Tips for managing pending items
What is a pending item?
A pending item means no action is required on your part until some time has passed. In fact, you have to wait for time to pass before you can do anything. Example: a future; a task you have delegated; waiting for someone to return your call; waiting for a response on an email.
So you cannot “do anything” with the pending item. You cannot delegate it and you cannot dump it. If you simply file the pending item it could get forgotten so many of us are tempted to keep it to hand…
Why is this a problem?
The problem with some of these items is you are never sure when they will be resolved. Often people will put a piece of paper on their desk, or leave an email in the inbox because they are sure the person will return their phone call/email at some point today, and they want the information handy. Eventually a desk or your virtual workspace can be stacked with lots of these pieces of paper/emails, and you end of wasting a lot of time just looking for the
letter/email. Sometimes you can forget they are there. That can lead to unnecessary crisis management.
How do I solve this problem?
There is a very simple solution to this problem that requires no computer technology and no memory games. For every pending item, there are three steps that MUST be followed for a fool-proof system.
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