Processing Captured Information

So now that we are capturing information consistently, what do we do with it? Luckily, I have an answer, and it is called.......wait for it.......processing. Processing is the act of categorizing and sorting each captured item to ensure it is assigned to the proper list or note. It can get much more detailed than that, and I will dive into that as I go through my personal application of processing. For now, however, we will stick with the basics. Each category will need it's own location so to start you will need a place for Tasks and other list items, and long term notes. Once you have those in place, we can get started.

I do my processing in the morning, so I can schedule my day to include time sensitive tasks. Checking your capture items regularly is important no matter the time of the day. Failure to process your captured items can break the Capture process quickly. Things pile up, they get disorganized, and before you know it you are spending most of your "productive time" just cleaning up a mess. When you process frequently it becomes very familiar very quickly which allows it to be done quickly. It is important for me to the keep the processing time to a minimum because I will not keep the habit up otherwise. That is a lesson I learned the hard way and will be a topic in a future blog on burnout and rebuilding good habits. For now, let’s talk about the three categories I use to define how I handle processing.

·        Lists are something I have learned to keep over the years. They are important because they allow you to store lots of personal information, and if you remember where you put the information you can look it up any time you need. Keeping lists should mean the end of having to remember odd ball information like shopping items, gift ideas, and birthdays just to mention a few things. 

·        I struggle with the idea of including Tasks in the regular list category, but I feel there is enough to talk about with task management that it needed its own breakout. I process tasks that would take more than a minute by identifying the correct task list and putting it there with a due date and reminder. Simple enough, but the due date and reminder are important. If it takes less than a minute, I do it right then. Most of the time, however, I Capture the task to the correct list to cut out a step, unless I am rushed and then I just put it in my default capture location to be processed later. 

o   Thought on capturing tasks: If you find that you are not working very many tasks as they come up, try to break down the task into smaller, more manageable bites. If you have a captured a task to review a contract, and you can never muster the time and/or will to do it while processing, try capturing tasks to block out time in your calendar or some other easy starting point. I know I will find some time in my calendar and set it aside for a task. I might reschedule depending on importance or deadline, but it is in my calendar and won't go away unless I give up on it. 

·        Imagine building ideas over decades in a relatively stress free way. That is what I am attempting to do with capturing ideas. Ideas for me range from 3-word updates to something I already have in my notes somewhere, to 3000 word ideas on a particular problem area I am trying to improve over time. I process Captured ideas by putting them in my long-term notes (gotta love utilitarian names). We will do a blog on this topic later, but for now, long term notes are where lists of ideas turn into projects over an undetermined amount of time. That undetermined amount of time might be never, but that's ok. 

o   Thought on processing ideas: When I process ideas, they can be very time consuming. When you take a new idea to your existing notes, don’t just drop it in and forget it, read through your notes and re-arrange them as necessary in order to keep your notes clean and organized. Every time I don't do this part, I lose time later trying to rebuild the note with tons of randomly placed odds and ends. It has meant the temporary death of some of the things I was working on because I don’t want to deal with the work of getting it back in order.

When we are busy Capture and Processing can be painful to manage, but it gives us the ability to hold more information than our silly brains will allow. I have failed at managing my capture process many times over the years, and I beat myself up over it on just as many occasions. I kept trying to improve and little by little I have. Even though I am better than I have ever been, I still consider this a work in progress. For those of you that struggle with these types of habits, keep at it and in 10 years you will most likely be better than you are today…..probably…..some people I question.