This time of year we usually start to notice messes around us. Then we start to clean: our desks, drawers, our complete offices. However, there is another kind of mess which we usually forget to clean up. It consists of unfinished, forgotten and for long time avoided tasks in all kind of our To Do lists.
This time of year we also try to show more care for other people. We buy presents. But we sometimes forget things that we owe to our colleagues, family and friends.

For those of you who use David Allen’s Getting Things Done method, I would like to suggest a way to clean up some mess while, at the same time, keeping in mind persons behind each of our work item.
So, where to start cleaning the mess? If you have an item fermenting in your To Do list for couple of months, chances are low that you will do it in a next couple of days. Therefore, don’t even try to do it now. Instead focus on your other lists and try to clean up messes there.

1. Go through your “Waiting for” or “Follow up” list. If you are waiting for an input from other person, write a reminder to him or her. If you do that in a firm voice (and you should, especially this time of year ), chances are that you will get a positive response. Keep in mind that other people also try to clean up messes there.
2. Do similar for items in your actionable folders. If other person is waiting for your input, try either to complete the item or renegotiate the agreements. In any case, show to others that you care. Maybe you even start an avalanche and some great work is finished.
3. Go through your Someday/Maybe list. If you are anything like me, you probably have loads of old items here which slowly become a garbage. Think again if you will ever have enough resources to complete them. Maybe they are not important anymore. Maybe they are not interesting anymore. If so, remove them.
4. Finally, keep up with all other routine task: processing the inbox, reviewing and, of course, do finish tasks. Do not allow more mess to be created.

If you did all of the suggested steps, maybe you will not complete some important actions. Nevertheless, your lists will be much shorter with more “quality” tasks in them and you will make your colleagues happier.

Do you have another idea how to clean up the mess in one’s personal productivity system?