I scribble notes on whatever is handy and drop them in my in-box. Since the physical note itself generally disappears when it's processed, I just write on whatever is cheap and available--usually a cheapo junior notepad.

When I'm out and about I keep a set of 3x5s with me and a small pen, to capture anything that ought to go in the in-box. That also gets dropped in when I return to my desk.

I process my in-box every day at about 4, to give me time to act on things before I leave the office for the day. I also update my NA lists at the same time. I'll do it before then if things pile up, but I don't normally have millions of things to process in a given day.

I usually process as I receive things. I have a fair number of projects, but most of them are not in flux, just need to Get Done. Things I am collecting during the day are things like "call so-and-so re: widget." I don't bother with an inbox->process->NA workflow there. I might capture it on the capture area of my hPDA, but that's if I am in a real rush. Otherwise, it goes straight onto the @Calls context card. Any other actions like that go directly on their respective cards. So, effectively, I have my system and inbox with me all the time, email excluded of course.

I collect receipts and scraps of paper throughout the day that need to be entered somewhere else as well. Receipts I enter sort of when I remember to or when my pockets are brimming. I can keep an eye on my finances on my bank site so I don't worry too much about this. When I get handouts in class, I have a file folder they go in and then I toss that folder into in every day or three.

My inbox at home gets processed regularly, but definitely not every day. This is stuff like snail mail and filing stuff. My inbox at work gets processed first thing when I get there and it doesn't get addressed again that day. I have conditioned my boss that if it's urgent, it doesn't go in "In" for me.

The last place that I receive action items is in my email. If my wife says, "Will you...?" I immediately say, "Send me an email." This is the same response if I agree to do or decline to do "...". It keeps me from being rash in my decision making because I almost always agree if I make the decision on the spot. When I am processing these emails, I can evenhandedly evaluate my available time and my workload and make the best decision.

That sounds like an awful lot of collection buckets but it works for me. My capturing is more a "15 second rule." If I am on the run and something comes in, do I have 15 seconds to put it on its proper card? No? It just gets jotted in my capture area. Capturing is also context sensitive. Obviously since I need my labeller, filing box (can't afford a cabinet just yet...), and file folders to do filing, so that just goes in a folder all together to be dealt with later. But I find that with my hPDA, I can deal with most other things as they come in. When I am checking email, I have my hPDA with me and can process right there. When I'm on the run, my hPDA is in hand, not in my pocket.

FWIW, I have a tendency to allow stuff to slip through cracks. If I waited to process stuff once or twice per day, I would lose trust in my system. This is ye olde "If it hasn't blown up by now, it probably won't" thinking. Great for your email DMZ, but really bad for workflow in general. "Well, I didn't process my inbox yesterday and nothing blew up" or "I didn't do a review last week and stuff turned out okay, so why do I need to do one this week - or ever for that matter??" OK, that was a lot more than I thought I had to say about all this.

oh God, I have become my father! I just went out and bought a small spiral bound notebook. At least I don't have a shirt pocket to put it into, also I will be ripping out the pages and putting them in my in-box so I think I am only slightly becoming him. Add to that that I got one Bratz (Sasha) notebook and one Yugi Oh notebook.

Here we go!

I do the same thing. Actually, I if I'm sitting at my computer and think of something, I send an email to myself. I'm one of those rare animals who didn't need to read the Inbox Zero series because I've always obsessed about keeping my inbox clean, so it's a good place for me to make sure something gets done. I find that if I skip the inbox stage and just write NA's directly on a list, things tend to stagnate. The same thing goes for my physical workspace, so mail, receipts, notes I took on the run, etc go into a pile right next to the computer, where I won't feel right until they're gone. It's an application of the "put it by the door" rule to make sure you won't forget to bring something with you; I put things by the computer (or in my inbox) to make sure I won't forget to do them.

I guess you must have superior discipline skills. I did that "I'll just put it here so I won't forget it" thing for 4 years and ended up with a desk 1 foot deep with papers.

And that is why most people have tickler files.

Yeah, i'm getting used to that thing. The name throws me off, I keep thinking it's where I am supposed to store all my p*rn downloads.

Heheheh. Well, some people drop cute cards, or even money, into their ticklers to give themselves a boost sometime in the future. You could do the same thing with a nice little download every now and then ;)

I can certainly relate to that. But I agree with emory. The Tickler is a great tool to cure the, "I'll lay it here so I do not forget it"s.