[PODCAST 132]: The Power of a WHOLE Command Central ❤️ Week 2 Report – Four Weeks to Finished

Years ago, when I first read David Allen’s Getting Things Done®, I was AMAZED at how every idea, paper, project, etc. had a final spot to land inside the system he described. Up until that point, I felt like there was a never-ending line of “piles” that I had to create to hold everything in my head/life, and finding a way to put a cap on that (and make it feel DOABLE) changed my life.

Since then, I’ve been teaching people around the globe how to build what I call a STEP Command Central. I’ve adapted it from what I learned from David Allen–and I’ve been “ringing the Command Central bell” for more than a decade because I truly believe if there were a Command Central on every desk, the world would be transformed.

We just completed the second week of our Four Weeks to Finished program (which is now closed, but we have a waitlist linked at the bottom of this page, if you’d like to join that!), and I can’t even tell you how proud I am of our members. (We call them “Finishers”!)

These first two weeks of the program have been pretty intense, but our community and team have been absolute champs. There’s a lot of “newness” going on for all of us. Our members are learning how to actually build each part of the Command Central and then make the parts work together, and our team has been learning how to best support our members in ways that bring immediate results and relief–but also sets them up for long-term, sustained success.

Here’s an update from our last class…

We started with a review of what they learned the previous week and explained where we wanted them to be at that point:

• You have a Current Projects List – paper or digital, 1-8 projects, posted (or front and center) and feeling great.
• You have a Context-Based Next Actions List (paper or digital) that has a maximum of 7 contexts (where your body is at the time), and you have that list populated with a SHORT list of tasks that will move your life and projects forward that week.
• You have one calendar with your appointments and date-specific tasks, and it is open enough that you actually want to look at it.
• You have a basic routines list with the CORE routines you need to do daily, weekly, monthly, etc. and you have them posted (or front and center/easily accessible).
• You have a mind sweep that we’ll work on later today!

Then we reviewed their homework assignments and walked through the basics on each part.

● Build each additional part of your STEP Command Central in a VERY basic way (Capture Tool, Inbox, Waiting List, Goals Section, Read & Review Basket, Initial Filing Cabinet, Support Materials, Tickler, Someday, and Incubation).

● Process your mind sweep into the Command Central using the Flowchart/8 questions provided inside the STEP program.

● Keep up the habits you started in Week 1, referring to your calendar, Next Actions List, and Routines List.

Then we had Q&A for a little over an hour, and I can’t tell you how much I love this community.

We have been running LearnDoBecome for nearly 7 years, and while I’ve done lots of Facebook lives, Zoom calls, webinars, videos, podcasts, etc., it has all been one-way (and then chat/comments). I’ve seen pictures of people on their Facebook profiles, but getting to talk back and forth on a video call is still so amazing to me. 🙂 And the questions were SO GOOD.

Here are a few stories from the week that I think will help you:

CBNAL: 

Just re-wrote my CBNAL mid week, it was getting a little messy and actually feels good to know things are moving off it as I go through the week. So today, headed out to run a few errands, and know that the UPS drop is already in car, return at Dicks has receipt inside the bag and mailbox keys are in car. AHHHH. Funny though, there were some thing not yet done from my CBNAL that I had to transfer to my new CBNAL …. and April was in my head a little bit …. why is this one still on here …. AH yes, the “Spend 15 minutes on taxes” maybe a little too broad — I put a little star next to it when I transferred it just as a reminder, this has been on here a while. And then I thought … what really is the next ONE small ACTION I can take here. Pull out bin of 2020 taxes from closet. Ok, there we go…. I get it.

The AHA moment for me with this week’s homework is this: the current project resource material folder/cubby!! Where have you been all my life? When I realize this is the paper/item involving something on my current project list, I can just put it in that folder and easily grab it when I’m working on that project (ie, all the notes about leaving my job situation)! This seems so simple now as I type this. But this is what always stayed in the piles and then I procrastinated on doing the thing because that involved finding the form. Then got stuck and repeat and felt defeated. And the other things for future projects go in the “someday project resource” area. How simple is that?!

I am so, so grateful for the chance to work with this incredible team and community. Thank you for the energy and love you bring! I honestly believe that as we work together, we can help the world get out of the overwhelm.

xoxo

April

Related Links:

Video Tour of a STEP Command Central

8 Processing Questions Podcast

A STEP Command Central on Every Desk (Podcast)

Four Weeks to Finished Waitlist

STEP Program (Open Now)

Free Training, How to Finally Stop Drowning in Piles – Sign Up Here!

ARISE Membership