As a manager one of the best tools you can use is a to-do list. A list of any task, objectives and goals you need to prioritize and complete. They help keep your management tasks organized and on track.

Humans are visual creatures so it is not surprising that we use so many visual tools to communicate with. One of the best visual tools in your office is a dry erase whiteboard. Since it is large and visual it makes a great place to put your to-do list.

If you are often overwhelmed by the amount of tasks, objectives and goals you have to complete, deadlines or other important items that you need to remember a to-do list can help you put it all together. If you do not use one learn how to get started using to-do lists to prioritize your management tasks, objectives and goals.

Whiteboard Monday

Every Monday you can get your week off to a good start by writing every task, objective and goal for the week on your whiteboard. I use a column taking up one-third of my whiteboard for this purpose. The top third is for goals since they are usually smaller and the bottom two-thirds are for task and objectives.

To help you better visualize and prioritize use different colors for emphasis. For instance use red for high priority and blue for everything else. You can also use numbers or symbols to prioritize.

During the week check off each task, objective or goal as they are completed. You can use a pocket list to add any new additions during the day. All through the week you will find your eyes drifting to the board which makes it such a great tool. It is large and hard to ignore.

If you do not have a whiteboard ask for one or buy it yourself. It is one of the best investments you can make for your office. A standard office size is four-foot by three-foot. Six foot by four-foot is nice. Eight foot by four-foot is even better! I like them big so I have more room for other uses.

Other good uses for your whiteboard include:

• Short-term goals
• Long-term goals
• Mind mapping
• Brainstorming
• Project planning
• Important reminders
• A visual aid for conversations
• Quick notes and reminders

Regardless of what media you use you can learn how to get things done with smarter to-do lists so they are more usable and efficient.

Whiteboard Friday

It’s Friday, the end of a hard week and your mind is already drifting into the weekend. Before you drift away take a few minutes to check your whiteboard and write down anything you need to remember next week.

I always leave a section blank for quick use. On Friday I use this section to write down all the things I want to remember the next week.

On Monday I clear off my completed goals, objectives and tasks and start my new list adding in anything I wrote on Friday that is a task, objective or goal for the new week. If you have an important email you need to follow-up on Monday learn how to convert an email into an Outlook task so you don’t forget.

Take Away

If you are a busy manager with a lot of tasks, objectives and goals to keep track of a to-do list will help keep them organized. A great way to start of your week is to write all of your tasks, objectives and goals you need to prioritize and complete for the week on your whiteboard every Monday. It is a large visual reminder that is impossible to ignore.

During the week check off items as they are completed and add new ones. Since it is large and visual you will find your eyes drifting towards it many times during the day. This is why a whiteboard works so well at keeping your tasks, objectives and goals on your mind.

If you are not a Monday morning person learn 10 ways to motivate your mind on Monday.

Related posts:

1. 10 Ways To Motivate Your Mind On Monday
2. Has Work Taken Over Your Life?
3. Get Things Done With Smarter To-Do Lists

Project meetings, staff meetings, vendor meetings. Think of all of the meetings you go to and all of the paperwork that you have that deal with a specific topic. Do you ever find yourself scrambling to find notes from a meeting? Wouldn’t it be nice to pull out one folder pocket containing all of the information on a topic before you make an important phone call?

This is where a good information management system comes in. While some of our data is electronic and there are many ways to easily organize it, there are drawbacks. For one electronic data is not always portable so you can’t easily carry it with you to meetings. Regardless of how much we try to be green and go paperless, we still end up with a lot of information on paper we must deal with.

A Folder Pocket Based Information Management System

A folder based information management system works well for managers who deal with a number of projects and tasks. It allows you to consolidate all of the information you have about a particular subject in a set of folders which is then placed in one expanding file pocket.

A file pocket is expandable so it can hold all of your file folders and loose pieces of paper about a single subject. You can store it in your regular file cabinet and grab it on the way to a meeting or when you need to quickly access all of your information on that subject.

Think of all of the information you have about different projects and tasks.

• Important emails
• Notes from meetings
• Contact lists
• Documentation
• Technical specifications
• Meeting handouts

For example let’s use a vendor selection process to replace your current router. You will create different folders that will hold different types of information.

