Behance: Create a more productive office with Action Areas

Chanpory Rith
Mar 22, 2007

Devotees and dabblers of GTD know a bit about action lists. But what about physical action areas?

Behance, maker of productivity ~~pr0n~~ gear, tried it out. All it took was a little bit of tape:

One frigid November day, the Behance Team tried a bit of an experiment. We designated two areas of our loft-space office as “Action Areas.” With blue painter’s tape, we isolated both a portion of a counter space and a corner of the floor as areas reserved for items that require action. The concept: When you walk by, everything you see requires action. If you have a minute, take action. Members of our team started placing letters or packages that need to be mailed in the Action Areas.

I love the idea of a central communal space to hold physical action items–a very nice extension of the classic GTD Inbox and Actions list.

For the small office or design studio without an administrative assistant, it’s also a nag-free way to share basic tasks. Of course, it’ll work well in a multi-generational house or swanky bachelor pad, too.

Posted in: GTD, Lifehacks, Office, Productivity

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5 Comments

Lauren Muney

Mar 22, 2007
7:55 am

Funny – I already do this. Yay me!
Philip

Mar 22, 2007
11:37 pm

Nice idea to democratize the work place and creating a stronger sense of community amongst the work force.
camsin

Mar 23, 2007
10:46 am

Innovative. Although I don’t mean to be cynical, but doesn’t this concept eleviate personal responsibility from an individual? What happens when the items in the “action area”, piles into the non-playing areas? If I cannot handle my own task/chores, why could ask someone else to? e.g. penny jar – sometimes there is always someone that exploits the purpose.
Christine

Mar 29, 2007
12:00 pm

Most people tend to do this intuitively – putting items to go be mailed/returned by the front door, for instance. I find the real value in this exercise is ensuring the table by the door ONLY holds those items, instead of acting as a general junk repository (guilty of that one myself).
JexmoksPoummaExcaday

Jan 3, 2009
4:23 am

lbtmuyuawcwpukegwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch ;)