In all advertising success stories, there is a simple set of principles. Impact, Communication, persuasion.

The advert needs to grab your attention, communicate its purpose, and persuade you to buy the product.

Think of Apple’s “1,000 songs in your pocket.” The image of an iPod with earphones on a simple white background and the words “1,000 songs in your pocket” contains all three principles.

In the world of time management and productivity, there is also a set of three principles: collect, organise, and do. These principles are not just theoretical but practical. You collect everything that gets your attention into a trusted place. You organise what you collect so that you see it when you need to act on it. And, of course, you need to do the work.

Trying to work outside these three principles results in backlogs, missed deadlines and a lack of trust in your system.

If you don’t collect your commitments and ideas in a trusted place, you will lose important information. If you don’t organise what you collect so you see what you need to see when you need to see it, you will not be doing the things that matter.

To give you an example, I have three primary collection tools: my computer for when I am working at my desk, my phone for when I am out and about, and a B6 ring-bound notepad with a pen and pencil on the left side of my desk (I’m left-handed) to capture thoughts and ideas.

I’ve learned the keyboard shortcuts to get stuff into my system without thinking, and I have the widgets set up on my phone for quick capture.

Each part of collecting, organising, and doing is equally important. Collecting and not organising what you collect every 24 to 48 hours leads to overwhelmed and bloated inboxes. It also destroys trust in your system. And, if you’re not doing the work… Well, what’s the point of having a system?

If you frequently change tools or mess around with your system, you delay the all-important trust. It’s no coincidence that David Allen has been using the same set of tools for over twenty years and religiously does his weekly planning. It works, and he trusts his system.

If you want to improve your productivity and time management, focus on improving collecting, organising and doing your work. Improvements in these areas always lead to better focus and less stress and anxiety.

Homework.

What could you do this week to improve your collecting and organising? What part of your system do you not trust?

Improvements in these areas will give you huge benefits in clarity, focus and overall well-being.

Further help.

Number one is to take or retake the COD course. That course (which is free) will give you the principles you need to develop a system you trust and that works for you.

You can also watch or read these resources:

COD — The Simple, Easy To Use Productivity System Anyone Can Learn. →

The 3 Basics Of All Great Productivity Systems →

Basic Principles of The Best Productivity Systems →

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