1. Folder 1 – Emails and correspondences
2. Folder 2 – Meeting notes and meeting handouts
3. Folder 3 – Contact lists and vendor information
4. Folder 4 – Documentation and technical specifications
5. Folder 5 – Requirements and SLA’s/OLA’s
6. Folder 6 – Everything else related, but does not belong in one of the other folders

All of these folders are placed in a folder pocket named “Replacement Router Project”. Now whenever you go to a meeting, take or make a phone call, create an email or need any documents related to this project you have all of your information in one place.

A green note here. This is a system that is paper based. You should only print out documents you need to be portable. Whenever possible use the electronic version if one is available. Any important documents that do not have electronic versions should be scanned so they can be archived.

Benefits

A folder pocket based information management system has many benefits.

• All of your paper information on a specific topic is in one place
• When you head out to a meeting just grab the pocket and you have all of your information
• When you return from a meeting tear out the meeting notes and put it in the folder
• Since they can be filed you can quickly find them when you need them
• When someone calls or comes to you about a topic just open your cabinet and you have all of your information about that topic
• When a project is complete or the topic is no longer needed you can file it away for future reference
• No more hunting for paperwork!

This is a very simple solution to an often frustrating problem. You may already have folders with such documents in your filing system. Using a folder pocket both consolidates and makes it portable.

Related posts:

1. Management Tools – Time and Problem Management Simplified
2. Develop Your Own Note-Taking Best Practices
3. Use a 5S System For Your Email

Learning to manage your time, set your priorities and set limits on what you take on can help you get back to a reasonable work-life balance. Working long hours and overloading yourself with tasks is a path to stress and burn out. It will derail your career and your health.

The following three steps will help you streamline your work life and give back more time for your family and yourself. You will find you can get the work that needs to be done if far less time than you are spending now.

” The strength of a person is not measured in their ability to carry the weight of the world, but their ability to wait on the strength to carry them through.” – Samantha Storsberg

Manage Your Time

The key to reclaiming your life from your work is to reclaim your time. Time is your most valuable asset and if you are overloaded at work you will have little time for anything else. Start with these three simple steps to set limits on how long you will work, look at how you spend your time and what your tasks are.

To be able to manage your time you must know what you do and how much time you spend doing it.

1. Set limits on how much time you spend doing work. You time may vary, but if you allow yourself to work 70-80 hours a week you need to trim that down to 50-55 at the most.
2. Keep a time log for one week. The key to managing your time is to first determine how you are using it. Write down what you do each day for a week and how much time you spend doing it. While you are doing this right away look for time wasters. Do you waste time in meetings you do not need to attend? Do you waste time doing work the can be delegated? Do you waste time doing work others have pushed on you?
3. What is your job? Create a list of your tasks including how much time it takes to do them. Start with the things that must be done. These are your A-list tasks, the required functions of your job and those that are important to you.  Now add the tasks that need to be done, these are your B-list tasks. Now add  the tasks you want to get done, these are your C-list tasks.

Set Your Priorities

Look at your tasks list and decide which ones are the most important. These are the task you should focus most of your time and energy on. Set aside time on your calendar to take care of these tasks. Look at your A-list tasks and think again, do they really belong there?

Now that you have taken care of your A-list tasks it is time to look for tasks you can eliminate from your list or divide them up to fit into your work schedule.

• Are there any tasks that can be cut out completely without doing harm to yourself, your job or the business?
• Are there tasks you can delegate?
• Are there tasks others have pushed on you that they should be doing? If so push them back!

Slash and burn through your tasks eliminating anything that is not required. If there are items you really want to do then schedule time for them, but do not add time to your schedule to do them. Outside of your primary job your other tasks should be ones that improve yourself or others. Prioritizes these and stick to your time limits.

Push Back and Stick To Your Limits

The easiest way to reclaim your time is to push back when people try to push tasks on to you. Let’s face it, there are people who are more than happy to let you do their work for them. Don’t allow this to happen. “Sorry Joe, I just don’t have time to do that”.

