A hallmark of life in the Information Age is a constant influx of inputs: emails, workplace app messages, texts, DMs, etc. On top of this externally-sourced inundation, new ideas to potentially act on are continually welling up from within our psyches. David Allen calls such information “stuff,” which he defines in his book Getting Things Done as “anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn’t belong where it is, but for which you haven’t yet determined what, exactly, it means to you…”
Until we clarify these inputs and ideas, they remain amorphous and ambiguous “stuff.” If we let our stuff pile up in our inboxes and heads, we get overwhelmed and stressed about the missed opportunities and unsolved problems lurking in those piles.
Getting clarity is what’s called for, but that’s often easier said than done. Sometimes we look at a long email or reflect on a complex idea, try to figure out what it means to us, and get stumped. Getting stumped can cause stress. To relieve that stress, we might skip over that item. We either proceed to the next one, hoping it’s easier to clarify, or we stop processing our stuff altogether. Of course, that is a shortsighted solution, because while leaving things unclarified may reduce stress in the short run, it means the pile of stuff will continue to mount, which will increase our stress down the road.
Why do we get stumped and stressed when we try to sort out our stuff? The primary problem is insufficient thinking. As David Allen explained:
…you have to think about your stuff more than you realize but not as much as you’re afraid you might. (…)
Most people have a resistance to initiating the burst of energy that it will take to clarify the real meaning, for them, of something they have let into their world, and to decide what they need to do about it. We’re never really taught that we have to think about our work before we can do it; much of our daily activity is already defined for us by the undone and unmoved things staring at us when we come to work, or by the family to be fed, the laundry to be done, or the children to be dressed at home. Thinking in a concentrated manner to define desired outcomes and requisite next actions is something few people feel they have to do (until they have to). But in truth, it is the most effective means available for making wishes a reality.
In other words, we get stumped by our stuff, because we don’t do that requisite burst of thinking necessary to wrap our heads around it. So, part of the solution is just to push ourselves to think harder when we’re processing our stuff. But there are also tricks that make such thinking easier.
What I have found helpful is to take notes as I read my messages or reflect on my ideas. On a notepad, I jot down key words extracted from the message or my head. This boosts my engagement with the material, because it forces me to really think about it in order to identify which words are key.
And I have found that it’s better to take these notes on paper than in a digital document. If you keep notepads and pens handy, analog note taking involves less friction than its digital counterpart. It requires less preliminary set-up, because there’s no need to launch an app and create a new document. It doesn’t create the need to screen-switch on your computer. And because handwriting is slower than typing, it leads to writing fewer key words, which requires being more selective, which requires better thinking.
Generally, once I’ve handwritten key words representing the essential “who, what, where, how, and why” of an input or idea, the answer to the question “what does this mean to me?” spontaneously springs to my mind. Then, if it’s actionable, I’m able to either do the requisite deed right away or create a reminder to do it later. And if it’s not actionable, I’m able to file the information away for future reference or simply trash/forget it.
With this technique, once the ink starts flowing, my thinking gets going. And once I have my thinking cap on, I don’t get stumped and I can clarify my stuff with dispatch. That means I’m able to empty my inboxes and clear my head on a regular basis. And that’s the way to keep up with the influx: to surf my stuff instead of getting overwhelmed by it.