{"id":16934,"date":"2018-07-11T09:05:42","date_gmt":"2018-07-11T16:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?p=16934"},"modified":"2018-07-08T14:44:53","modified_gmt":"2018-07-08T21:44:53","slug":"the-easiest-hard-rule-to-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/07\/the-easiest-hard-rule-to-follow\/","title":{"rendered":"The Easiest Hard Rule to Follow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-13984\" src=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659-215x300.jpg 215w, https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/DA-47_PLN_295x3659.jpg 261w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px\" \/>If you pass one tiny piece of paper on the ground, without picking it up, you\u2019re fired.<\/p>\n<p>At least, that\u2019s the story I heard once about a standard for employees at Disneyland. Apparently they had figured out how many less human resources they needed to keep the place clean, if it was kept spotless. Think about it: where will you be more inclined to throw a gum wrapper\u2014on totally clean grounds or somewhere where there\u2019s trash already?<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s true around our houses and offices, too. If you\u2019ve already broken the code, and left unclarified, unorganized \u201cstuff\u201d lying around, you\u2019ll easily (let\u2019s say even automatically and unconsciously) leave more of it.<\/p>\n<p>When my inbox is at zero, it\u2019s so much easier to keep it cleaned up. As soon as it starts to get semi-out-of-control, the chaos seems to speed up exponentially.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why something as mundane as a physical in-tray has so much power in keeping our thinking processes clean-edged. If all undecided and unprocessed stuff is in there, it tends to keep it in there. Most people, if they have an in-tray at all, aren\u2019t really using it as such, and no wonder there\u2019s usually so much residual incompletion lying around in their spaces (like the first flat surface when they walk into their house or office).<\/p>\n<p>Keeping things sorted makes it a heck of a lot easier to keep on keeping things sorted. Clean your house, empty your email inbox, clean out the in-tray on your desk, then fire yourself for not keeping it that way. It\u2019s the laziest way to do it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013David Allen<\/p>\n<p><em>This essay appeared in David Allen\u2019s Productive Living Newsletter.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/UWZKr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subscribe for free here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you pass one tiny piece of paper on the ground, without picking it up, you\u2019re fired. At least, that\u2019s the story I heard once about a standard for employees at Disneyland. Apparently they had figured out how many less human resources they needed to keep the place clean, if it was kept spotless. Think &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2018\/07\/the-easiest-hard-rule-to-follow\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The Easiest Hard Rule to Follow&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,736,1,716,32],"tags":[745,770],"class_list":["post-16934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-david-allen","category-educational-tools","category-featured","category-free-resources","category-productivity-tips","tag-david-allen","tag-productive-living","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.8 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - 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