I am a big advocate of one company, one team. This does not mean you should take on work from others just because they know you will do it for the overall good. Push back and reclaim that time.

The hardest part will be to stick to the limits you have set. Drive and ambition are one thing, stressed out with no time to do anything but work is another. You must set aside time for your family and for yourself. A lot of research shows that in fact you are less productive the more time you spend doing work.

Set up time rules and stick to them.

• Rule 1: I will work xx hours per week.
• Rule 2: I will set aside xx hours per week for my family and myself.
• Rule 3: I will not do work that is not part of the primary function of my job.
• Rule 4: I will not do the work others should be doing. Delegate and push back.
• Rule 5: I know my limits and will not exceed them.

Take Away

Time is the most valuable asset you have and how you manage will keep your work from taking over your life. First set a limit on how many hours per week you will devote to work and stick to it. Then log what you do for a week and how much time you spend doing it. Then create a tasks list  breaking them down by clear priorities.

Once you have these three elements to time management be ruthless with cutting your tasks. Your time and energy should be focused on the tasks that are part of your primary job. Delegate other tasks, cut tasks that are not going to hurt to eliminate, and push back when people try to add more tasks to you.

We all are ambitious and want to do our jobs well. However we can not let it consume most of our time, nor should it require most of our time. Odds are when you look at how you spend your time at work and cut tasks you will find more time to focus on your primary job, your family and yourself.

Want to read more on time management? Improve Your Time Management in Easy Three Steps

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2. How To Work Under Pressure
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Gina Trapani author and founding editor of Lifehacker wrote an excellent article for Fast Company. Work Smart: How to Write a To-Do List first shows you the differences between a project, goal, and a task. Next she explains how to break lists down into manageable bites. Finally she shows you how to manage your lists so they are actually useful.

A project is a big undertaking that involves several tasks. A goal is something you want to achieve through both tasks and repetitive actions. “Clean out the garage,” “Save $5,000,” “Learn how to speak French”–these are projects and goals, and they don’t belong on your to-do list. They’d just sit there and haunt you, because it wouldn’t be clear where to start. Reserve your to-do list for the next steps that move a project along.

Creating Better Lists

Since we all use lists it makes sense to improve on our list creation and utilization skills. Personally I always carry a pocket list with me to jot notes during the day. Read “Management Tools – Time and Problem Management Simplified” for great tips on using a pocket list.

One of my recent tools is using a modified Cornell method sheet for note-taking and lists. Read “Develop Your Own Note-Taking Best Practices” for tips on note-taking and to download my modified Cornell method template.

To-do lists are great tools when you are overwhelmed with information and tasks. If you do not use to-do lists and want to start read “To-Do Lists – Getting Started” for tips on different media and methods to use for creating to-do lists

How to Write a To-Do List

Back to Gina Trapani’s great article. Below is a video where she explains all the basic concepts of creating and managing to-do lists.

Related posts:

1. To-Do Lists – Getting Started
2. Whiteboard Monday – To-Do List of Tasks, Objectives and Goals
3. Tech Junkies Getting Things Done (GTD) On NPR

In an article to follow I will layout an information management system that will show you an efficient and effective way to manage your notes and other forms of information that are topic related.

You only need to look around a meeting to see the different media used for taking notes. Some people use a portfolio, some a legal pad, some a day planner and others a variety of different notebooks. The media you use should be what works best for you.

What I will show you here is how to take better notes. How to use cues to quickly classify notes for later review. I will also share what I use and how it fits into an overall information management system.

If you are a busy and on the move manager like me read “Management Tools – Time and Problem Management Simplified” for tips on using a pocket list to supplement your note-taking when paper is not always handy.

A Media For All Occasions

One of the challenges I faced with using a notebook for note-taking is I go to a variety of meetings on a variety of topics where I need to take notes. What I ended up with was a notebook of very good notes that I then had to review and often transfer to electronic or other media so I could categorize them.

You don’t want your notes from a IT Operations meeting in the same notebook with your notes from a root cause analysis meeting. So I found myself searching through notebooks and other media for the notes I needed before making a phone call or to take to a topic specific meeting. My solution has been to use a modified single sheet version of the Cornell note-taking method.

