Assuming that you have collected everything that has your attention, your job now is to actually get to the bottom of “in.” Getting “in” to empty doesn’t mean actually doing all the actions and projects that you’ve collected. It just means identifying each item and deciding what it is, what it means, and what you’re going to to with it.
When you’ve finished processing “in,” you will have
- trashed what you don’t need;
- completed any less-than-two-minute actions;
- handed off to others anything that can be delegated;
- sorted into your own organizing system reminders of actions that require more than two minutes; and
- identified any larger commitments (projects) you now have, based on the input.
Processing Guidelines
- Process the top item first.
- Process one item at a time.
- Never put anything back into “in.”
Is It Actionable?
No Action Required
- It’s trash, no longer needed.
- No action is needed now, but something might need to be done later (incubate).
- The item is potentially useful information that might be needed for something later (reference).
Actionable
- What “project” or outcome have you committed to?
- What’s the next action required?
If It’s About a Project…
You need to capture that outcome on a “Projects” list. That will be the stake in the ground that reminds you that you have an open loop.
What’s the Next Action?
- Do it. If an action will take less than two minutes, it should be done at the moment it is defined.
- Delegate it. If the action will take longer than two minutes, ask yourself, Am I the right person to do this? If the answer is no, delegate it to the appropriate entity.
- Defer it. If the action will take longer than two minutes, and you are the right person to do it, you will have to defer acting on it until later and track it on one or more “Next Actions” lists.
* Source: Getting Things Done by David Allen