Five secret filing hacks from the masters

Stimulated by Frank's article Fileflag could be a good product over at What's the next action I'd like to share some simple filing tips I've picked up from clients and fellow practitioners. They're all low tech but high value hacks that many have found useful. Please share yours as well!

• The "File bookmark" hack
  
• The "Fold crease" hack
  
• The "Staple, don't clip" hack
  
• The "Unfold before you file" hack
  
• The "Magnetic bookend" hack

The "File bookmark" hack

While I'm all in favor of neat office gadgets like the File Flag, there's an even simpler solution for people who use plain (non-hanging) files. When you pull a file, simply lift up the file behind it a few inches and let the remaining files in front of that one lean back. You'll find they keep the bookmark file up above the rest until you're ready to return the pulled file. When it's time to return the pulled file to its original spot, simply drop it in front of the raised bookmark file, push the bookmark file back down, and close the drawer. Viola!

There are a few limitations, including:

• You can't shut the file drawer while the file is pulled, so this is only good for temporary uses.
  
• Sometimes the bookmark file drops down, esp. if there aren't many files in front of it, or if it's a heavy one.
  
• Sometimes you have to use the A-Z file guide itself if your file is the last in its group.

But for the most part this is an "aha" for clients.

The "Fold crease" hack

Have you ever noticed that set of horizontal creases at the bottom of most file folders? Guess what - they're amazingly useful! When you have a file that's grown to more than a dozen or so pages, it starts to bow outward, messing up your nice filing drawer. Terrible! To fix the problem, simply open the file flat on your desk, choose a crease that will give you enough extra room, fold the crease, and - bingo - neat, expanded file.

Of course if they get too big, you'll have to upgrade to expanding jackets, e.g., something like these.

The "Staple, don't clip" hack

To keep your files as thin as possible, replace paper clips with staples. For thick bundles that you don't want to staple, you might prefer the so-called "ideal clamps" (such as these) rather than paper clips.

The "Unfold before you file" hack

This one is real simple: To keep files thin and make easier future perusals, always unfold any papers before you file them. Also, take them out of the envelope if you feel the need to keep it (staple it to the pages if you like.)

The "Magnetic bookend" hack

If you're a follower of Getting Things Done (and let's face it, it's now the most-hyped productivity book on the planet), you know the reasons why I recommend against hanging files. However, converting a drawer to plain file folders often results in the dreaded "files falling down" problem for drawers that don't have a movable metal plate (AKA "follower block", "compression plate", "spring-loaded backstop", or "back plate"). Very bad. After extensive research (I kid you not), I've discovered the optimal solution (at least for metal drawers) is to use a magnetic 'L-shaped' bookend to hold them up, like this.

If this won't work for you (my last client had nice wooden drawers) you can get creative and find something to prop them up. My default is reams of paper, which can be stacked and oriented different ways to make up the space. You can also use empty boxes, etc.

My GTD Masters interview is up on Cranking Widgets

My GTD Masters interview is up on Cranking Widgets

Just a quick note that my interview with Brett Kelly over at The Cranking Widgets Blog is up. The article, GTD Masters: Interview with Matt from Matt’s Idea Blog, is part of Brett's GTD Master Series.

Thanks to Brett for the opportunity!

If not now, when? The importance of being bold

Here's a theme that's come up repeatedly as I continue to build my personal productivity practice: The value of being bold in my decision making.

I bring this up because my default behavior is to analyze (OK, agonize) far too much before making decisions, esp. ones where it's not clear the best path, or what the outcome might be. Brian Tracy says it best in Time Power: A Proven System for Getting More Done in Less Time Than You Ever Thought Possible:

Decision making requires courage. This is because every decision involves a certain amount of uncertainty. With every decision there is the possibility of failure. But it is not possible for a person to advance in life unless he is willing to make decisions, with no guarantee of success. All successful leaders and managers are firm decision makers.

Of course a major strength of Getting Things Done is in the habit of making decisions on the "front end," rather than delaying them, which causes clutter and stress. (Barbara Hemphill - of File, Act, Toss fame - is famous for saying that Clutter is Postponed Decisions.)

But sometimes it's not that easy! So one bit of advice I've been trying to follow is to 1) ask if I have all the information I need (or am likely to get), then, if so, 2) do a brief internal check-in to figure out what I really want to do, and 3) do it and move on.

The motivation for this comes from research on executives, which indicates it's better to make a strong, quick decision, knowing that most of them can later be revisited, un-done, or at least worked-around relatively reasonably. (See Organized for Success: Top Executives and CEOs Reveal the Organizing Principles That Helped Them Reach the Top by Stephanie Winston - Organizing Law #2. Make decisions, even if they need to be revised later.)

What I've found by doing this is first, the results are just fine! I.e., the anticipation and worry are often unwarranted. Additionally, I've found that making the decision and then acting on it empowers me - I feel better, lighter, and just a bit more courageous after.

This leads to Matt's Law on Decisions:

If you want to avoid feeling discomfort or fear when making hard decisions, get practice by doing it a lot.

In other words, making bold decisions is hard at first, but gets easier with practice. Yes, you'll hesitate before hitting your email program's "Send" button, and you may check back frequently to see what the response was, but I've found this will eventually cultivate a very healthy "what the hell" attitude.