I still carry my notebook, but now I have several printed sheets of my modified Cornell notes that have become my primary media for taking notes. The main reason is when I leave a meeting I have a single sheet that is specific to that meeting and that topic that I can then go back and file in my information management system.

No more searching through notes or other media to find what I am looking for. All of my notes and related information for a particular topic are all placed in a specific folder for that topic. Easy to find in a hurry and I can take all of my notes to a topic specific meeting.

Cornell Note Taking

While this method is mainly used by college students it works well for me. The standard Cornell method is based on three areas. The example below is based on 8.5” x 11” paper.

• 6 inches on the right side of the page is the note taking area is where you record your notes during a meeting.
• 2.5 inches on the left side of the page is the cue column that can be used to add a symbol or reference cue about the note.
• 2 inches at the bottom of the page gives you an area to summarize your notes.

My modified template using the Cornell method can be downloaded here MEETING NOTES.DOC. It is in Microsoft .doc format so you can easily modify it to meet your needs.

The only deviations from the standard Cornell note-taking method I use are:

• A modified header to include the meeting name, or topic I am taking notes on and the date.
• A modified footer that includes a place to write the folder this note will go in and a place to assign a page number when I put it in a binder.

Here are links to several other templates that use the Cornell method.

Cornell Notes B&W – Microsoft Word

How to create a Cornell notes template – Microsoft Word

Cornell note-taking lined paper PDF generator – customize your own PDF

Using  Note-Taking Cues

Cues are helpful to add when taking notes or when reviewing them. Cues allow you to classify your notes for easier review and follow-up. If your note-taking media is not already formatted for cues, such as the Cornell method simply draw a line about 2.5 inches from the left side of your paper or write your notes 2.5 inches to the right. This leaves room for cues on the left side.

Your cues can be symbols or words. Here are some common cues.

• [  ] – a square check box notes a to-do item
• (  ) – a circle indicates a task to be assigned or delegated to someone else
• * – an asterisk notes an important piece of information
• ? – a question mark is for an item that needs to be asked about or researched
• !ACTION – something that requires your immediate action
• FOLLOW-UP – obviously something you need to follow-up on
• TO-DO – something you need to add to your task list

Review Your Notes

Many skip the most important reason to take notes by not reviewing them. Regardless of how you take notes or what media you use review is the most important part of the note-taking process. It is where you take action, follow-up, send an email, delegate, create a task or any other action that your note-taking has produced.

You should set aside time each day to review your notes. The best time is immediately after the meeting while it is still fresh in your mind. One of the things I like about using a specific sheet for each meeting is it greatly reduces the amount of time I spend reviewing notes. I have no need to transfer them to another media. I just file them in the folder for that topic in my information management system after review.

Here are some reasons and actions that come from reviewing your notes.

1. If you take great notes, but never review them then you end up with a notebook or folder full of notes that nothing ever comes out of.
2. Create a task with a reminder for something you need to follow-up on.
3. Take care of action items right away or add them to your tasks so they will not be forgotten.
4. Send a needed email or make a phone call as a result of your meeting with your notes for reference.
5. Reviewing notes after a meeting allows you to reflect which may bring up more ideas or notes to add.

Take Away

For managers note-taking has become and essential skill that needs to be mastered. Note-taking keeps you engaged in a meeting, shows your boss and others you have an interest in what is being said, and records important information you may need later to reference or take action on.

You should create your own best practice for note-taking since no one method fits all needs or circumstances. The Cornell note-taking method is a good format to use to create your own template for note-taking media. For me using a single sheet or multiple sheets for those detailed meetings is preferable to writing everything in one notebook. The main reasons are all of my notes are not lumped together in one notebook, it saves review time and can be filed in an information management system for quick and easy access.

Reviewing notes is the most important part of note-taking. Regardless of what method or media you use, if you do not review your notes you will end up with a notebook full of notes that nothing productive ever comes out of. Review your notes as soon as possible after a meeting and take actions while the meeting is still fresh in your mind.

You can download my modified Cornell note template MEETING NOTES.DOC as an example. Feel free to modify it to meet your needs. Share with us some of your note-taking best practices in the comments.

