Now Is a Good Time For a Personal Systems Review

When was the last time you took a deep and serious look at your personal systems? If you are like most people, your systems have grown up gradually, loosely coexisting.

To be effective in today's work world, you must have high performing systems that serve your needs and aid in helping you live an integrated life. Like any well run business, the systems should be built deliberately with a close connection to your overall mission and tightly integrated to help you achieve optimum performance. Do your systems do that for you?

Here are the key design principles that I believe make up a good personal system:

• Portable
• Reliable
• Simple
• Accessible
• Integrated
• Redundant

The basic components that make up most personal systems are:

• Telecommunications: mobile phone, work phone and home phone
• Email: work and personal
• Paper based notes
• Storage: digital and physical
• Lists: tasks, project information, reminders, etc.
• Calendar: paper or electronic

The above list seems pretty simple and short. But in the actual implementation of the components, most people have actually made this very complicated. The complication is a result of not actually having taken time to integrate the pieces together and make concious design decisions. As a result, most people end up working for their systems versus the other way around.

You can fix this situation. Here are some key points to get started:

First, make sure you have a clear mission statement for yourself that incorporates your values, goals and roles. You need to know where you are going so that you can design a proper system.

Second, take an assessment of all the systems you are using today and determine how many you can either eliminate or consolidate.

Third, diagram your systems, starting with your collection points, and map them to show connectivity and linkage to each other. When you have your diagram, optimize your architecture using the key design principles above.

Fourth, migrate any system that is not currently web enabled to a platform that will give you web or mobile phone access.

Fifth, begin to deliberately tie your systems together.

Here are some integration tips that you can put to use right away:

• Forward multiple voice mail boxes to one mail box so you only have to check one place.
• Configure your email clients to allow you to access all of your email through the one "mail" page.
• Use one personal information manager to manage all of your professional and personal details (i.e. calendar, tasks, contacts and reminders).
• Use online tools to back up your digital storage - automatically.
• Configure your voice mail, email and digital storage so that you have web access to your content through any web connected terminal.

Technology has really advanced in the last 24 months. The costs for web based services are very low. Today, more than ever, the promise of the Internet is alive, well and ready to serve you. Tapping this potential in a deliberate way, with your mission in mind and a design that fits your integrated life, will really help improve your performance.

As you get ready for 2008, use this time to get your systems in shape.