Welcome to The Simplifier, brought to you by…

Contents:

1. A Note From Shawn

Re-wresting control of the PS machinery

2. Our Featured Quote

by Pearl Bailey

3. Article: The Inbox Zapper

by PS Head Simplifier Shawn Tuttle

4. Your Simplification Tip

Fire Drill!

5. In the News

It’s About Time — Literally; What to keep, what to throw out; and How not to get lost in your mails

6. Featured at ProjectSimplify.com

“Let it be easy!”

7. Keep Smiling

The funniest web videos of 2007

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1. A Note From Shawn

In his brief days as executive officer of the company (having pulled a coup in my absence), Lance published the last newsletter as #54 when it should have been #53. Perhaps in his thirst for absolute power, Lance got ahead of himself. Or maybe he bought into a different numbering system (as featured on the QVC shopping channel, perhaps). In any case, we’ve come to the amicable conclusion that I should stay head of the company—at least while he gets his numbering issues under control.

All this happened while I was on vacation in Aspen, Colorado. What a wonderful week that was! The highlight of my trip was an overnight cross-country ski adventure. We skied more than 14 miles of terrain in 2 days, and stayed at a rustic hut featuring solar panels, 16 beds, and an outhouse (miserable in the middle of the night in freezing weather!!). We packed in sleeping bags, food, and duct tape. Did you know that duct tape can replace moleskin for preventing blisters with extremely satisfying success? Who knew? Duct tape aside… good weather, fresh snow, and great company do wonders for hitting the ole reset button.

I hope your holiday season was full of good cheer. May your 2008 be full of fun and gratitude!

Enjoy,

Shawn

Shawn Tuttle
Head Simplifier, Project Simplify
Co-editor, The Simplifier

 

 

 

2. Our Featured Quote

“What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork.”

-Pearl Bailey

 

3. Article: The Inbox Zapper

By Shawn Tuttle

Disorganization is frequently a mass collection of decisions waiting to be made. Consciously or not, the unanswered questions “Where should I put this?” and “Where is _____ ?” and “What needs to happen first with this?” result in mail, files, and papers strewn on your desk, floor, and every other horizontal space available. These amorphous lumps of questions sit around in piles for weeks. Since we tend to avoid the things we don’t want to do, like clear out a monumental disaster area, and the single next step isn’t flashing in neon lights, the weeks stretch into months.

Facilitating your quest for more ease, efficiency, and an organized office, an effective inbox system simplifies your workflow in several ways. In addition to providing a smart destination for incoming papers, engaging the following thought process sharpens your decision-making skills. Making quick and effective decisions minimizes the time you spend on low-priority activities.

Let’s make dealing with your incoming info as simple as possible. The process described below sounds rather simple. Don’t let that fool you. The power of the “Inbox Zapper” isn’t in the step-by-step actions taken, but in the thought process which sharpens and focuses your mind.

Think about a successful executive type. Do you think they labor and mull over what to do with and where to put pieces of paper? No! They make rapid decisions about the minor things and save their brain juice for (or delegate) the complex things.

Here’s a little secret: if you were to hire me to organize your disaster-zone office, we’d follow this same process with your backlog of papers and out-of-place items.

It’s very simple once all the parts are in place. Keep in mind that what you are developing is a swift and decisive thought process. The words in bold represent systems or containers to have in place in order to get through the process. You can go to the video store, rent a DVD, come home, and put it in your DVD player, but it won’t do any good if the DVD player isn’t connected to the TV. Every part is essential for success.

My flow chart is inspired by David Allen’s “workflow diagram-processing” in his book Getting Things Done. The difference? This version is simpler and geared for the self-employed person who doesn’t have anyone to delegate to.

The basics: all incoming papers collect in your inbox. In a block of time dedicated to this activity, you zap each item in the inbox—meaning, you identify what it is, determine what needs to happen with it, and move it to the next stage of its cycle.

Zapping the inbox

This is a mono-tasking activity that should be done once or twice a week so that nothing gets “stale”, or worse, overdue. When you stay caught up, zapping your inbox should only take 15-30 minutes. It’s a mono-tasking activity because you want to give your brain the freedom to go into decision-making mode without distraction.

Steps to follow:
(See—and print out—our handy chart to help with this process.)

1. pick up the top item in your inbox
2. identify what it is
3. answer the question, “What do I need to do with this?”
   1. if it is outdated or unnecessary, recycle it 
   2. if it represents a quickie action (2 minutes or less) do it right now
   3. if it is informational and should be kept, file it (meaning file it, not put it somewhere to file later)
   4. if it represents a longer than 2 minute action, identify the next step, write it on a stickie or on the paper itself, and put it in your take action folder. Critical items that must be done today or tomorrow go in a HOT! take action folder.

Those four options will cover the majority of what passes through your inbox. The remaining items may ask for a little creativity. Some of the additional destinations that have come up for clients include:

• an “upcoming events” folder for maps, reservation info and directions, 
• name-specific folders for items that go to a single person, for example, “For Jim”, and
• a memorabilia folder for items that have sentimental value 

Tips for increased success:

#1 Focus 
Pick up and deal with one, and only one, item at a time. Doing this keeps your mind focused on the task at hand which in turn gets it done faster and easier.

#2 Top item next
While it may be tempting to dig through for the “easy” items, maintain the discipline of always picking up the top item. 

#3 Use the inbox as an inbox only
This is simply a designated place to put new incoming papers. It is only for papers and info waiting to be dealt with. 

#4 Easy filing
One of the assumptions which allows this process to flow quickly and efficiently is that you have your filing system under control. When your filing system is under control, naming new files is easy because you are already in the mindset of “Where would I look for this when I need it again?”

