When it comes to handling all the incoming texts, emails, messages, and other pieces of information I receive each day, I feel excited to do my end-of-the-day processing routine!
My STEP Command Central has a place for everything that comes into my life, and after many years of practice and using these resources, this daily routine takes 10-20 minutes and leaves me with:
- All my text messages answered
- An email inbox at (or almost at) zero
- A clear idea of what is on my calendar for the next day
- Solid projects, Next Actions, and routines that I am excited about
- A sense of calm and assurance that my personal and work responsibilities are managed and taken care of
And we want the same to be true for you! While we all have different email/text/processing preferences, the principles are the same across the board and can be modified to meet your exact needs.
As mentioned in the audio, our first-ever STEP Momentum accountability group is starting on August 28th, 2024! If you’re ready to set up your own Command Central with check-ins and support from Team LearnDoBecome, please check out our full information page here!
Here are a few examples from the audio of the things I process and where they go in my STEP Command Central:
Texts:
As texts come in throughout the day, I do a quick check to see if anything is urgent. If not, I leave it in my text inbox until the end of the day when I typically respond. (Sometimes I have time during the day to respond, but it really depends!)
- I received a video via text that needed to be posted to our LearnDoBecome social media pages and sent to our ad manager. I spent two minutes or less sending that video from my phone to my computer and then added “Post video on Facebook” and “Send video to ad manager” to my work Next Actions List.
- Another text was from a friend checking in and sharing an update about her life. I used the 2-minute rule to text her back and share a quick update on our family.
Emails:
- An email came in today about how our insurance rates will be increasing on January 1st. Instead of letting this stress me out when I received it around noon, I skimmed the email–nothing was urgent–and left it for my evening processing. I spent two minutes checking out the links they included and decided to add this to our couples planning weekly agenda. I put this email in my Tickler email folder and noted on our little agenda that all the details could be found in the Tickler. This is totally off my mind now and I know exactly when we will discuss this and where all the support materials are located!
- I had one email in my inbox that had been sitting there for about a week. I realized that just talking through why I felt “stuck” helped me to process it and get it out of my inbox! This email related to a work question that I had researched and tried to find a quick answer for, but I wasn’t able to. I think that deep down, I felt like I needed to figure some kind of answer out in order to mark this email as “done.” I sent a simple reply back and let the person know that I had researched x,y,z but was not able to find a good solution. I let them know that I’m happy to research alternatives and I looked forward to hearing what their next ideas were.
- I checked in on the other emails in my work inbox and saw that most were 2-minute or less tasks that I could complete. I blocked out time during my work time to answer these emails and make sure everyone was taken care of.
Capture Tool:
- I wrote “Add car registration to budget” because we just redid our budget, but I forgot about our car registration fees when we set it up. Even though they’re not scheduled for renewal for 11 more months, it feels great to know that we will add this to our budget during our Sunday couples check-in. I added this to our Sunday agenda.
- I ordered something from a store, but they canceled the order because it was out of stock. I wrote “check in on refund” on my Capture Tool. I quickly checked my card and saw that the charge was already being reversed! If it hadn’t already been reversed, I would have put a task on my calendar for 3-4 days in the future and written “Check in on ____ refund.”
Work Texts:
- One message asked me to check in on a payment question and I was able to do that in 2 minutes or less. All set!
- My mom (April) sent me a message with two small project assignments and instructions. I was able to go to my work Current Projects List and add these two small projects (since I had room to add them–we recommend having no more than 8 TOTAL projects that you’re working on each month in all areas of life–personal, family, and work). I copied her written instructions into the projects list (mine is stored in Asana) and now I have everything stored where I can access it when I am ready to do some project work time in the next couple days.
Calendar Check-In:
- I checked the date-specific tasks for today and made sure that they were all done.
- I looked at the calendar events for tomorrow and made sure everything looked good.
- I saw that I was going to go to a local toddler time in the morning and sent two quick texts to friends with small kids to see if they wanted to join us.
I hope these examples were helpful! This end-of-day processing usually takes me 10-20 minutes and leaves me feeling SO good. I totally trust my STEP System and I know that all of these details are safe in my system. Do you have a favorite routine or way to check in on the different details coming your way each day? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Related Links!
STEP Momentum is starting on August 28th, 2024! Ready to set up your own Command Central with accountability and support from Team LearnDoBecome? Click here for the full details!
[PODCAST 197]: To-the-Point Questions to Assess Your Level of Organization
[PODCAST 230]: Three Characteristics of an Optimal Command Central
LearnDoBecome YouTube Channel!
Our ARISE membership – an amazing gathering place for community members that are using their Command Centrals to refine relationships, health, finances, individual purpose, and more. We focus on a new topic each month, and this is an amazing opportunity to receive coaching and support from Team LearnDoBecome. You can sign up for a free, 7-day trial here.
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