My weekly cleanup "habit"

To be productive in my workspace, I know I need:

Clarity
Motivation
Reinforcement
Regular Completion
Accountability Management

Processing my in-boxes (voice mail, e-mail, paper, and files in stacks) clears the deck of my life and work. Writing down the tasks I "know I still need to do," allows me to focus on fewer (and more important) things at once. The work I do (personally and professionally) requires I clear the clutter.

One of the questions that originally sent me on the internal and external quest to increase my productivity was:

Can I create the space I need to create?

There are a few things I do, consistently, to get "back" to squeaky clean. One is my Weekly Overview. Every 5-10 days, I take about an hour and a half to:

- take everything out of my briefcase and put it on my desk,
- go through my travel bags (suitcase and toiletries bag) and replace/restock anything that's low,
- put any as-yet-unprocessed notes into the in-basket,
- review all the papers in my "Pending" file to make sure they are current,
- Check my calendar - 2 weeks back and 4 weeks ahead - to pull any reminders into my current todo list,
- Take an overview of my outcomes (my inventory of incomplete goals or deliverables) to reassess my commitment and decide an action (or several) to add to the todo list,
- Review my todo lists to check anything off that I did or add anything that has not been captured,
- open up and review the current "project folders" that I'm using (on average, anywhere from 4-8 folders),
- purge/restock an area or two on my desk (fill printer with paper, stapler with staples, water a plant, check the electric plugs by the floor to make sure they are in contact, etc).

This Weekly Overview makes it possible for me to easily spend the rest of the week processing, traveling, working, playing, sleeping, exercising...whatever-ing. I can eat lunch on Tuesday knowing that I planned  the whole work-life game recently, and I will plan again in the near future. During the week, I'm working off of the "work inventory" that is on-going and current. Doing this "knowledge work" on a semi-regular basis allows me to get what I need:

Clarity: A clean desk, a supplied briefcase, a clear mind for greater productivity in the days to come.
Motivation: I enjoy the inspiration that shows up when I see what I've done, and review what I have said I'd do.
Reinforcement: It works...when I clean up, I clear up. When I'm clear...I'm relaxed and focused.
Regular Completion: Every 5-10 days, I know I'm going to close a bunch of open-loops and acknowledge all I've done.
Accountability Management: I'm ultimately responsible for anything I said I'd do. This is one of the things that helps me manage it all.

Comments

[Debbie]

Excellent presentation; kept our attention and motivated to 'think' what was coming next. I felt it could have been a bit longer - a lot of stuff - in a short space of time.

[Donnalea A. Colebrooke]

I jnjoyed your senimar very much. My only regret is that it was too short. I hope that next year you can comke again and have a longer senimar.
Thanks very much for the Outlook information
I will make lots of use of it.