The Song “Finish What Ya Started” Reminds Me to Be a Broken Record: Get Your “Incompletes” Completed Before You Get Pulled Away
;”>It’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of your day because there’s so much going on. It’s too easy to get swept away by the rapids of the river of your day and forget your “current” commitments (sorry for the pun). Some commitments can be left behind on the river bank.
And never mind about e-mail and living from the Inbox, as one of my clients calls it. That’s the biggest magnet pulling us away from the tasks we’re trying to focus on – but only if we let it. I recommend you turn off those e-mail alerts so you’re not constantly distracted by the fact that you have a new e-mail.
So… I was listening to an old song the other day from one of my record albums. Yes, a RECORD. Do you remember those? I was actually cleaning out all my old 33s and 45s. I know… shocking that I’m organizing something or cleaning things out.
Anyway, I found Van Halen’s OU812 and while I’m not really a fan of hard rock, having only this one album, one of my favorite songs is “Finish What Ya Started.” When I found it I chuckled at the title since I’m a “broken record” when it comes to repeating this favorite phrase to my clients.
And even though this song is about breaking up, I have to laugh at what springs to mind for me: I think about all those little post-it notes singing to you from all over your desk:
♫ ♪ ♪♫ “Come on baby, finish what you started, I’m incomplete…” ♫ ♪ ♪♫
So what are you doing with all those “incompletes?” Those lonely little tasks and projects are getting lost underneath the most recent influx of information you just received. Besides being buried, you’re also getting pulled away by the never-ending call of your cell phone, e-mail, instant messaging and your office phone. And you’re longing to look at what’s on Facebook, You Tube or Twitter today. You’re anxious to see what your friends are saying and what business opportunities may be waiting “out there.”
But wait a minute. What about what’s in here? In your office? What about what’s right in front of you? Have you finished this, that and the other thing over there?
And a lot of this has to do with getting information where it belongs instead of leaving it on post-it notes, legal pad, in e-mails or in your voice mail. This is also about getting everything one step closer to done… or gone.
And let’s just stop here for a second so I can remind you…
It’s SO important to gather like information into one trusted system, which I would define as a single, consistent method for storing and processing information that’s coming into your office. This is a system you’ll use and rely on regularly.
For instance, all your to-dos, projects and reminders need to go into one trusted system. It’s a single task list that allows you to refer to them easily and take action according to your target dates for action.
Same goes for your calendar and your contact system – one place where you can store and find like information.
I put together a list of 6 sources of to-dos that you can review and consolidate into a single, cohesive Task list, electronically of course. Close the door, turn off your cell, send callers to voice mail, don’t look at e-mail and get off of the Internet.
Collect all the “stuff” on your desk into one pile and start building or continue building an electronic task list to capture all of the sources of your to-dos – ones that may be stalled, forgotten or potentially incomplete. Then toss or file everything you can!
1. Papers and files
Look for an opportunity to file papers and files and note any action steps on your to do list. Toss the papers that were merely reminders if they don’t hold any needed information. If papers and files cannot be filed away or tossed, use a vertical sorter to keep them organized all in one place.
2. Post it notes
These are often little treasures of contact or calendar information, but can also represent to-dos. Start using the electronic Contacts and Calendar components of your e-mail system so you can quickly enter this information into a single trusted system. Enter any to-dos into your Task list, including pertinent details, and toss the post-it notes!
3. Meeting notes
Meeting notes can be a variety of great information. Or… they can be nothing at all. Remember that notes from meetings are sometimes taken when you’re bored or you’re merely trying to remember what you’re hearing, but aren’t needed following the meeting. At other times, these notes are necessary to keep, but not co-mingled with action steps. So break it down. Get your to-dos on your Task list, file the necessary notes in the appropriate file and toss the rest.
4. Legal pads and spiral notebooks
These are so popular for day to day information including notes from calls, meeting notes, ideas and to do lists. The major pitfall here is that there’s too much information all mixed up in one place and it all belongs somewhere else. Really.
Unfortunately, too many professionals want to keep this “diary” of sorts in order to refer back to later. But there are a couple of problems with this:
a.) There’s no Index or Table of Contents for your notes so you can easily find what you’re looking for.
b.) Sometimes there’s no “later” if you think you’ll get back to these later. Sure, you’ll probably flip back through if you’re looking for a name or phone number, but are you really going to go back and look at the rest of those notes?
c.) Often you have to look in two places to check if you put the information in your note pad or in another system like Calendar, Contacts, your Task list, or in a file. You may not trust where you put it, so you have to check all possible places and what a waste of time that is.
So review your pads of notes as soon as possible. Tear off all pages that have writing on them. Transfer action steps to your task list. Funnel reference information into your computer and file anything that should be filed. Keep your pad of paper empty with a blank page on top so you’re ready for the next call, meeting or idea with a clean slate!
5. E-mail and voice mail
Don’t forget to review these hidden havens for to-dos and other information. It’s best to keep all Inboxes like these empty so you know that you’ve taken care of everything and it’s on to the next step. This doesn’t mean you’ve completed everything from these sources, just that you’ve gotten them OUT of the Inbox and one step closer to “done.”
6. Your feeble memory
Well, maybe only mine is feeble, but I can tell you that you need to get “incompletes” out of your head as soon as possible or risk losing that great idea or the follow up you need to do for that new client. It’s not worth the risk! Get your to-dos out of your head and into your trusted Task list so you can plan, prioritize and be proactive.
