- So we need to now clarify what it is that we had our attention on. And what does clarify mean?So once more, clarify means, first of all, we've captured what's pulling on our attention, but then we need to put more specific attention on those things to discover exactly what they mean because to go to the next stage, which is to organize the results of that, clarifying what these mean and which category they go into is a primary step to begin with.So there's some very simple, but very profound questions you need to ask about everything that you've captured or collected.So three non-actionable categories, trash, incubate, or reference.Well, in a way you could think of it as processing the stuff that you've captured.If you say no, and by the way, there's a lot of things that we capture or collect or that are collected for us, for instance, in your email, that there is no action on. There's a lot of those things.Not all the actions that you need to take, just the very next one, that interestingly we've discovered that that actually lets your mind relax when you at least know what the trigger action is, not necessarily all the succeeding ones that will come after that.Very often I'll see things on a to-do list that look like mom, or bank, or doctor, or strategic plan.Now that I've seen it, I don't need it or I didn't need it to begin with.As I say, trash self-generates, it does not self-destruct.That's a category that we call incubate.And then the third category, reference material.So when you say okay, there is an action, then there are two really key questions that bring real clarity to what your work is.

And I use work in the very broad sense, call it anything you wanna get done that's not done yet.So when I say next action, I'm talking about very granular, very specific visible, physical action.So set meeting is actually not a next action because it could be an email, a phone call, you could task your assistant to set the meeting.So just using the common language of a project and creating a list of all of your projects, you actually can't do a project.A project like give mom a birthday party, or handle the next holiday, or to launch the strategic plan, or to finalize the budget.The problem is if you don't actually then capture what's the project that's driving these things that have your attention, and you take one action and then you get distracted or you get pulled off to do something else, now you don't have a place holder out here in the world, your mind takes it back.And that's great, you captured something there, but then there's still some decision making you need to apply.If you pick up something out of your in-basket, something you had your attention on, the first question is, is it something that is actionable?There are two optional answers to that question, yes and no.

Maybe is a no. So are you gonna do anything about mom's birthday?Those are captured ideas, but there's many things that are in those notes that you probably don't need to do something about.By the way, a lot of people need to make that decision about a lot of things sitting in their email right now, as well as things sort of lying around.Option two, if it's not actionable would be, well, there's no action on this now, but there might be later.Incubate means I need to let this hold for a while.But it is a good idea and maybe we should rethink that in two or three weeks.I need to be able to refer back to that.If it is an actionable thing, what's the very next thing that I need to do to move this forward?You do actions about those, so a project is just an outcome that more than one action is required.Oh, I haven't finished yet, and it goes back inside your head.Most people still have some thinking and decision making about stuff that's on their list.I mean, what attention do you need to put on mom and her birthday?What attention do you still need to put on the bank and your credit line?So that's the executive decision making you need to make about what do these things really mean?And what specifically are you going to do about them, if anything?Is is something that you actually need to do something about?Are you gonna do something about the bank or the credit line?Yeah, I'm sure you take meeting notes.And the no, if there is a no answer, you still have three options.First is trash.I either need to think about it some more, or I need to let some time pass before I make a decision.I need to keep that.