David Allen on Home Business Organization Tactics
Last month’s “book of the month” here at Home Biz Notes was David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. I finally got to interview David Allen about organizing your home business office. Here are my questions and his answers:
How do you organize a home office where you have to keep home and business separate (for the home office tax deduction)?
I don’t know that you have to keep things separate as long as you keep the percentages straight (what percentage of your office is for home and what percentage is for business). You could keep two alphabetical files in separate places, too. The organizing principles are the same for each. The trick is getting it ALL off your mind.
You advocate working on “next actions.” These sound kind of like “to do” lists. What’s the difference between a “to do” list and “next actions”?
To do lists are amorphous blobs of undoability, with things you are avoiding making decisions about. For example, a to-do item saying “Mom” - what does that mean? You can’t DO to-do lists. Next action items are those things you can take action on immediately.
Do keep a total life “to do” list. If you have any discretionary time, look at it and construct the 16 next things you can do. Don’t beat yourself up for not keeping something structured. For example, I have a shed that’s a mess. When I have time, I’ll write a “next action” item to clean the shed, then I’ll go do it.
How do you deal with email?
Email is literally like an inbasket or your answering machine. If your phone rings and you’re busy, you let the answering machine take it and you check the answering machine when you have time. Hold onto your email in a place where you can go through it when you have time; don’t just respond to the latest and loudest. Use the two-minute rule. If you can do it in two minutes or less, do it. If it will take longer than two minutes and you can’t hand it off (as is the case with most solo business owners) decide what you want to do and keep track of it. Get very conscious about what you are doing.
I love the labeler and I find it fun. What other fun things do you suggest for home business owners?
The alphabetical filing system is fun - it’s great to make a file for a brochure about the opera and to be able to say, “I know where things are!” Make a file for your labeler brochure. It’s freedom to have a file and a system. It’s neat not to have stuff lying around.
Get a cool inbasket. We have a very cool one, designed in Italy that’s fabulously cool. It makes you feel comfortable throwing stuff in there.
Checklists are fun - make a checklist of all the interesting things you could do. I have an acre of land, and I have a list of all the things I could do - prune, cut firewood, etc. It’s nice to remind yourself of your options. My chief tech guy has a “brain dead” list - a list of the stuff he can do when he’s tired that takes absolutely no mental horsepower.
What is the single biggest thing a home business owner can do to get started being organized?
Take one step at a time. Don’t try to do all five steps at once. Start with collecting. Then move on. People get inspired at the beginning of the year, then they get bogged down and overwhelmed because they’re trying to do all five steps at once, and they feel guilty. Don’t do it to yourself; there is life at the end of the tunnel. As you start to do this stuff it will pay off immediately. Any one of these behaviors has huge immediate payoffs right away.
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Next time, progress on my journey to getting organized.
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POSTED IN: Interviews, Organization, Productivity, home business tips
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