information sources that are no longer serving you, and
• transfer as many "newsletters" to RSS as possible.

Assimilating "outside" information:

• as soon as that info hits your desk, put it in an unavoidable place.
• as soon as you sit down, transfer it to where it (electronically) belongs, and recycle the source.

As you put these measures into place, I guarantee you that you’ll start to notice a greater sense of calm and emptiness in your mind. "Thought Management" will start making sense even more, and you’ll no doubt find other ways to start emptying, simplifying, and streamlining your processes.

If you have tips to add, resources to share, or stories of your process, feel free to share them in the comments!

Image by notic.

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2008. | Permalink | 12 comments

9:17am — after settling into the controller’s chair in the aviation tower at O’Hare, Jim Whasshisface plugs his headset into the console, and guides airplanes to safe landings, one after the next.

10:51am — the Madison High School bell rings, and students flood the hallways, scurrying like decaffeinated beavers on their way to their next subject.

But when you sit down at your desk each morning, do you know — with half the clarity of firemen, air traffic controllers, or high school students — what you should work on?

It’s a classic dilemma, one that plagues just about every single small business person I know. For people who run their own businesses, the struggle for certainty is constant.

But why are they so clear, and I’m so clueless?

Because firemen, air traffic controllers, and high school students all have two things in droves, that you, sitting at your computer each day, only have a trickle of.

Urgency, and Importance.

Firemen (firepeople? firepersons?) know that when that alarm sounds, they have a situation that’s in dire need of their attention. Air traffic controllers have planes that need to land, or they’re going to run out of fuel. And high school students know that if they’re late to class, they’re going to get busted. These are all excellent examples of Urgency.

When something is urgent, its time is now. Not tomorrow, not after the next planning session, not after lunch — now.

(Is that stressful? It can be; it just depends on how you manage it.)

Firemen also know that when an alarm isn’t sounding, the maintenance they do on their equipment could save their lives on their next call. Air traffic controllers know that bringing one plane in ahead of another could make a huge difference in how on-time subsequent, connecting flights are going to be. And high school students will come this close to running to their lockers in between classes, if they forgot their writing assignment for English class. That’s Importance at work.

When something is important, it demands your focus. You know you can’t drop the ball, because if you do, there are consequences — sometimes severe ones — to that lapse in focus.

Urgency and Importance. They shape your life. They define your priorities. And, they can make you more productive than squirrels going after nuts in the Fall.

The question is, without something like a two-alarm fire, or a 747 flying on fumes, or Mr. Engfelt’s steely gaze on you if you walk in late, how can you keep track of Urgency and Importance in your day-to-day work?

There’s a fantastic post over at “Scrollin’ On Dubs” about Urgency and Importance, where Sean Tierney writes about how to track what’s Urgent and Important in your work.

Essentially, he talks about superimposing a graph, such as this one…:

… on top of your projects. What he says about it is this:

I’ve found once you are able to visualize your todo list in this 2-d fashion it helps in a couple respects:

1. You’re able to tease apart those items which truly have the ability to advance your cause from the ones that are just stressing you out because they’re yelling for your immediate attention. It’s an important distinction and critical to being effective.

2. If you keep your items stored visually in this fashion it lets you quickly handle items in the right quadrant depending on the situation. You should obviously try to work on the right-most items as much as possible while giving attention to the upper right quadrant first. During the day, forget that the left quadrants even exist. When you’re decompressing, go to the lower-left. When you’re catching up on errands, upper-left. The point is you always know what you should be doing.

3. This leads to what David Allen calls the “mind like water” feeling of being at peace even in the face of massive amounts of todo items. Even when there’s a kajillion things going on, there’s something about having an accurate picture of the field and knowing that your items are stored in a trusted system and you’re knocking out the priorities first.

The one thing I wouldn’t recommend adopting from his post, however, is the idea of dragging all those items to your desktop in order to manage your workload.

I read recently that every item on your desktop uses as much memory (RAM) as an open window does; if you have as many items on your desktop as you’d need to effectively manage your load, you could run the risk of seriously slowing down your computer’s functions, which could damage your productivity rather than enhance it. Not good.

However, you could use the strategy, but shift the tools a bit…

I use a Mac-only program called Curio that allows me 99% flexibility in managing objects in a document (everything from text to shapes to colors to whatever), to arrange my to-do items in Sean’s Urgency & Importance quadrants, so I have an instant, firefighter-esque grasp on what needs my attention at any point in my day (the picture I posted above is, with the arrows and such removed, my graphic list in Curio).

If you know of a Windows solution, feel free to post it in the Comments, by the way.

When you are effectively tracking what’s Urgent and what’s Important in your work, then you can ask yourself, “Where’s the fire?” and know what the answer is. It’s one of the primary keys to staying “on target” and accomplishing what’s really going to make the difference in your business.

© Adam for Adam Kayce, 2007. | Permalink | 4 comments