This has the benefit of making me more productive: It's now much easier to write shorter, more direct "good enough" email messages (with no grammatical or spelling errors, of course), thus bringing more actions within the two minute rule (more here and - surprisingly - here). Also, I'm convinced making a quick, firm decision uses up less mental energy because, let's face it, decision-making is hard work!

Finally, as Joe points out, each decision we make opens doors as well as (possibly) closing them, though we often focus on the latter. So be bold, make some good, strong decisions, and move ahead. Cheers!


Resources

Articles: You may find useful the following articles on decision-making:

• Eight tools for streamlined decision-making
  
• Quick Decisions Might be the Best
  
• Making good decisions better
  
• How to Make Better Decisions
  
• How to Make a Decision Using a Quantitative Scoring System
  
• Four ways to make a big decision
  
• How to Get Over Being Indecisive Once and For All-Maybe

Books: In addition to Susan Jeffer's very helpful Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway and Edward de Bono's terriffic Six Thinking Hats (there's a nice summary at MindTools), I found a number of books with the theme "If not now, when?" including:

• If Not Now...Then When? Stories and Strategies of People Over 40 Who Have Successfully Reinvented Themselves
  
• If Not Now when: Reclaiming Ourselves at Midlife
  
• If Not Now, When?

Quotes: Here are a few of my favorite thoughts on boldness, with the first two being from poets with some local history (they were both notable residents of the great town I live in):

• Fortune befriends the bold. -- Emily Dickinson
  
• Freedom lies in being bold. -- Robert Frost
  
• If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when? -- Rabbi Hillel
  
• Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated. Begin, and then the work will be completed. -- Jean Anouilh
  
• Begin, be bold and venture to be wise. -- Horace
  
• Be bold. If you're going to make an error, make a doozy, and don't be afraid to hit the ball. -- Billie Jean King
  
• Laugh at yourself, but don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory. -- Alan Alda
  
• The flower has opened, has been in the sun and is unafraid. I'm taking more chances; I'm bold and proud. -- Paula Cole
  
• All good fortune is a gift of the gods, and you don't win the favor of the ancient gods by being good, but by being bold. -- Anita Brookner
  
• Fortune favors the bold. -- Virgil
  

A call to GTD practitioners: An invitation to share your top questions, tips, and insights

Over the last year or so I've had the pleasure of receiving email and phone inquiries from people having various challenges implementing David Allen's Getting Things Done methodology [1]. Along the way I've been collecting the frequent questions, tips, and insights that have come up, with the goal of continuing to share them [2] with others adopting the system.

This collection seems to be reaching a tipping point, and as part of a new project I'm soliciting your favorite "aha," insight, or question that most dogged you before you made the system click. I'll be sharing the results (with surprises and answers, of course!) in a future work, and I'd be very grateful for your input.

So how about it? What information wasn't clear from reading the book, but helped you the most? Was it dealing with too many next actions? A tool or gadget that you found crucial? Maybe blocking time for the "heavy lifting?" Or was there something that just didn't make sense to you?

I'd love to hear what you have to say. Please leave a comment below or send your wisdom to gtdtips@matthewcornell.org, and stay tuned for the results. Cheers!


References

• [1] I am not associated with The David Allen Company in any way, and I don't use copyrighted materials in my business. Additionally, all my knowledge has been gained the hard way - reading, studying many competing systems, applying it to different domains, teaching, and collaborating. The overall strategy: Pour ideas into head, try out, wait for synthesis to create something new. Then share!
  
• [2] Some GTD-related articles you might find useful:
  • Are daily to-do lists and GTD compatible?
    
  • Best practices for GTD and administrative assistants
    
  • Dealing with Meeting Notes - GTD to the Rescue!
    
  • Dealing with multiple/dependent next actions in GTD
    
  • Depressurize your email with a 24 hour response time
    
  • Four Planner Hacks for Paper-Based Productivity | D*I*Y Planner
    
  • GTD Workflow Assessment/Tips Checklist
    
  • Organizing Electronic Documents GTD-Style?
    
  • Reading Books The GTD Way
    
  • Some GTD warning signs
    
  • Some answers to "Should I keep it?" when filing
    
  • Some common GTD questions, with answers
    
  • What are the essential habits of GTD?
    
  • What's in a name - GTD project naming conventions
    
  • What's your maximum response time?
    
  • When inputs exceed your workflow system's capacity
    
  • Why every problem should be a GTD project
    
  • Plus a few fun ones: A GTD WorkFlow tool: The five stages on a business card cube and Personal Productivity Playing Cards!
    
  
  

An invitation to share your top GTD questions, tips, and insights

Over the last few years I've been collecting bits of wisdom for people implementing David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, with the goal of continuing to share them with others adopting the method.

This collection seems to be reaching a tipping point, and as part of a new project I'd love to hear your favorite "aha," insight, or question that most dogged you before you made the system click. I'll be sharing the results (with surprises and answers, of course!) in a future work, and I'd be very grateful for your input.

So how about it? What information wasn't clear from reading the book, but helped you the most? Was it dealing with too many next actions? A tool or gadget that you found crucial? Maybe blocking time for the "heavy lifting?" Or is there something that just doesn't make sense to you?

Please send your wisdom to gtdtips@matthewcornell.org, and stay tuned for the results. Cheers!