How I Got a Grip on My Workweek

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Then we turned to the file boxes. Some scraps of paper became next actions. Others went into reference folders in a file cabinet. For that, Marian whipped out a Brother P-Touch 15 labeler. In a flash, it churned out labels and Marian showed me a special tool for peeling off the backs. "I've had executives around the world wax prosaic about their labelers," she said. I had to have one.

I began to see that toys and tricks are important features of the David Allen way. One subject per folder is a "best practice," and hanging folders are frowned upon. Those lines at the bottom of your average manila folder? If you crease them you can get more in. Who knew?

By the time we were done, I had agenda folders for each of my direct reports perched on one side of my computer. On the other side were plastic file folders that come pre-labeled by David Allen Co. One was titled "Action Support," another "To Home." I could stuff them into a GTD-branded orange zippered envelope—made from recycled materials—and lug them home.

But as I said good night to Marian I was worried. Without her, would I know what went into an "action support" folder? How was it that writing this article wasn't on my "next action" list? At home would I be able to reconfigure Outlook on my laptop? I glanced warily at the 43-page GTD and Outlook 2003 manual.

It turned out I could. On Saturday, I opened my in-box, "processed to zero," and turned to my "next actions." I was determined to get to the gym by 11 a.m., the time Marian and I had booked on my calendar, known in GTD parlance as my "hard landscape." But when I got to one action item—buy a Brother P-Touch 15 labeler—I was stumped. After 30 minutes online, I realized the model had been discontinued. What would David Allen do?

When my husband returned from walking the dog, he pointed out that I was sitting exactly where he'd left me two hours before and mocked my red "action support folder."

But finally I made it to the gym. And tucked into that "action support" folder were 10% off coupons for the Gap (GPS), where I just may find pants that fit my daughter. I've already put it on my "hard landscape" for next weekend.

With Ellen Gibson

Pollock is an executive editor at BusinessWeek.