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This week we are going to talk all about our “stuff” and what we do with it…before we do anything with it. This is the little known part of productivity and being productive. It really is all about the way we organize the stuff that is in our head and in our life so that we can actually get the doing done with less effort. And, this isn’t about perfection but really about sanity and relaxation. They first key to being productive is really to get all of the stuff that we think we need to do out of our head.

Notice that I said, “think we need to do.” Right. Just because we write it down doesn’t mean that we have to do it. It might that we have great ideas but as we look at them on our list, we might not really want to do them. So, we need to clear up the psychic stuff in our heads so that it doesn’t become debris and a distraction. So first of all, write down the stuff in your head. But you may be thinking, where do I write it down? Well, great question. Get a really cool little notebook that you just love and then, write it down. Easy, right? And we don’t necessarily advocate capturing your stuff on an electronic device. First of all, it’s faster to write it down and secondarily, there is more value in writing directly when we can. But why take all the time to do all of this in the first place? Well, one of the real reasons is that writing these things down enhances our creativity. Also, it just plain keeps us from forgetting stuff. Here are some tools that I use: Evernote, Focus At Will.

So, here are the tips:
1. Get a capture tool.
2. Write down whatever is in your head.
3. Once you can see it all written down, then you can say, “no”.
4. Make a mindmap when you have a big project.