Related posts:

1. Get Things Done With Smarter To-Do Lists
2. Five Ways to Control Interruptions
3. The Power of Weekend Brainstorming

This productivity tip will show you how to easily covert a Microsoft Outlook email into a task with a reminder so you will never need to worry about a follow-up or an action item email.

When you receive an email that has an action item related to it such as you need to follow-up on it or that it requires a task to be done you can easily create a reminder in Microsoft Outlook by converting the email into a task.

Create a Task From An Email In Outlook

It is easy to create a task from an email in Microsoft Outlook.

1. From your Inbox pane highlight the email you want to create a task for. The email does not need to be open.
2. With the email highlighted drag your mouse down and drop it on the Outlook Tasks bar.
3. Outlook with take your email and convert it into a task. It will copy the content of the email into the body of the task so you have all the information you need in the task.
4. The subject of the task is taken from the subject line of the email, but you can easily change this to something more meaningful in your tasks list.
5. Like any Outlook task you can set a due date and a reminder. Set the Due date and click the Reminder check box to set when you want to be reminded about this task.
6. Now all you have to do is click Save and Close on the task. No worries about remembering to take care of the task you received in the email. Outlook will remind you of it.
7. At this time you can either leave the email in your inbox, move it to an archive or action folder or even delete the email since the entire content of the email was copied into the task.

Learn more ways to take control of your email by reading “Use a 5S System For Your Email”.

Take Away

We do not always have the time to follow-up or take action when we receive an email. The action may be required in the future making it difficult to remember. By converting the email into an Outlook task with a reminder you will be alerted that you have to perform a follow-up or action.

This works with most versions of Microsoft Outlook and is very easy to do. Below is a video that shows you how to do this task.

Related posts:

1. Use a 5S System For Your Email
2. Place Your Outlook Calendar on Your Desktop
3. XOBNI Adds Third Party Content to Microsoft Outlook Add-on

One of the core concepts of a 5S System is “Everything has a place and everything in its place”. This is how you should approach your email. Your inbox is not a storage folder. Each day you should do the first three 5S System steps on your inbox and email filing system. Sort, straighten and shine.

Sort

A 5S System uses tags to identify items that need to be removed from the workplace. With email your tags are folders you use to remove email from your inbox. Before you start a 5S campaign on your email you need to prepare for it by creating your own personal filing system using folders. You should have at least three types of folders.

Folders – Follow-Up, Action, Sort

These three folders sit at the top of my folder tree. Think of them as sorting bins for your inbox. They allow you to quickly empty your inbox, but they are very much work in progress.

1. Follow-Up – emails you need to follow-up on
2. Action – emails that require an action from you that you can not do at this time
3. Sort – emails you need to sort, but you are not sure where they need to go yet

Folder – Dated Archives

A date oriented archive is a catch-all system for retaining email. If your company has an email retention policy you can go back and delete entire folders once the retention period is over. For example FY-2010 is the main folder with monthly 01-10, 02-10, and so on sub-folders.

TIP: I keep this months and last months archive folders just under the above three folders so I can quickly archive email in them. With each new month I create a new folder at the top of the tree and move the oldest month to the year folder such as FY-2010 in the dated archives at the bottom of the folder tree.

TIP: I like to keep my dated archive folders sorted by sender and each sender collapsed. I usually search for email from a particular person and this makes it easy.

Folder – Topic Oriented

This is your filing system for email you want to keep. They have a main topic and usually sub-folders. For instance a vendors folder with sub-folders for each vendor. A projects folder with sub-folders for each project. I like to sort topic folders by date.

This is a very basic system of folders that so you can quickly sort and archive your email. Your system of folders will be tailored to your needs but don’t make it overly complicated.

Straighten

Now that you have a folder system in place it is time to hit the inbox and your other default email folders.

When you check your email inbox each email should have one of four outcomes.

Read and delete – email you do not need to archive and does not need any further action from you.

Read and move to the Follow-Up, Action or Sort folders – move email that you need to come back to or your are not sure what to do with yet to one of the three folders. Come back to these folders often since they are work in progress.

