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The Orange Index Card Trick

Written by: Laura Posey

Article Overview: I recently finished reading David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” and I have to say I found it very interesting. While I consider myself a very organized and productive person, I learned quite a few things from the book. The most powerful thing I learned was to put all of my thoughts of things to do in one single place. I’ve always been a list maker and have most of the items in my head on the list but I didn’t have them all until I read David’s book.

The Orange Index Card Trick

I recently finished reading David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” and I have to say I found it very interesting. While I consider myself a very organized and productive person, I learned quite a few things from the book.

The most powerful thing I learned was to put all of my thoughts of things to do in one single place. I’ve always been a list maker and have most of the items in my head on the list but I didn’t have them all until I read David’s book.

I now keep my master list in the Mac version of Outlook, called Entourage I like the electronic format because I can move items around with ease and keep the list manageable with categories and color-coding.

The challenge has always been, how do I keep track of all the things to do that I think up throughout the day.

I’ve solved that issue with a few orange index cards.

I carry these cards around with me wherever I go and as soon as I have one of those “I ought/want/could do that” thoughts, I jot it down on my card. When I get back to the office, I simply transfer the ideas to my total task list and Presto! everything is in one place again.

It is a very calming feeling to know I don’t have to carry those thoughts around with me, always worrying I’ll forget something or let it fall through the cracks.

Each morning, I simply sort through the big task list and choose the things I’m going to get accomplished today. It’s a quick, easy system that ensures all the important things get done and that the other things don’t get forgotten.

Give it a whirl and see if might help you stay organized, focused and on top of things this year!

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Article Tags: marketing, motivation, sales, sales tips, small business



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