i think a lot of people would agree that the incessant string of e-mails these days is to produce a proper paper trail for accountability… since the e-mails PUSH their way into someone’s attention field in the in-box, the sender therefore thinks he/she is PUSHING the attached accountability of that project’s next stage into someone’s court. (i.e. “well, i sent you an e-mail that said the project would cost twice as much. you must have seen it.”)

problem is, what they are really doing is assigning responsibility to the next stage of a project to someone else, with no clear way to follow-up to cover their own accountability for it. there’s an old saying i am fond of… “The difference between accountability and responsibility is that you can delegate responsibility.” Therefore, those who are ACCOUNTABLE for a project’s outcome (or a stage’s particular outcome) can e-mail all they want to attempt to assign RESPONSIBILITY, but unless the sender gets a firm commitment, positive or negative, from the recipient, the onus still lies with the SENDER to Get Things Done.

This has been your life lesson for today. Please collect your two cents at the register. ;-)

Really, if you really care about your productivity, you should follow the lead that the best experts set with their fine examples, as in here :)

[…] Brian Oberkirch on reducing noise and stealing back attention | 43 Folders […]

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Here’s a terrific auto-reply I came across recently that might (just might) get people to stop and think before hitting you with another email. Check this out:

“Please help me implement STREAMLINED and EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION.

I am experiencing an overflow of messages in my email IN box to the point that I will never be able to catch-up.

If you are awaiting an answer from me on an old message or if your present message contains important information that I need to know, please pick up the phone and advise either myself or my assistant Sally (123-456-7890).

If you just routinely put me in the CC list, please avoid this.

My function is not to read emails, but to manage a company and the important relationships that I have with my Customers, Suppliers and Employees.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping me dealing with this problem.”

Interesting stuff.

The only thing I would add is, if you work in an office environment and not at home, set “office hours” where people can stop by and ask you questions, etc. I waste more time each day when colleagues stop in and talk about last night’s game, their trip to some city, etc. If I could just get that time back, I’d be far better off.

I just subscribed to Tim’s 4hourworkweek blog. At first I thought I didn’t have time to subscribe to any more blogs, then…

I video taped a bit of Ferriss’ speech from last Sunday evening at Ignite. It’s not all of it, but here it is:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/chris/videos/203/

Do a brain dump. Do not require yourself to remember things. Use to-do lists (http://www.backpackit.com), bookmarks (http://del.icio.us/) and a password manager (http://www.passpack.com)

If someone tries to shove a task off on me, I just tell them I don’t have time. Which I don’t. If they continue to beg and plead, I answer with this old chestnut:

“I’m sorry, but lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

That usually shuts ‘em up.

Tim Ferriss’ book is coming out tomorrow. I’ve been itching to read it since from what I’ve read , it actually makes sense in getting work done. Unfortunately I still have to wait. I don’t have access to advanced copies. Any ideas what it takes to be a proofreader? A particularly popular one like Brian Oberkirch? :)

Make ‘no’ the default answer for new project/app review/etc. requests. New things should earn their way into the attention field.

Read a certain way, this could mean simply saying “No” to every new request. This may work well if you’re running your own business, but it does carry the concurrent risk of cutting one’s self off from potentially good opportunities. If the request demands an immediate answer, then “No” may be appropriate given one’s current workload. However, getting the requester to document their request in detail — including what’s expected of you and what’s in it for you — and collecting that as a GTD “In basket” item for later consideration as to “Next Action” may be a better way of handling the situation.

For those who are employees, simply saying “No” isn’t an option. However, there are appropriate ways to go about keeping one’s plate at work from running over. First, if your plate is truly full and you can’t take on an extra task or project request from your boss without duress, then you need to be able to prove it: documented project plans, due dates, etc. are the necessary evidence. Once you’ve shown your plate is full, you can ask your boss what they want to take off your plate so you can attend to the new task. If that’s not an option, then you can offer meaningful suggestions as to other colleagues or team members who might be able to do the project. If this negotiation is handled respectfully, and both you and your boss are reasonable people, then you can usually avoid being overworked while simultaneously helping your boss get the new job accomplished and demonstrating your own management abilities.

I’m glad I found this blog. And I definitely think I need this book when it comes out.

Being a fairly lazy person, I tend to put off all those little ten minute organizational chores that would save me hours in the future. (Even the title of this blog, 43 Folders, makes me anxious because it reminds me of all the filing i never do.)

But now I’m starting my own little blog and it might be time to clean up my act. Lots of places to visit, things to learn, people to meet, and I’m already losing track of what i’ve done and what I haven’t. Or maybe a new brain, if anyone knows where I could get one.

Sorry, I may get kicked out here—I didn’t see that “rule” was a hyperlink and that were actual Rules so I didn’t read them before I posted.

And I can’t give my real name, sorry about that. Feel free to delete both comments.

Too bad, this looks like a cool place to hang out.