Read and move to the date oriented folder – this is where you move email you need to keep, but does not belong in any other folder. I keep any email that is business related. I can not tell you how many times a saved email has saved me.

Read and move to a topic folder – move email you want to keep to a topic folder if it fits. This is the heart of your filing system. If you have projects move all emails related to that project to that folder. You will add and remove many folders to this area over time.

TIP: You can archive these folders as well. Create a Topic Archive for folders that are no longer needed but you do not want to delete them such as a project that is complete.

“Issue: What Do I Save?

That depends on your company policy and your needs. Many companies have an email retention policy where you are required to keep all important email for a specified period of time. Like I said, I like to keep all business related email regardless of how old they are. If in doubt put it in a date oriented archive.”

Shine

The shine step is for cleaning your email system by removing anything that is not needed. Once a week you should go through all of your folders looking for email that can be deleted, needs to be archived or is out-of-place.

Folder – Sent Items

This is actually one of the most important folders. Sent Items is a system folder stored on the mail server so it takes up valuable drive space and over time will slow your email program down if it is not cleaned up.

This is what YOU said so it is likely you will want to take all the email in sent items and place them in the dated archives. Highlight a date range and drag them to the proper month. Each Monday I highlight any email older than one week and move it from the Sent Items folder to the proper monthly archive. I still have fast access to last week and this week which is usually all I need.

Folder – Deleted Items

Review the headers of deleted email to be sure you did not accidently delete something you need to keep then empty the trash. This is another system folder stored on the mail server that must be cleaned on a regular basis.

Folders – Dated Archives and Topic Archives

Check these archives to see if you accidently moved an email to the wrong month or topic. For dated archives sort the folder by date and anything out-of-place will be noticeable.

Standardize

The standardize step is about maintaining your email system using standard practices.

• You should sort and straighten your email as often as you can. You should do the shine step at least once a week.
• Eliminate email from ever getting to your inbox by unsubscribing to email lists. Ask to be removed from any internal company mailing lists you do not need.
• Only use Reply All and CC: when needed. Why clutter up someone else’s email if they do not really need to see it?
• Use email rules if you have them to have certain emails routed directly to a topic folder.
• You do not want to let you folders get so large that they slow down your email program. To avoid this you can export email from a folder such as an older dated archive year and then save it as a .PST file. You can always go back and open if needed.
• Use your out-of-office message to inform people of your status. If you are going to be in a meeting for 3 hours (God help you) setup an out-of-office message stating where you will be from 8-11 AM.
• Don’t use the priority flag unless it is necessary. It is like the boy who cried wolf. People will ignore you and defeat the purpose.
• Use add-on programs such as Xobni for Microsoft Outlook. Xobni allows me to quickly find email by searching by keywords. It also allows me to see all emails from a particular person showing all conversations and even file attachments.

Sustain

The sustain step is having the self-discipline to follow the 5S System. As with any system or process if you do not stick to it then it will not work. Another principle concept of a 5S System is continuous improvement. Your email system is always a work in progress that can be improved on.

Using a 5S System for your email will help you keep your inbox clear and your email organized. You will be able to quickly find an email and browse emails on a particular topic.

Related posts:

1. How To Convert An Email Into An Outlook Task
2. How To Manage Topic Specific Paperwork
3. The Office Politics of Email

Brainstorming is a technique of gathering large numbers of ideas. Usually the ideas are aimed at solving a specific problem and done in a group environment. Individual brainstorming is done by yourself and is the technique involved here.

Mind mapping is similar technique that is typically a graphical representation of your thoughts. You can use mind mapping in place of brainstorming if it works better for you. The concept is the same and both are techniques for getting words and ideas out of your mind and on to paper.

Weekend Brainstorming

Brainstorming on the weekend is very productive. You are removed from the distractions of the workplace which will allow you to concentrate better. You are more relaxed and the ideas can flow better in an environment outside of the workplace .

Weekend brainstorming can help you:

• Get ready for the week ahead
• Do short-term and long-term strategic planning
• Improve a process or develop a new one
• Come up with new ideas to improve yourself, your team and your company
• Help you organize your ideas into a workable plan

You can use this method as a mind dump of ideas or if you can use it to work on a specific problem.

