For instance, recently a call for help went out to our forum members regarding advice for staying on top of things when you are a manager in a retail environment. The trouble, it seems, is that with so many demands on attention by customers, employees, and the hectic pace, even ubiquitous capture seemed futile. 

One of the best pieces of advice, in my opinion, came from forum member JRT, who also works in a retail environment and had to make some similar adjustments.  While everything he had to say was great, it was this piece the really resonated with me:

“I keep a litle pad in my pocket, noting everything as I go along and am constantly amazed by what I thought was important at the time, doesn’t need to be done by me afterall.”

I am not quite sure why this really jumped out at me. Perhaps it is the idea that so many items in our life, if they are at the forefront of our attention, seem like the most important thing mainly while they occupy that space. One of the benefits of any productivity system that is driven by capture and review is that it allows for a certain buffer of time between those two steps. This time often puts things into their proper perspective. A perspective that can not be gained by constantly chasing after every demand placed before us.

Also, I think this can be applied to so many other inputs in our lives. Email is a good example. One of the many benefits to checking email far less often (I check mine twice a day) is that, sometimes, the “urgent” message someone just had to make sure you see right this very moment is much less urgent when you decide not to participate in the urgency. Heck, wait a little bit longer and you may find that the person, motivated by their haste, solved the issue themselves or found the answer elsewhere. This may not always win you brownie points with those giving out the merit badges but I would argue that your sanity is far more valuable than the patch they want to sew on your sleeve.

All I am trying to say is that sometimes things have an interesting way of fixing themselves when left alone for a while. Next time you smell some hot items cooking down the line, let them simmer for a bit. It just may be someone else’s job to fan the flames. If the dish is not meant for you it will still be there once it cools down a bit and will probably be far easier to digest.

As always, if you wish to discuss further on this topic, you can do so in the forums.