In this segment of “The Whys of Productivity”, we will look at why productivity systems all want us to keep things together in one place.
Every system out there, particularly those that are dependent on a specific format and/or planner, advocate putting everything in one place. Some systems insist that the only place to put things is in their product; GTD advocates a more realistic approach: minimizing how many places you put stuff.
Why Minimize the Number of Places You Put Things?
Looking at this from a practical standpoint, it makes sense that the fewer places you put things, the fewer places you have to keep track of.
If you have ever written something on a sticky note and then subsequently lost it, you can see the value of having a more permanent method of capturing things.
Or if you have ever written something down, just to enter it in the computer later, you can see the duplication of effort.
The reason systems have you minimize your input points is so that you have a finite amount of things to go through later.
Things To Consider: Minimizing Capturing Requires Awareness
Unless we have really thought about it, the places where we take in information can be hidden. If you want to minimize where you take things in, you need to know where all the places are.
Email Addresses
How many email addresses do you have? Do you really need them all? Can you funnel some into the others? The fewer email addresses you have, the fewer you have to check.
Calendars
Do you have a work calendar? A personal calendar? What about your partner and/or children? Are they all separate? Are some on paper and some electronic? Are some tucked away on pieces of paper handed out at an event? If you have all of the calendar information in one place, you only have to maintain and check one place.
How many places do you keep the paper that comes into your home? Is it in one designated place, or is mail mixed in with the various coupons, flyers, political ads and print media? Having one place to keep the various types of mail will save you tons of time looking for missing bills, notices and other important information.
Tasks
Do you have the list of things you need to do in one place, or do you have dozens of sticky notes and slips of paper hanging around? Do you have multiple task managers that could be consolidated? If you have only one, you only have to check one.
Notes
Do you keep your notes in many different places? Or do you keep them all together in one spot? Do you have paper notes and electronic notes? Do you know how to tell which one to check when you are looking for the information? Can you consolidate?
Other Information
If you’ve seriously thought about the types of information coming into your life with the help of this list, you might find other areas as well. Can you minimize those?
By minimizing where we capture information, we minimize where we have to look to find it again.