Using Free Writing

Free writing is a writing technique where you write continuously without regard to grammar, spelling, corrections or topic. You set aside a specified period of time, say 10-15 minutes and turn your mind loose. It is a good method to use when doing weekend brainstorming since you can get a lot of ideas down in a short period of time.

You can use pen and paper or electronic media such as a word processor, spreadsheet or note taking software such as Evernote (free!) or Microsoft OneNote. Each has advantages, such a spreadsheet  makes it easy to come back and sort and classify your thoughts. Use whatever feels comfortable to you.

Try and keep your mind moving during the specified period of time. Don’t consider if an idea is valid when free writing. You can review later and pick out the ideas that show promise. It takes some getting used to, but once you do it a few times you will get the hang of it.

Organize Your Ideas

Once your free writing session is over step away and come back to them later. This allows you to clear your mind of all the ideas you just wrote down. When you come back to your ideas you want to review them and organize them.

Your free writing has created rough ideas that you now need to pull them out and polish them. Scan for ideas that seem to have merit and are worth exploring further. At this point you have two options. You can scan your ideas and organize them into lists or you can pick a promising idea and begin to expand on it.

After you have organized or picked an idea write it on a separate sheet of paper or another tab in a spreadsheet or note taking software. Evernote and OneNote at designed for tasks such as these. Once again use the free writing technique to expand on your idea writing down as many thoughts as possible.

When you are done come back and polish your writing, filling in the blanks until you have a good draft of your idea and what you want to do with it. Now move on to another idea if you feel like it or come back to it later. This is one of the benefits of weekend brainstorming. You have the ability to work on it when you like.

Many Uses and Benefits

Weekend brainstorming has many uses and benefits. This same technique can be used not only for work, but for your personal life, your home life or any area that you want to use it in. It can be done at any time, in any place on any day, not just the weekend.

Use a pocket list to write down those great ideas you have at work when you do not have time to expand on them. Take them home for a brainstorming session. Don’t let them be forgotten by the end of a hectic day at work.

You can keep copies of each brainstorming session and come back to them later for further review. When you use note taking software such as Evernote or OneNote you can keep individual tabs for work, personal life and home. They are organized and easy to expand on when you have the time.

I think you will be surprised at the great ideas you can come up with using this method. It is a great way to take all of those great ideas and put them to work.

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This week Lifehacker ran a series of posts on how to “Supercharge Your Workspace”. There were lots of good ideas for improving your workspace with do it yourself projects and tips. Here is a list of five of their best posts on ways to improve your workspace.

Rejuvenate Your Workspace with These Office Supply Favorites

Decluttering tools, paper and note-taking tools, desktop accessories, food and drive, surge protectors and chargers. Some great tips for getting your workspace organized and more productive.

Three Great—but Cheap—Office Upgrades

Hanging buckets or cups to keep yours stuff organized, out-of-the-way, but easy to get to. Cable management and a laptop or a monitor stand.

Greatly Improve Your Physical Workspace with Small Changes

This is a good article about making your workspace more ergonomic and comfortable. Lots of good tips and links to ways to improve the esthetics of your workspace.

Beat Your Filing Cabinet into Shape with a Filing System Workflow

How to organize and keep up your filing system. This is a great article that shows with a little planning and work you can set up a system where you can always find the paperwork you are looking for.

Re-Evaluate Your Office Gear to Simplify and Declutter

In the spirit of a 5S System for your office, this post is all about sorting and cleaning out what is not needed in the workspace. Reducing the clutter in your workspace not only makes it look better, but you can find what you need and it will help you become more productive.

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The concept is simple. Take a standard sheet of paper, fold it once and then again into a nice neat square. You will end up with four easy to access squares to write on. If needed you can expand the paper for a total of eight squares. On the top of an outfacing square write down the date for later reference when you file it. Now you have a cheap, disposable pocket list.

You may have a portfolio or notebook you carry to meetings, but odds are there are many times during the day when you do not have these items with you. If you carry a pocket list and a pen you will be able to write down problems and to-do items throughout the day, anywhere you go.

