Recall, that if immediate action is not taken, I could choose one of six alternative actions:

1. I could trash it, by tossing it in into a wastebasket and giving myself two points (or three if I threw it from across the room and scored). Trash bags or my fireplace are used for bigger stuff or whatever works (recall, that in an earlier article I rented a dumpster). So, I just get this stuff out of my life. The alternative is that it’s clogging my environment with me having to work and move around it and that just doesn’t work for me.
2. I could store it in my reference place, where I would create a folder (electronic or paper based) to place it in. For a paper based item, I label the file physically with my labeler.
3. When I choose to store it in my someday/maybe place, I store it in the same physical filing system as the reference but put it in a separated spot. In Outlook, I make a task in my someday/maybe section. A task folder can be set up manually or a purchase of the Outlook Add-in for Getting Things Done can be made from the website for about $80 (which I did). It provides lots of menu items and icons to integrate the principles more easily in Outlook. In reality I use the someday/maybe option rarely. A couple of exceptions are things that I’m thinking about doing longer term (like the triathalon).
4. In the unusual case where I have an item to delegate, I do so by contacting that person. If it’s an action that I’m still responsible for, then I’m not off the hook. I create a reminder in my calendar to followup.
5. I could decide that the action will be deferred to a specific time in the future and make an appointment in my Outlook calendar at work or home, as appropriate. I don’t do this unless I must. I might do it if someone asked me to call them on a specific day, for example, or if there was a one day sale at Best Buy.
6. Finally, I could add it to my next action list. To do so, I create a task in either my work or home Outlook. One way to do that is by dragging an email onto the task list in Outlook.

Projects:
Some actions are part of a greater picture called a Project. A project is an outcome that requires more than one action to finish and some projects can have plans and supporting documents attached. One project might be to Build a House and another might be to Get a new chair into my home. A project is phrased as an outcome but it is not an actual action. I would need to define the next action which, for the chair example, would be to consult the internet or several stores for desirable models. When one is found, I would test it out, then buy it and have it delivered. When it is in place at my home (i.e., the last action is completed), then I remove the project from my project list.

By following the Organization Step, all of the items collected have found their way to their proper places. The Universe is in harmony once more.

In my next article, Tuesday, December 26 , I’ll talk about the next step in the process: REVIEWING.