Temperature

Irons in the fire.

We all have too many things (Irons) to do and we try to keep them all going (Hot; in the fire).  I had a conversation last night with one of my friends/advisors. We decided that it is quite likely that many of these Irons are things that people don't care about now. At one time, they were critical -- Hot for the minute in the heat of the moment. Now, they are just taking up flame in our fire.

We've started categorizing projects and tasks using the terms "Hot Iron" or "Cold Iron". 

David Allen describes that annoying frustration that occurs when you have something on your TO DO list that isn't being done.  Remember that one time when you realized you wanted to clean the garage. You never intended to do it immediately.  Your mind didn't get that message, though, and it thought you should have started tidying 24/7 until the garage sparkled.  Every time you walk through the garage, your mind starts saying, "Hey, there is that dirty garage again! I think I saw a pile of broken-down cars over in the corner."  To counter this, we need to add Clean the Garage to our list, but put it on our Deferred list (David Allen calls it the Someday/Maybe list). Try this: Evaluate Garage Cleanliness on September 15.

For our work projects, I think we need to pick some of the Irons that are truly important and keep those Hot. All other Irons need to be categorized as Warm or Cold and then prioritized appropriately -- ignore the Cold Irons for now. When we complete one of our Hot Irons, we grab the next one in the warming oven (with gloves, of course). Then, periodically review the entire list to see if any of the Irons need to switch lists or move around in priority on the list.  I typically find that reviewing the list of Irons makes me think of something new.

I'm going back in the fire.