ProWork (process work) is a complete system for relieving your brain of a lot of the work it is currently doing, which will enable you to relax and as a result of that become more productive and reduce your stress level. Here is a quick review of how ProWork works, in 5 easy steps.

1. Clear Your Mind
Record all your commitments to free up mental energy and start accomplishing things.

Write down everything in every aspect of your life that you want to get done – now, next year, or sometime in your life. Write down every thought, every idea, every to-do and get them out of your head. A free mind can focus like a laser on the task at hand. Also, a free mind allows you to sleep, if currently you are up at night worrying about something.

2. Empty Your Inbox
Break tasks down into actionable steps.

Once you’ve compiled your list of unfinished business, it’s time to process each and every item. By “process,” I mean that you have to determine a Next Action: the very next thing you need to do, either to resolve an issue or at least keep it moving toward completion. Many items you’ll only need to file-or throw away.

What does a next-action look like? Let’s say you want a room makeover, the first step could be to stop by the paint store and get a colour pallet.

Some rules:
– Address things one at a time, beginning with the top item in your pile and working your way down. Don’t move on to the next item until you have determined what next-action is required.

– If a next-action can be completed in less than two minutes, do it right way, the first time you have the item in front of you.

– For any item longer that two minutes, you can either delegate it to somebody else, or simply defer it to your “trusted system” – the combination of calendar, file folders, and action-item lists that form the backbone of ProWork

3. Feed Your “Trusted System”
Put all those next-actions into a system that enables you to get them all done. A system is essentially a list management tool, such as your Time-Planner or Filofax, but also Software like Outlook or Lotus Notes are great list management tools if you use the Action pane.

Record Projects. A “project” is anything that requires more than one step, and you should keep a separate file for each.

Organize by Context. Organize actions into separate lists defined by the circumstance required to complete them (on the phone, online, at your office desk, at home, or while running errands). The idea is that you’ll move more quickly through a single kind of action than if you keep switching back and forth between mental modes, technologies, and/or physical locations.

Keep a “backburner” list. Record and regularly review projects that you hope to accomplish someday, even if there is no urgency-or time-for them right now. It’s fine to leave them right where they are, but creating the list and defining the item as currently undoable, frees up mental energy that can be used elsewhere.

Keep a “waiting for” list. What deliverables are you expecting, whether from your boss, spouse, or direct reports? Allen recommends tracking these in a separate list. Some practitioners further organize their pending file by person and/or organization, so that they can go over everything in a single interaction.

With your trusted system, it’s easy to create projects, contexts, and insert tasks in them.

4. Your Weekly Review and Preview
Set aside time each week to review your action lists.

Göran Askeljung

About Göran Askeljung

Prof. (op) Göran Askeljung is also the author of BrainRead – Effective Speed Reading and Director and Senior Trainer at immediate effects. Since 2015 Göran is also a Certified Facilitator und Associate of Consensus in NY, MD of Consensus Austria and Germany and Business Consultant at askeljung.com. Göran is Professor of Practise and Head of the Institute for Sales and Negotiations at the Georgian School of Management (GSOM). He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Austria. Göran is a consultant for The Forum Corporation (UK), eBda (Fr) und Napier Training Associates (UK) and is a Certified Solution Selling® Professional from the SPI University in USA. Göran is also a certified Microsoft Solutions Sales Expert (MSSE) and is an associate lecturer at the Economical University of Vienna, the University of Vienna and the University of Graz in Austria. Having lived in Austria since 1990, Göran has held positions as MD for Microsoft Networks (MSN) in Austria, Framfab and Icon Medialab, as well as various Management positions at Ericsson, T-Systems and Konica Minolta. As a Sales- and Productivity expert, Göran is passionate about developing sustainable efficiency through interactive and well-designed learning experiences. His compassion about his expertise comes from experience as a business owner and through many years in Management. Since 2003 he has built his own L&D business in Austria, designed and developed L&D programs and facilitated for many thousands of people. Göran is married and has two children. Social Media Links: Oxford Encyclopedia | LinkedIn | XING