The “6-D” Information System
You know you need to learn this method:
• If you use your email and voice mailboxes to store things you need to do
but don’t have time to address right now
• If your brain swims with all kinds of ideas and things you need to do
• If the location of your stacks of paper on your desk determines its
contents (the upper left hand corner of the desk means something different
from the upper right hand side of the desk. And, of course, items angled
sideways carry an altogether different meaning.)
• If you are constantly searching for things. You find yourself saying
things like, “I know it’s right here.” (By the way, the average professional
spends 36 minutes a day looking for things!)
Indecision, by its very nature, causes clutter and creates pile-ups. Many
of the piles on your desk and files in your email box represent postponed
decisions. The keys to successful information management are: (1) have a
“home” for each category of information, and (2) decide immediately where
each items belongs and (3) put it away. It doesn’t mean you have to do it;
you just have to put it where it belongs.
To help put these principles in action, I teach my clients a system I’ve
developed called the “6-D” System. Each piece of paper, each idea in your
head, each email, each voice mail, each fax…these are simply pieces of
information.
There are only 6 things you can do with any piece of information:
1. Discard—Permanently get rid of it. Ask yourself the tough questions—do
you really have the time to read it? What’s the worst that could happen if
you discard the item? Can you get another copy if necessary? You must be
ruthless in this stage! Studies have shown we only refer to 20% of all the
information we insist on saving. Today, the question is not, “Can I throw
this away?” but “Why should I keep this?”
2. Delegate—Refer the item to someone else. Get it going “out the door” to
that person right away. We cannot “manage by doing” in the DigitalAge, so
give away as much as possible.
3. Do—If you have the time to complete, review, sign, or reply to the item,
do it immediately. Then get it going back out the door to the requester.
This step is generally for action items that will only require two to five
minutes to complete. Investing the time now will save time in the long run
because you won’t review the item over and over again.
4. Date—For items you can’t work on immediately, determine when you need to
see the item again and put in the appropriate dated storage system.
5. Drawer—File items you can’t toss, delegate, and that don’t require any
action.
6. Deter—Halt the information; keep it from getting to you in the first
place. Stopping reports, memos, letters, minutes, catalogues, magazines, and
junk mail that you don’t need or have time to read.
If you think of these options each time you look at a new piece of
information, it will create one seamless system, rather than several
disjointed methods for individual items. The key is to keep your “in-boxes”
empty each day—paper, email, voice mail, and your brain! Let’s go through
the corresponding “6-D” equivalents for each category of information.
PAPER 6-D Equivalents
1. Toss or Recycle
2. Route it (interoffice envelope, routing label) and place in “OUT”
3. Complete and place in “OUT”
4. Tickler file (email me if you don’t know how to set one up) or action
file (“to be read” file, “to be copied” file, “to be faxed” file, “computer
entry” file, etc.)
5. File it in a corresponding project file near your work area or “to be
filed” bin to go into a reference file
6. Remove yourself from mailing
lists
EMAIL 6-D Equivalents
1. Delete it
2. Forward it
3. Reply if 3 minutes or less
4. Move (or copy, depending upon your software package) to Tasks (Action
items) or Calendar (time-sensitive meetings and appointments). OR, print and
file in tickler file if you prefer a hardcopy. OR copy email to your contact
management software and schedule an activity to follow up
5. Drag to appropriate personal folder (only if no action is required). OR
save to a Word document on hard drive.
6. Unsubscribe from mailing lists and tell your friends to stop sending you
their “joke of the day”! Or use OfficeAssistant to filter email.
VOICEMAIL 6-D Equivalents
1. Delete it
2. Forward it
3. Reply or call back if less than 3 minutes (best if your voicemail system
has an automatic “reply” feature that sends a message right to the person’s
voicemail)
4. Write a note in your planner on the day you need to respond, OR make a
log entry in your phone log, OR write the information on an index card and
file in your tickler file; then delete it
5. Transcribe the information (only if no action is required) and file in
appropriate project or reference file
6. Contact the caller and remove yourself from group distribution lists or
give them the correct person who handles that request
ACTION ITEMS/IDEAS 6-D Equivalents
1. Daily To-Do List or Task Pad if today, or Master Task List (or dateless
Task) if more than 30 days out
2. For things to discuss with others, write an entry in their Communication
Log, make a note to call them in your planner, or send an email to schedule
a meeting
3. Do it if 3 minutes or less
4. Drop a note in tickler file or fill in “start date” on task in the Task
Pad for when you want to see the item again
5. Transcribe and file in the appropriate project or reference file
6. Give yourself permission to stop worrying about it
Getting started with the “6-D” system
1. Get your organizing equipment ready. Surround yourself with the trashcan,
recycling bin, envelopes, routing labels, tickler file, planner, “to be
filed” folder, phone, and pen
2. Get your hanging file folders and set up the tickler file
3. Post a 3x5 card with the “6-Ds” printed on it. Process new information
(paper, email, voice mail) through the 6-D system
4. Take 30 minutes each day to organize old piles of information
5. Start with your paper in-box, because it’s usually the newest. Touch each
piece of paper and run it through the 6-D system
6. Start sorting through the miscellaneous piles of paper that have
accumulated in your office, 30 minutes at a time
7. When your paper piles are gone, start going through old emails, bottom
up, and run them through the 6-D system
Once you’ve got the old stuff cleaned up, the key to maintaining your
organized office is to have ALL of your in-boxes empty before you leave the
office each day. The old adage “a place for everything and everything in its
proper place” is indeed true. Don’t shuffle information, decide immediately,
and be disciplined about putting things away the first time you see it.
Make it a productive day!
About The Author
Laura M. Stack, MBA, CSP, is "The Productivity Pro"® and
the author of Leave the Office Earlier. She presents keynotes and seminars
on time management, information overload, and personal productivity. Contact
her at 303-471-7401 or Laura@TheProductivityPro.com.
TheProductivityPro.com
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