#5 Pick up the pace
Keep a Donald Trump attitude through this routine—quick and decisive. Each item should be in your hands for a maximum of 2 minutes. Drop the “what ifs”! You’ve been managing your work long enough to know what’s up with each thing.

Habits to keep the inbox pile small: 

#1 Sort mail
Establish the habit of sorting your mail as soon as you bring it into your office–it literally takes less than a minute to do. 

• Throw junk mail in the recycle bin. (Be tough on the junk mail—no “well, maybe I should see what they have to say…”. Instead, think: “Would Donald Trump waste his time reading this?” If not, toss it. As a precaution to identity theft, remember to put the credit card offers through the shredder.)
• Put bills in your “bills to pay” folder or tray. (By pulling the bills, you give yourself the best chance possible to pay them on time. This is the easiest way to build good credit and avoid late fees.)
• Put magazines in your “to read” area or container. 
• Drop the rest in the inbox.

#2 Dispose of meeting paraphernalia 
Agendas, minutes, reports, and general info from meetings are predictable–they go to the same place each time. These steps should take less than five minutes. 

• Add action items to your ToDo list, (time permitting; do the quick phone calls and emails).
• Put pending items in your pending file.
• File agenda and minutes to the project file or binder. 

Soon after I began processing my inbox this way, I noticed that my office was staying more clutter-free without me thinking about it. This was in part due to the consistent use of the inbox. Even better, the thought process had leaked into other activities, like straightening up at the end of the day. For a while I even had the feeling that this was too easy, that things must be falling through the cracks—but they weren’t. Things were just ending up where they needed to be more quickly, and the “quickies” were getting done sooner. The mass of decisions waiting to be made had dissolved without my noticing. 

Developing an effective and disciplined system for handling your incoming paper work will not only improve the physical organization of your office but will also train you to think more clearly and make better decisions. Talk about simplifying the office experience! 

—

Shawn Tuttle is founder of Project Simplify.

4. Your Simplification Tip

Fire drill!

A wildfire is ripping toward your neighborhood. Your house is right in the path of the fire, and a mandatory evacuation is being enforced. You have about 5 minutes to throw whatever you want to keep into your car and get out of there. You’ll probably never see your house or the rest of your stuff ever again.

1. What would you shove into your car in those precious 5 minutes? Take a few seconds to picture them. Guess what—you just identified your most important and treasured possessions. Did anything surprise you? Were they sentimental? practical?
   
2. Based on your level or organization today, were you ready? Or did you end up having to leave important papers, keepsakes, etc., due to disorganization?
   
3. While you can’t ever be fully prepared for a disaster such as losing your house, there are some steps you can take to lessen the impact. Create an “Emergency info” (filed under “E” if you have an alphabetical filing system) that includes emergency family contact numbers, medical emergency info, insurance contact info and policy numbers, and financial institution contact and account numbers—you’ll be happy to have them and will be even happier that you didn’t have to waste crucial time gathering them when under the gun. Then on another page, write out a list of things you’d for sure want to remember to take with you if you were ever forced to leave your belongings, grouped by location.

It’s horrible to imagine losing all of your worldly possessions…but it can be liberating, too! (It’s only in your imagination, after all.) Hopefully you’ll never need an emergency info file, but if you do, you’ll be as ready as you can be.

 

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5. In the News

Compiled by The Simplifier co-editor Lance Brown

It’s About Time — Literally  (The Wall Street Journal)
URL: http://tinyurl.com/2qncm8  
Think like a successful executive, says Shawn in her article this issue. And the Wall Street Journal has been kind enough to pick the brains of several successful types, to find out where they stand with their resolutions on time management.

What to keep, what to throw out (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
URL: http://tinyurl.com/2ogefm     
One of the best points this article makes is that the stuff you’re holding onto may not have the value that you have imbued in it. They speak mainly of stuff like old silver and other “valuables”, but it makes me think of the box of unread magazines I kept for—well, let’s just say, too long. Anyways, it’s never too soon to offload the crap that isn’t doing you a bit of good. This article may help with the purge.

How not to get lost in your mails  (Gulf News - Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
URL: http://tinyurl.com/2fy4lz   
While this issue’s main Article covered how to “zap” your paper inbox, this article tackles the other inbox.

If you know of something in the news that should be featured here, let us know!

 

6. Featured at ProjectSimplify.com

“Let it be easy!”

Of course, in these modern times, “Let it be easy!” is known world-wide as the clarion call of the Project Simplify global army, which is bent on total domination of the human race.

Of all the things I just said, the only thing that’s true is: “Let it be easy!” But what we’re all wondering (as soon as I tell us we are) is “Where did that phrase come from?” It heads every newsletter, and every page of our website. It jangles around in your subconscious, whether you realize it or not. It cures warts. Wait, I’m lying again. Where was I?

Oh yeah - it was Star! Star Riparetti. That’s where Shawn got the phrase, which eventually squirreled its way into your big juicy brain. And if you want to know more about who and where “Let it be easy!” came from, you’ll have to check out this blog post, which just happens to have been posted two years ago to the day.

 

 

 

7. Keep Smiling

by The Simplifier co-editor Lance Brown

The funniest web videos of 2007 

Here’s the link:
http://nymag.com/movies/features/videos/40663/

Thanks to New York Magazine for making our job easy this time around. :-)
(Be warned, though - not all these videos are work- or kid-friendly!)

 

 

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Thanks for reading!

Publication Information
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The Simplifier is published by:
Project Simplify
P.O. Box 597
Nevada City, CA 95959
phone: 530.205.5775
web: www.projectsimplify.com
e-mail: (newsletter@projectsimplify.com) newsletter (at) projectsimplify (dot) com