Establish An Action Environment, Part 4 (Get Things Done! #55)

The simple purpose of this podcast is to help you get things done every day so that you can accomplish something worthwhile with your life.

Proverbs 13:4 says: "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat."

Our quote for today is from John Burroughs. He said: "I have discovered the secret of happiness - it is work, either with the hands or the head. The moment I have something to do, the draughts are open and my chimney draws, and I am happy."

Today, in the Get Things Done podcast we are looking at Part 4 of Step 9: "Establish An Action Environment."

Q: The Three D approach sounds logical, but how do you handle the exceptions? There are some things that can’t be Done, Delegated, or Ditched right now, and which probably shouldn’t go in the To Be Done Today folder either because they are very low priority and perhaps should be handled only if and when there’s a slack period. Should there be a special place for these items?

A: Yes. It is quite true that you should not downgrade your “To Be Done Today” category by including odds and ends that you know won’t be done today and it makes sense to set aside a separate tray or drawer for them. I call mine the Back Burner. (One executive that I know calls it the Procrastination Drawer. I don’t care for that designation myself, because putting something aside while higher priority items are taken care of isn’t the same thing as procrastination.)

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