Tools for the Knowledge Worker

I grew up in a world where tools mattered. Members of my family spent 95 years working for The Stanley Works in New Britain, CT. Grandad was a tool and die maker and Aunt Millie managed logistics and shipping. In that world, tools were primarily implements for working with hardware and materials, not ideas and information. Recognizing that there were essential tools in a world that worked with strategy and decision support rather than screw threads and drill bits was a big step in personal productivity.

At Red Tuxedo, we call these tools the Magic 6™:

1. Filing trays (in/out/file)
2. Calendar/Planner
3. Contact management system
4. Wastebasket + recycling + shredder
5. Action files
6. Reference files

Taking them in order:

Filing trays

“Filing trays” are the traditional in/out baskets, famous in any number of Cathy cartoons.  Not everyone uses the traditional in /out / file boxes, but that structure illustrates one solution.  Whenever you come into your office carrying any form of paper, that paper needs to go somewhere.  The best place for it is an In box.  Unless new paper has a designated home, it either disrupts your current work or gets lost. Email in-boxes have replaced tangible trays in many people’s thinking, but there is actually a need for both analog and digital collection points.

In Out File basket

An out-box may be a real box, or folder on the wall, or simply be a designated place for things to go that need to be carried somewhere else the next time you go there.  In my office, these “things” are most often out-going mail and returning library books.  Each has its own place that I check every time I leave the house with plans to go in the direction of the post office (daily) or the library (less often).
In a perfect world, a file drawer with the most-often used folders is within reach, so papers to be filed can be dropped into the right drawer and folder in one easy reach.  (How to know the correct drawer and folder is the topic of another article.)  Most of the time, however, filing is a batch operation performed during a slow conference call.  People who do their own filing need a place where “to be filed” papers can collect, without falling over or disrupting current work.  A file box serves this purpose.  A reasonably shallow box can possibly encourage regular filing (we live in hope).

Calendar / Planner

Everyone needs one, a few people love their systems, and a few systems have made millionaires out of their creators.  Said creators can be persuasive–if you would only arrange your life according to their system, you too could have the benefits of perfectly planned progress toward your goals!  There’s as much hope sold in the Planner aisle at Staples as in the cosmetics department at Nordstrom.  It is the belief at Red Tuxedo that it is better for a planner to follow the way you work than for you to learn to work according to a planner’s underlying “system,” although we are open to the idea that some planning skills can be taught.  I have used many of the different planner systems and currently carry a book I created myself, using printed calendars from MS Outlook and plenty of space for writing.

To repeat:  we all need some way to keep track of the places we have to go and the things we have to do.

Once that point is understood, the variables start to diverge.  Paper or plastic or digital?  Who needs access–you, your family, your students, your chairman? Do you arrange your life top-down or bottom-up?  Does the very thought of “arranging your life” leave you chuckling?

I am planning a paper with a decision tree that can help you select a planner based on these and other variables.  In the mean time, it can be useful to consider which features of your planner work well and which do not support life as you live it.  Sometimes, all it takes is a minor tweak of a standard system to better support a particular person’s life and work.

Contact Management System

In the old days, an address book worked, sometimes for years.  Today, the same function may be provided  by a cell phone’s contact list.  If so, please make sure it is backed up.  Many email programs provide limited contact management support; advanced or heavy users may need additional programs like Act! or other programs.
Many Contact lists contain “notes” fields, as well as additional fields that are commonly not displayed initially, that can be used to record a reasonable amount of information about your contacts.

Wastebasket + Recycling + Shredder

Ok, thinking of this set as a “tool” is a bit of a stretch, but not a very big one.  Urban littering problems have been solved by putting a trash receptacle within a drink’s distance of food vendors.  People WILL throw things in a wastebasket if there is one within easy reach when they need it.

If you are a committed recycler, then it is a good idea to have a handy way to collect papers that can be recycled.  Many people use old printer paper boxes for this.

Finally, cross-cut shredding matters.  If a document has identifiable information that can change your life (or your students’ lives), shred it. I shred everything that has my name on it.  If the shredder is not within comfortable reach, make sure the “to shred” pile is secured in between trips. Some of our clients have found that their shallow desk drawers, which often can be locked, are an ideal place to collect “to shred” material.

Action Files

Tickle file

Action files, which include agendas, lists of calls to be made, “Tickler” files, and actual desktop file holders or in-desk file drawers, contain information that is directly relevant to active projects and programs. Many people use piles in lieu of a real action file system, with limited success. An indexed action file system can provide immediate access to the most relevant papers and information, no matter how disrupted the workflow.

Reference Files

Reference files, which include archives, are the last of the essential tools for the knowledge worker. Once a reference filing system grows beyond the one-drawer, one-user size, it should be indexed so that the debate over “automobile, Chevrolet, vehicle, car insurance?” is no longer an issue. Using an internet-based tool such as the iPEP allows addition of links to digital information as well as actual digital information itself, for content that has been scanned or entered into the relevant page in the wiki. Such a tool allows anyone with both internet and wiki access to search the system and find any data registered in the system.