Treat #85
: Vitally IN
Recently I watched a client discover the relief of having one place to put all the ideas that keep coming into his head and all the actions he needed to handle. He had been using his brain as a file.
Now he has a physical desk and travel folder “In-box” that is active, vital and alive. For those who know the body analogy I use…not having a desk In-box in your life is the same as not having a mouth that allows you to receive food. Having an In-box is a way to feed yourself with aliveness. You need a place to gather your mail, your notes and physical things needing decisions, and communications from others needing your response. Then you can decide the next action on each item one at a time until the box is empty. The same is true for email and voice mail In-boxes.
The In-box is a living organism that has vitality. Sometimes I watch clients clear off their desk and toss their stapler, empty note pads, etc. into their In box just to get them out of the way. I ask them if they also store measuring spoons, knives, spices, etc. in their mouth between meals. They laugh at the absurdity. See what happens when your In-boxes stay clear and receptive to whatever is being sent your way.
The In-box tends to be a place to store things so we don’t have to deal with them. We would not consider going days with our last meal sitting half chewed in our mouths. So why let the In-boxes collect stuff that turns moldy and green?
We keep our mouths clean by brushing our teeth a couple of times a day. Yet we let our In-boxes sit collecting dust sometimes for weeks and months. Some desk In-boxes have stacks of paper that look like they haven’t been touched in months. Some email In-boxes have emails more than a year old. Yuck, you say! I figure the more graphic we make it the more likely we are to shift how we handle information and the things that are incomplete.
For something to stay vital and alive it needs to be nurtured and cared for. Just like you enjoy being touched, your paper and email love a little attention as well.
The items in your In-box want your FULL AND UNDIVIDED ATTENTION. Imagine you are receiving a back rub and suddenly the person removes one hand from your back and starts rubbing another person’s back. It’s a less than optimal back rub at that point. We want both hands (eyes and ears) on each item, one at a time, all the way through to completion.
Would you ever eat your entire dinner by putting all of it into your mouth at once and swallowing it? Ridiculous notion. And yet, I watch many people try to digest the entire email In-box all at once by looking over the entire email list first before opening one. Then they try to peek at a few, get off and running on one and the rest are left by the wayside to mold. Chewing one email at a time to find the next action will be more satisfying to the palate.
Challenge yourself to read email from the top to bottom in the open position, (i.e. without reading or preview panes) deciding the next actions, so you will have seen the whole picture vs. snapshots when you reach the bottom. Then you can choose to take the first action most needing your attention (i.e. the priority.) If you do the scan method of reading email (other than the occasional executive scan when it is necessary) you can be off and running on a lower priority item and missing something more important that was not evident from cursory reading of the subject line.
Nurture yourself with an In-box that is vital and alive and active, keeping you in alignment with what needs your attention.
Martha Invitations
1. If you don’t have an In-box on your office and home desk, make it a priority to get one and instruct others to communicate with you in writing through that source, or through email.
2. Discipline yourself to process your In-boxes, starting at the top and going to the bottom uninterrupted until empty and all your next actions are either done or identified and recorded.
3. If you find yourself wanting to store things in the In-box, resist the temptation. Empty/delete those old voice mail and text messages.
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