Some people use small moleskin or other types of notebooks for this. They fit right in your back pocket and do have an advantage over a pocket list in that you can carry many days worth of notes. If you prefer these you can use the same system. I just prefer a less bulky simple piece of folded paper for each day.

How to Use a Pocket List

First thing in the morning after you have a handle on the day on one side of the paper write down any tasks you must or want to get done during the day. Then take the paper and stick it in your back pocket. Throughout the day go back to your list and mark off items as you complete them.

As the day goes by you will find you need to add more tasks to the list. Don’t worry about writing down more than you can do in one day. The list is a reminder system as much as it is a to-do list. You meet with someone and they ask you to look into something, write it down. An employee comes to you with an issue you need to follow-up on later, write it down. Someone gives you their phone number, write it down.

I use one side for a to-do list and one side for a reminder list. The to-do list are my tasks I started with in the morning. To this I may add “send e-mail to…., call this person…”. The reminder list is usually comprised of problems that need to be addressed. The other folds are useful for jotting down information in impromptu meetings or encounters where you may not have your portfolio or notepad.

Another good use for the pocket list is a brain dump. While at lunch you have this great idea. Rather than use a paper napkin just pull out your pocket list and write away. If you are like me you routinely need to write something down. With your pocket list you always have it with you and everything is written down in one place.

End of Day Pocket List Dump

At the end of the day pull out your pocket list and review it. You now need to take all of this information you have collected throughout the day and process it.

• Take care of any e-mail reminders
• Take care of any phone calls or make a call list for the next day
• Update your contacts if you wrote down any phone numbers or other contact information
• Add any new meetings and to-do items to your main calendar
• Add any pocket list tasks to be done at a later date to your pocket list calendar
• Transfer any detailed notes you need to document to your portfolio or notebook
• Create a new pocket list for tomorrow and transfer any remaining to-do items to it. The next day you will already have a start on your to-do list.
• For anything you do not transfer, but still want to retain use a highlighter on it.

After you are done processing your pocket list at the end of the day, toss it in a box or a folder. Or put them in order using a binder clip and keep them on your desk. You can go back and reference it throughout the week. At the end of the week you can go through the lists again, pull any information you want to keep and toss the used list in the paper recycle bin.

You don’t have to wait until the end of the day though. When you get back to your office review your list and knock out anything you have time for or that is a priority.

Merge Your Pocket List With a Calendar and Note Software

One way to maximize the use of a pocket list is to sync relevant parts of it with a calendar. I have a separate calendar in Outlook just for these items. Items on my pocket list that need to be taken care of later I add to the calendar with a reminder. Each morning when I am creating my pocket list I look at this calendar to see if there is anything that I need to add to that days list.

If you don’t have time to deal with an issue that day just drag it to the next day. Need to delegate a task to someone else? Outlook can do that too. Between your pocket list calendar, your regular calendar and your to-do list in Outlook all of your reminders and tasks are in one place.

If you have note keeping software such as Microsoft OneNote or EverNote you can transfer those great ideas or other notes to remember. Start a new page for that date and transfer anything you want to keep to your note keeping software.

Alternatives

There are several other alternatives for your hip pocket that many people swear by. They do have an advantage of organization and being able to carry days worth of notes with you. I have tried them, but found them to be too bulky compared to a simple piece of folded paper.

• Hipster PDA – The Hipster PDA is a paper-based personal organizer, popularized by San Francisco writer Merlin Mann. It is merely a collection of index cards with a binder clip. The index cards can be different colors for different uses or tabbed.
• The “Original” Pocket List – Booklets carried in a heavy bond paper holder.
• Mini Moleskine – Moleskine notebooks are very popular. This is an example of cutting them down to a size suitable for a hip pocket. Still large for me and you can find them now made to this size.
• Mini Marble Notebook – Look around in your favorite office supply store and you will find these mini marble notebooks.

Simple and Effective

You may not be one of the Getting Things Done types of people, but a pocket list is dead simple to use. No complicated system, just jot down your tasks in the morning, mark them off as you do them, add to the pocket list anything you want to remember and process it at the end of the day. A simple but effective time and problem management tool for busy managers.

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2. The Power of Weekend Brainstorming
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