From Sirens to Tags: Categorizing Information for Executive Function - DBR 095

Do Busy Right - The Task and Attention Management Podcast

We are constantly bombarded with information, and the challenge is to make that flow work for us, not against us. This episode explores how our brains instinctively make meaning and categorize information. It defines an organizational scheme that supports your attention, not interrupts it, by fostering an emergent, personal approach to managing information. Discover how to develop a system that feels natural and fluid, making it easier to maintain focus. The Instinctive Process of Meaning-Making

• Our brains make an immediate and "blindingly quick" decision about incoming information: "keep it versus ignore it".
• This immediate sense-making process is similar to hearing a siren. You instinctively categorize whether it's important to you (e.g., in your lane of traffic) or "nothing to do with me".
• This process applies to all environmental signals and information we encounter, including emails and social media notifications.

Refining Categories: Actionable vs. Reference Information

• If information is a "keep," the next step is a processing loop to make "more detailed meaning" and put it into "more specific categories".
• The first major refinement is distinguishing between actionable information (things you need to do) and reference information (things you need to see again later).
• Actionable information is categorized by questions like, "When do I need to act on it?" and "What level of priority does it have?". A simple scheme could be "One Now, Two Next, Three Soon, Four Later, Five Someday".
• Reference information requires more nuanced categorization to ensure you can find it again when you need to. The categories must "make sense to us" individually.

The Emergent Nature of Personal Categorization

• An effective organizational scheme must be emergent and deeply personal to you.
• Trying to force your information into someone else's imposed categories creates friction, slows you down, and often leads to losing the information because your brain doesn't naturally respond to them.
• Creating your own schema is "fluid and natural".
• While your system should be personal, some generic categories are widely useful, such as:
• Action Tags: Used to prioritize actionable information (e.g., "One Now," "Two Next").
• People Tags: For important individuals when they are the source of information or need to be informed.
• Project Tags: To group all related information for a specific project.
• Historical/Reference Tags: For areas of knowledge or work specialties.

Conclusion An effective organizational scheme isn't about rigid, imposed rules; it's about supporting your natural ability to make meaning and categorize information. Don't fight your brain; design a system that works with it by creating categories that make sense to you. [email protected]; www.linkedin.com/in/larrytribble