Successful people are expert list makers. Throughout our day we have hundreds of thoughts popping into our heads about things that we know eventually need to get done.

When we fail to capture these thoughts in writing at a place we can refer back to, these unrecorded thoughts can easily contribute to greater stress and anxiety – without us realizing it. The reality is, our “inboxes” whether in life or at work, will always be full.  We will always have to change the tires, pay the car registration, email the client about something that went wrong on the project, or talk to a loving relative about boundaries.

The key is to have a safe writing place to capture these thoughts as they come, clearing our minds for greater thought, energy, and creativity. When we have dozens of random thoughts spinning around in our heads, we are much less productive and much more anxious and stressed.

In his book, Getting Things Done, David Allen stresses the importance of setting aside the time to capture these thoughts in a manageable, meaningful way to maximize performer and efficiency. I highly recommend his book.

I won’t get into Mr. Allen’s specific strategies but an important element is to immediately capture thoughts on a piece of paper to be able to easily refer back to it to get the job down. He encourages his clients to get specfic and to ask, “what’s the action?” on a given project rather than think about the project as a whole.

Find a way to create lists of next action items as they pop into your head. You will free your mind for greater growth and creativity and have a useful instrument to refer back to in order to execute what needs to get done.