I’ve recently fallen in love with a method of sorting stuff out that makes a lot of sense to me. It’s based on a TV show. Kinda.
Les Stroud is a Canadian survival expert who stars in Survivorman. It’s one of those shows that demonstrates how to survive in different environments, and it’s a good one.
One of the things that Les teaches is to stay calm, sit down, and look at your “zones of assessment”:
Zone #1 is your body, your pockets, your coat whatever you are carrying with you, and ask what have I got? Am I injured? What’s in my pocket?
Zone of assessment #2 is the immediate surroundings, same questions…
Zone of assessment #3 is the further beyond, what’s around the corner.
Once you get all those answers you now can…make a decision and then become proactive because you have answers, and that helps you to be even calmer… If you just sit down and do your three zones of assessment, you have enough information that you will know what to do next, and that’s what’s vital.
– Interview with Les Stroud, ArtOfManliness.com
I’ve modified this idea – and renamed it “zones of attention” – so I can categorize tasks, files, papers, and so on. It’s that same idea, of starting with what’s nearest to me, then working my way out:
- Zone 1 is me. This is anything that relates to my own health and interests.
- Zone 2 is family. It includes family health, appointments, school, and so on. (I put pets in this category, but they could just as easily go in Zone 3.)
- Zone 3 is my house…chores, grocery lists, filing papers, repairs, and household finance.
- Zone 4 is Work. I run my own business, so it’s a big category, but that’s fine. I have sub-divisions (of course!) for finance, marketing, sales, contracts, etc.
- And, Zone 5 is “world”, which covers any non-work thing outside my front door. That’s car insurance, picking things up from the post office, etc).
Right now I’m organizing my online files* into those zones. I’ve also made “zone” checklists and zoned tasks lists as needed.
Maybe this, or a system like it, would help you get organized too!