My Sunday evening was spent clearing my Todo and Email inboxes. These two hours of preparation are like pressing a reset button for the week ahead.
Through years of refinement, I’ve developed a robust system for logging tasks, thoughts, and events. Yet sometimes, even the best systems need a reset when the sheer volume becomes overwhelming.
The reality is that not all tasks are created equal and not all my ideas need to be actioned. If an item has been sitting in my inbox for more than a couple of weeks, it probably isn’t important enough to get done.
So I file it away in a folder where I can reflect on it at a later date.
This productivity process didn’t emerge overnight. Its primary purpose was simple: ensure nothing falls through the cracks. And rarely does anything escape.
The foundation of this system rests on David Allen’s wisdom: “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” This simple truth guides my entire approach.
Getting everything out of my head and into my inbox is priority number one. Once captured, these thoughts are sorted into relevant categories—a process that usually works seamlessly.
However, when ‘things’ accumulate in the inbox, productivity begins to suffer. Task paralysis sets in with too many choices, making even vital tasks impossible to start.
Yesterday’s reset was liberating—like swiping my arm across a desk full of papers, straight into the bin.
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is clear the slate and begin anew.
