I know that a lot of our community members want to build an entire STEP Command Central (links below, if you don’t know what we’re talking about!), but sometimes it’s fun to just learn a couple of parts at a time. That’s what we’re going to do today!
The Inbox and the Incubation Folder are two simple things you could create today—and I promise they’ll help you start getting a hold on all the piles of clutter. 🙂
When I was growing up, we would throw our school papers, field trip forms, receipts, birthday party favors, sticky notes, etc. on any flat surface we could find.
Our home always felt like a mess, and my mom was the only one who seemed concerned about it.
I didn’t realize how overwhelming that was until I had my own home and family. All of a sudden, I was stressed out of my mind over all the random details that kept slipping through the cracks. And I couldn’t even enjoy being at home because the visual clutter kept calling my name—in every single room.
I remember Eric came home from work one day and wanted to sit on the couch and hold me. I snapped, “Then who’s going to clean up all this stuff? Who’s going to manage all of the family things? I can’t rest! It’s fine—you just sit there and take a break. I have too much to do.”
Yikes.
My Command Central has solved this, but here are two components that can at least get you moving in a good direction.
First, the Inbox.
Instead of spreading incoming items all around your house, you give them ONE location (your inbox) where they can land.
I keep my inbox upstairs near my desk, and I ask Eric and the children to either put papers in a specific spot on the kitchen counter—or on the main surface of my desk. Then I do a quick review each night and clear those spaces.
Anything that can be handled in two minutes or less gets done right away.
Anything I can quickly review is then recycled.
Anything that needs more than two minutes of my attention is noted on my calendar—and then put into the inbox (or another appropriate spot in my STEP Command Central).
Anything that can wait until my Weekly Review goes into the inbox.
Life changing!
Second, the Incubation Folder.
There are SO many things that we keep because we might need or want them. All of those things are incubated.
These are not items that have required actions, like bills or important events to calendar.
These items also do not have ANY associated obligations. If you never look at them again, you’ll be fine.
But the beauty of the Incubation Folder is that it takes the “excess” off your mind, frees up visual space, and keeps items safe, in case you do decide you want to do something about them.
I empty the Incubation Folder once every month or so.
All right, that’s it! Any questions/comments/thoughts?
LearnDoBecome Challenge: Get a simple box to serve as your Inbox, and tell your family/associates to only use THAT for the papers that come into your life. Then get a file folder/magazine holder/some container to serve as your Incubation spot. Use it generously, and enjoy!!
P.S. We’ve been enjoying all of the inboxes that are turning into “cat beds” and then shared in our STEP Mastery Facebook Group. Ahhh, so funny!
Related Links
- A STEP Command Central on Every Desk–and What That Means for YOU
- Links to My STEP Command Central Resources
Free class: How to Stop Drowning in Piles
Have you had a chance to join our free class? If not, we’d love to see you there! Sign up here!
I love those ideas! I finally got a good centralized inbox that everyone knows how to use. A win for family organization! I have one for the adults and one for the kids’ schoolwork.
My incubation pile is the trouble though…how do you “empty it once a month or so”? Since I have been following you for quite a while, I guess your answer will be evernote…but just curious. Don’t you lose track of things in Evernote too?
Hi Anita! Great question. 🙂 The key is to review what’s in the folder on a regular basis. As you look back through the folder it may become more clear as to which activities/resources fall into “I want to do this” vs “this isn’t right for me.” Storing resources in Evernote is definitely an option! 🙂 I hope that helps!
Hi Anita! Love that you have a good inbox in place. Way to go!
The way I empty my Incubation folder is simply a monthly routine I put in place. Toward the end of the month, when I am redoing my Current Projects list and clearing things up, I typically do a quick look through my Incubation Folder and my Support Cubbies and pull out anything that is unnecessary. It takes maybe 2-3 minutes. The beautiful thing about the Incubation folder is that nothing in there really needs to be sorted. It’s more like, “Hey, I put this in here awhile ago, and if I haven’t needed it by now, it can probably be tossed!” 🙂
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the more detailed explanation. I appreciate the feedback and ideas.
By reviewing incoming material and then RETURNING it to your inbox, doesn’t that mean looking it at the same material more than once, and perhaps mutiple times? Doesn’t make sense to me.
Good point, Ruth! If you can review the incoming material and instantly make a decision on it (is it related to a project, or does it need to go in a specific part of your Command Central, etc.), then you would absolutely want to put the item in the appropriate landing spot. No need to return it to the inbox. I find, however, that I like to do an initial sort into two categories: (1) Things I can do in 2 minutes or less and (2) Things that need to be further processed during my Weekly Review.
So yes, technically I am reviewing it twice–once when I receive it and once during my Weekly Review, but that doesn’t feel overwhelming to me because the reviews have different purposes. You could of course tweak this to meet your needs! 🙂 Thanks so much!
Thank you for this post, April. I, too, have found that a centralized Inbox and an Incubation Folder are key components of a Command Central that can be implemented, even if just on their own, to great benefit. Your whole system is that way! Any part of it that one implements will prove to be beneficial.
I have a question, if I may, about your quick nightly review of the contents of your home’s collection areas. You write that “anything I can quickly review is then recycled.” What might be something that you would “quickly review,” and then what do you mean by “recycling” it?
