Archives for August 2009

Post 3 in the series: Recommended Productivity Tools

For your physical in box, I recommend the silver steel letter trays that you can get at Target or Amazon. I used to have the plastic black letter trays from Office Depot, but I’ve recently switched over to these because they look a bit better.

As far as you to make the best use of your in box, it’s pretty simple: Put one on the top of your desk.

Some people stack several together and use the lower ones to hold pending items like material to read. I don’t do that because I prefer to only create very short-term, ad hoc pending stacks that I deal with right away. Pending items that need to be held for longer periods of time go into a file drawer (which will be covered when I, finally, get to my posts on filing).

If you have a desk at work and home, then obviously I’d recommend an in box at each location. Since my desk at home is in the basement, I also have an in box upstairs that I can easily toss stuff into.

As far as location goes, I recommend putting your in box on the left side of your desk. This creates a workflow of left to right: stuff to process starts on the left; you process it in the center; stuff that needs to be distributed elsewhere gets put into an “out” pile on the right.

Last of all, the big question here is: Is it “in box,” “inbox,” or “in-box”? I’ve seen all three. But when I think about it, I don’t think I like the looks of “in box” — which is the form I used in this post. So going forward, I’m going to start writing “in-box.” (If you have an opinion, let me know!)

Posts in This Series

1. Recommended Productivity Tools: An Introduction
2. The Tools You Need to Have (And Where to Keep Them)
3. Recommended In Boxes
4. Recommended Capture Journals
5. Recommended Pens
6. Recommended Pencils and Paper Pads
7. Recommended Staplers, Staple Removers, and Tape
8. Recommended Scissors, Letter Openers, and Post-Its
9. Recommended Paper Clips and Super Glue
10. Not Recommended: Desktop Organizer Things
11. Recommended Chairs and Waste Baskets
12. Recommended Labelers and File Folders
13. Recommended File Cabinets and Bookshelves

Post 2 in the series: Recommended Productivity Tools

While the right tools are important, the tools themselves won’t get you organized. You need to know how to think about your tools and where to keep them. Otherwise, getting the right tools will simply create clutter.

So before getting into the specific tools I recommend, I’m going to do two things. First, I’m going to outline the basic categories that everything you can possibly have at your desk falls into. Second, I’ll give a brief overview of all the tools that may be useful to have in your workspace and where they should go at your desk.

Understanding Workspace Setup

I posted some notes on workspace organization last week in anticipation of this series, so that may be worth looking at. The most relevant concept for our purposes here is that there are two kinds of things at your desk: permanent stuff and transient stuff.

Permanent Stuff

Permanent stuff falls into four categories: equipment, supplies, decoration, and reference.

Equipment goes on the desk if its used more than once per day, and in a drawer if not. Supplies go in a desk drawer in small amounts, with extras being kept in a cabinet or supply room. Decoration goes on the desk and walls, but should be kept limited. Reference items go in file cabinets and on bookshelves.

Transient Stuff

Transient stuff falls into three categories: input to be processed, action reminders, and project support materials.

Input to be processed goes in the in box. Action reminders will be in your task management software or, if you are paper-based, planner. Project support materials would be in electronic files and possibly some physical files.

The tools that we’ll be discussing in this series fall into the categories of equipment and supplies.

Core Tools and Their Locations

Here is an overview of the physical productivity tools you need to have and some brief words on where they go. My aim here is to provide you enough details on where to keep things to get you started; I’ll provide more details on desk setup in a future series.

The Desktop

On the top of your desk you should have your in box, computer monitor, any necessary computer peripherals, at least one pen, and maybe a pencil. If desired, you might maybe also want to have a desk lamp, a decoration or two, and a printer if you have one to yourself and there is room.

And that’s it.

The rest of the desktop is for working and just plain providing some breathing space. Any additional items will get in the way and, at least unconsciously, be a nuisance. The key principle is: keep your desktop as clear as possible.

Drawers

I’ll go into more detail on how to set up your drawers in my series on desk setup. But for the tools I’m covering here, two drawers are sufficient.

Drawer #1

In one of the drawers at your desk you should keep these items: pens, pencils, extra pencil lead, paper clips, scissors, a letter opener, and a unit of post-its. You might also want to have some rubber bands, super glue, twist-tie-things that come with the cords in neat new electronics gadgets, business cards, Advil, and maybe a few other things that fit and are useful (some permanent markers, a small ruler, etc.).

Don’t keep too many extra pens and pencils in this drawer; 5 of each is plenty. The point is to have a reserve to draw from if the one you are using on your desk runs out, you misplace it, or you just want to grab a few more for some reason. If you have any additional pens and pencils beyond the 5 or so, they go in a supply closet where you store extra supplies.

Regarding super glue and rubber bands: I admit that I hardly ever use these things. Having them around at all may be an old hold-over from when less stuff was computer based. Or maybe I just have rubber bands in there because I think it’s neat. The super glue is there because we have kids who sometimes break things. So, obviously, some things here are more or less relevant to each person’s specific situation.

Regarding the twist-tie-things: Whenever I get a new electronic gadget, I save those twist-ties the cords come tied up with. Or, I should say, I save them unless they are the flimsy kind. They really come in handy to tie up any cords that are longer than needed, so as to keep them from becoming unruly. I use them all the time.

