3. Mental Work Has Five Distinct Phases: Collect, Process, Organize, Do, and Review.
“There is no reason ever to have the same thought twice, unless you like having that thought.” —David Allen, Getting Things Done
Not all work is the same.
There are five separate phases of effective work:
1. Collect
Collecting is the act of gathering inputs—resources, knowledge, and tasks. You’ll have a much easier time making use of your available inputs if they’re all in one place before you begin.
2. Process
Processing is the act of examining your inputs: what you can do with the resources at your disposal. This is where you start separating things according to what you’re planning to do next: tasks, projects, future plans, and reference information.
3. Organize
Organizing means taking the results of your processing and putting it in a system you trust, so you don’t have to remember it all. Tasks go on your to-do list, projects go on a projects list, future plans go into a tracking system, and reference information goes into a file or database you can access easily.
4. Do
Doing means working through the tasks you can accomplish right now.
5. Review
Reviewing means examining the results of your work, revising your strategy, and improving your systems for better results.
☝️ Keep these five phases deliberately separate, and you’ll get a lot more done.