Thank you.
Hi Len! Thanks for your comments–and that’s a great question. I’m mainly referring to paper items. For example, my husband gave me a flyer from our city with a few details I wanted to review. I looked it over and then put it in the paper recycling bin once I was finished. That way, the information is received, I act on anything needful, and recycle the paper for the sake of the environment. 🙂
So you mean…garbage ?
Hi Narda, Garbage goes into landfill. Recycling (if it meets the requirements) by your community gets sorted and then sent to manufacturers who reuse it (cardboard, paper, etc). It helps protect the environment by reusing instead of trashing.
Hello thanks for your little emails that help me create one simple idea at a time. I am older and work hard to learn the tech stuff but it is harder for us oldsters! Thanks for keeping it simple and clean so we can easily implement. I bought your system but got overwhelmed in the implements so I am kind of stuck! Joey
Joey, thanks for your comment! It can feel a bit confusing right at first as you learn this new way of thinking. Do your best to keep it simple. Use things you already have around the house and don’t worry too much about learning new apps or technology. Once you’re feeling good about the concepts, then you can look to digital apps if you’d like to learn more. If you’re a Mastery member, we’d love for you to join us in the Facebook group! The members there are so supportive and helpful. We’re so glad you’re here!
So helpful !
The issue I have is scheduling and “agenda” for the daily and weekly reviews…
Hi Arlyn!
You’re not alone in this. Many of us on the LearnDoBecome team have broken the Weekly Review into pieces to be done on different days of the week. Calendar planning one day, email another, etc. As for the daily review, many of those things happen naturally throughout the course of the day. A quick look at the calendar to see what’s scheduled, same with email to see if there’s anything that needs attention. Hopefully that helps!
If you’re part of our Mastery program, this would be a great question to ask in our Facebook group. You’ll get lots of great ideas and support there!
Thanks for being with us!
This will help me SO MUCH !
One thing I’ve found helpful is a “reverse” incubation or tickler file for items on the way out. I have 4 rotating folders for this month, 1 month back, 2 months back, 3 months back. If I’m processing ins, random receipts or have paper related to something I’ve handled that I hesitate to trash, I drop it in the current month folder. Next month, I move that folder to back. Go through the next up folder for anything to shred, recycle, etc. It helps my brain to know that if I haven’t needed or looked for that item in 90 days, it’s not worth keeping. This speeded up my processing tremendously knowing items were “safe” for 90 days.
This is a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Hi April,
Great Post – I haven’t seen any recent podcast/LearnDoBecome Radio stuff – have I been missing it – I thought I was subscribed – or have you taken a break. I really enjoyed the Covid decluttering challenge – it was great series!
Thanks:))
Lisa G.
Ditto on this. I have been missing the weekly podcast/radio episodes also! Always so much info and encouragement 😊
Lisa and Marilyn, thank you for your kind words! We’re taking a short break from new podcasts but we will continue to add to our website here each week and we are planning new podcasts for the future.
In the meantime, we have over 100 past podcasts for you to enjoy. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram where we’re sharing lots of fun photos and tips.
https://www.facebook.com/LearnDoBecome/
https://www.instagram.com/learndobecome/
Thanks for being with us!
Love the cat/inbox/boxes! Marilyn Bowdoin
OK I have a box it goes back to 2000 or before. stacks and stacks some it if it stale- no doubt, but Some of it is emails that are part of my family history and my own personal history.. I tried to punch holes in those and put them in note books. but… that did not work well.. help?? other ideas??
Thanks. oh.. concussions do not help productivity! just sayin..
prayers??
Sending lots of prayers for a solid recovery from your concussion! April had one a few years ago. She recommends lots of rest so your brain can properly heal. As for the emails containing personal and family history perhaps you could reprint them in a format that would better work for binders or you could put them in page protectors. Hopefully that gives you a some ideas. Wishing you all the best!
Do you have a printer with a scanner? There are also Smartphone scanner apps that utilize the camera on your phone. This would allow you to get rid of all the paper copies taking up space..
Thank you, I read this and realized I think I had originally misunderstood the incubation. I used to look at it as project/ideas – whereas how you explain it is broader than that, which is helpful because I am starting to see the things I didn’t know what to do with go there! I have a question about incubation items not on a piece of paper, does it sound silly to write ideas or things that were told to me on a paper to throw in incubation so I can review later – or am I going about this all wrong?
I’m so glad this has been helpful to you, Colleen! Your idea to write things down to review later is perfect! The key is to have a place to store the ideas and a routine to review them at a later time. Enjoy! 🙂
I have been loving the someday folder for things that I know I will need someday-like my new 2021 agenda/planner. Now I know it is safe and has a place to wait for the next few months while I finish 2020. 😊 I am looking at someday as a broader tickler for things that go beyond the current calendar year. Has this worked for anyone else? Ps. I’m still a step mastery newbie-to!
You can also incubate “forward” by placing items in an upcoming month’s ticker file. Each time you revisit, make a light pencil mark in one corner. After three marks, either do it or recycle. This only works for really promising things, not “junk mail” that will proliferate and take over everything!
Janis, that’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing this tip with us. 🙂 We’re so glad you’re here!