Drawer #2

In another drawer you should have this equipment: stapler, staple remover, tape, and a labeler.

I admit that I hardly ever use the tape. But if I ever need it, I don’t want to have to go walking to find some. There’s space for it, so it’s easy enough to keep around.

The stapler I use about every other day or so. Whatever you do, do not keep your stapler on your desk. That just looks ugly. It goes in a drawer. So does the labeler.

I also keep a stack of blank CD-RWs in this drawer, some sleeves for the CDs, and a cloth to clean my screen.

Additional Drawers

If you have additional drawers, other stuff that you might want to keep in them include: chargers, extra batteries, Kleenex, and printer paper (if you have a printer at your desk). If you have a cubicle with a storage bin or a desk with some type of hutch on one part of it, these items also work well in there.

Obviously there is probably a lot of other stuff some people keep in their desks. That’s fine, but my recommendation is to keep the amount of stuff you have around to a minimum. Have only the essentials, and a bit more if it doesn’t take up any needed space.

Keep things to a minimum so that it is easier to keep them organized. The aim is easy, finger-tip access so that your workspace functions like an effective cockpit.

Around Your Desk

Around your desk are chairs, wastebaskets, and maybe bookshelves.

Supply Room

Extra supplies go in a supply room. Keep at your desk what you use, and keep extras somewhere else to avoid clutter. For example, if you have a printer and keep printer paper around your desk, keep one unit around. Keep extra units in the supply room.

Portable

Kept portable and with you should be your capture journal.

Posts in This Series

1. Recommended Productivity Tools: An Introduction
2. The Tools You Need to Have (And Where to Keep Them)
3. Recommended In Boxes
4. Recommended Capture Journals
5. Recommended Pens
6. Recommended Pencils and Paper Pads
7. Recommended Staplers, Staple Removers, and Tape
8. Recommended Scissors, Letter Openers, and Post-Its
9. Recommended Paper Clips and Super Glue
10. Not Recommended: Desktop Organizer Things
11. Recommended Chairs and Waste Baskets
12. Recommended Labelers and File Folders
13. Recommended File Cabinets and Bookshelves

Post 1 in the series: Recommended Productivity Tools

Posts in This Series

1. Recommended Productivity Tools: An Introduction
2. The Tools You Need to Have (And Where to Keep Them)
3. Recommended In Boxes
4. Recommended Capture Journals
5. Recommended Pens
6. Recommended Pencils and Paper Pads
7. Recommended Staplers, Staple Removers, and Tape
8. Recommended Scissors, Letter Openers, and Post-Its
9. Recommended Paper Clips and Super Glue
10. Not Recommended: Desktop Organizer Things
11. Recommended Chairs and Waste Baskets
12. Recommended Labelers and File Folders
13. Recommended File Cabinets and Bookshelves

Today we’re starting a series on recommended productivity tools. I’m going to cover some basic tools that you need to have and point out which ones work best to make your work smoother, less frustrating, and more enjoyable.

I have in mind here physical tools, rather than electronic tools. Which leads right away to the question: What? Why care about physical productivity tools?

Why Care About Physical Productivity Tools?

There are two reasons to still care about physical productivity tools.

First, even though we live in an electronic age, we still need to do some physical things. Physical “stuff” will always be with us in some form or another. As long as there is a need to do physical stuff, there is also a need to have the physical tools that enable us to work as effectively as we can.

In fact, sometimes physical tools are preferable to electronic. For example, I often prefer capturing ideas and notes in my moleskine notebook over capturing them electronically. This is not always the case, but sometimes it is faster and simpler. This brings into play two physical tools: a capture journal and a pen.

Second, it’s worth giving some reflection to physical productivity tools because most attention is given to electronic tools. And that is just as it should be. But since we still need to use physical tools, someone needs to give some attention to which ones will serve you best.

The Value of Good Tools

My aim in this series is to point out which tools work well and which you will most likely to enjoy using. A fundamental assumption behind that purpose is that having good tools matters. There are at least three reasons for this.

First, if you have good tools, you often times want to use them. This in turn makes your work a bit more enjoyable, and this pays dividends for your productivity. David Allen makes a good point when he writes: “one of the best tricks for enhancing your personal productivity is having organizing tools that you love to use” (GTD, 96).

Second, bad tools get in the way. This creates unconscious resistance to getting things done.

Third, it is important to make your workspace in general a place you want to be. The tools you have at hand are part of that environment, and thus contribute to your overall sense of satisfaction with your work environment. If you have tools that you enjoy using, you are that much more likely to enjoy your workspace in general – which enhances your ability to get things done.

Note, however, that having good tools does not necessarily mean having expensive tools. David Allen rightly notes: “Often, on the low-tech side, the more ‘executive’ something looks, the more dysfunctional it really is” (Getting Things Done, 91). A good tool is a tool that works well and that you want to use.

In the next posts we’ll give a quick overview of the main kinds of physical tools you need to have. A corollary question is where you should keep these tools for optimal access (and minimal distraction), so we’ll cover that to. Then, I’ll cover each tool individually for the rest of the series.

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