Read your log: the map of what only you know

Count first

At the end of five days, before you read a single row:

1. Count the rows and add up the minutes.
2. Count the steps and the decisions.
3. Count the yeses in "Asked before?".

Sort by kind

Put each question into one pile. Most fall into six:

• Decision: what should we do here?
• Process: how do I do this?
• Client: what is different about this client?
• Project: where is this piece of work up to?
• Person: who owns this, and who may decide it?
• Where is it: the file, the login, the last version.

Rank by what it costs you

Within each pile, rank by how often it came and how many minutes it took. A question asked eight times at two minutes costs more than one asked once at ten, and it will come again next week.

The top of the decision pile is your list. For a team of five or more it is usually 15 to 25 decisions and 5 to 10 processes. You will not write them all at once, and you do not need to. The first three take the most interruptions off your desk.

What the map tells you

Most owners expect the processes to dominate. Usually the decisions do, and that is why the SOPs did not help. The "where is it" pile is the easiest win: a link in the right place answers it for good.