Started a new book today - Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. Check it out here. Fast Company hails Allen as "The personal productivity guru." So, he might have something useful to say.

He says 3 good things about managing commitments:

1. If it's on your mind, your mind isn't clear. (i.e. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system OUTSIDE your mind (a collection bucket) that you know you'll come back to regularly and sort through.

2. You must clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress toward fulfilling it.

3. Once you've decided on all the actions you need to take, you must keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly.

Another good quote:

"We've never really taught that we have to think about our work before we can do it; much of our daily activity is already defined for us by the undone and unmoved things staring at us when we come to work, or by the family to be fed, the laundry to be done, or the children to be dressed at home."

Good stuff - I'll post more as I read.

SH