Signs of a Weak Capture System

A common sign that you have a weak or under-utilized system for capturing and organizing your tasks and projects is that you’re trying to use some non-system as a substitute. This includes bad habits such as these: Leaving browser tabs open that aren’t related to the current taskLeaving emails sitting in your inbox after you’ve read them the first timeHaving cluttered inboxes in other appsUsing any messaging app to remember some to-do itemsHaving messy and disorganized reference storage on any devices (hard drives, SSD storage, USB sticks, SD cards, cloud storage, etc)Unprocessed physical clutter, especially information-based (stacks, piles, papers, sticky notes, unread books)Digital or physical subscriptions that pile up unreadUsing multiple apps to capture tasksHaving reminders of to-do items spread across multiple apps or physical locationsNot being sure which inbox to send your tasks toTrying to to use a system you don’t actually likeWorrying about tasks falling through the cracksRelying on your human memory to keep reminding yourself about tasks you need to attend to A good system has at most two inboxes: one digital inbox and one paper inbox. A good system has one calendar for keeping track of your time-based commitments. You can also set it to proactively remind you of appointments when necessary, so you don’t have to rely on your memory or constantly looking at the clock for that. Your email inbox isn’t a calendar or ...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Productivity Source Type: blogs