Once you've gathered, processed and organized, you have more todos than you may know what to do with. Now you need to regain comfort with what you are doing - and what you are NOT doing.

The trust factor - trust that you will do what needs to be done vs the Hope factor ("I hope I will")

Importance of care and feeding will also be discussed

The important one if the Weekly review, but reviews happen hourly, daily, etc. And higher level reviews.

Will have discussion of what helps systems survive.

How do we make decisions about what we have

a false assumption that our lists are up to date and complete

systems ebb and flow, and rarely are static. The importance is to keep collecting and processing so you eventually do regain the handle on the pile

The threefold nature of work

An inventory is only a partial solution

The ability to handle the decision of doing predefined work, preparatory work, or interruptive work is key.

This is a constant dance

When in adhoc, be sure to know what is not being done - don't just get sucked into latest and loudest.

The better you get at doing and defining, the better you can handle interruptions

if you have a full inbox, you can't discriminate what is important

Learn to manage the stack - the new vs the old, not letting too much in on the front end (the power of no, or the qualified yes in 43F terms)

Once you've looked at all your lists, your choices are limited by 3 criteria

context (where are you and what affordances do you have available)

time

this is where having a well defined hard landscape helps - so you can predict gaps and decide how to manage them (vs working out of your inbox)

energy

how creative do you feel, how much mental strength is available to you

learn where your sweet spots are (morning? evening?)

Then you can prioritize - if you still have options - what provides the highest payoff

Building visions, projects and strategies upfront helps to make better prioritization decisions.

Working around horizons of focus provides better thinking as well (where does this fit in the longer term, is it important now?)

The Weekly Review

Should do it enough so you feel uncomfortable with not having done it. This can take upwards of 52 reviews (i.e. it may take a year).

Recall that the system is not all the things in it - it is a scaffolding, but your thinking is what makes it work

A time to confirm that the project list is complete and that it contains things barely captured in the last few days.

Some research shows that ~6-8 days is the last optimal retention of memory

Doing a regular review is the way to start, until it does become weekly.

The only wrong way to do it is not to do it.

Keep the review to an hour

it is not a time to do work

not a time to get caught up

Just do the review.

Remember that the review is after you've done all your processing and organizing. Don't use the review for that. Those items take place during the course of your week in between reviews. Define work in small chunks, not the review.

The review is just reflecting.

In the weekly review you can put your executive hat on.

A time to build the big picture of the week ahead

Important to have a well defined space (mental, virtual, physical) for the review

often people can think of work at home, but not vice versa, so the review may be incomplete.

Keeping it all in the system aids the ability to disconnect the thinking about the action at the moment of decision.

Q: Tip from last week - Avaya offers an integrated system for PC to VM connectivity

Q: To what extent do ongoing todos go onto our list

A: if it is a habit, it's not needed to be written down. But if you are building a habit, it can be helpful to write those down.

A tip - deciding when to do the review is a good first step, but don't do it for when you can believe you are resistant.

Q: Managing waiting for lists (emails). At weekly review, kill those that have been accomplished

A: probably the simplest way to do it. Do you need to track those things?

A tip: frame outcomes for projects positively, and be sure to attach a next action to it. Projects without this kickstart immediately become daunting.

Q: Shared and messy environment

A: try to build some walloff time or space to build your own processing space

Q: What internal conversations do you have during or around the weekly review

A: Some anxiety because you may overcreate. But to reduce some stress, occassionally schedules a long weekly review.

A: Sometimes feels not enough time, but then commits to it.

A: Use the weekly review as a time to listen to yourself.

A: Use it as a way to rebalance.