I’ve mentioned before that we use the EOS / Traction model in our agency, and it’s been awesome. There are a lot of great pieces that we’ve implemented from it, but one of my favorites is the concept of the “IDS List” (Identify, Discuss, Solve). In short, it’s a place to leave ideas until a future meeting to avoid interrupting each other constantly as new things pop up.

In reading “A Minute to Think“, author Juliet Funt described the exact same system (with the exact same benefits) but under a different name:

The Yellow List is your solution. It’s a document where you “park” items that you need to discuss later. The name came from the notes icon on the iPhone, where it was born, but also holds the implied meaning as the color of deceleration between Go and Stop. With a robust use of this tool, you can strengthen your impulse control, moderate urgency, and dramatically cut down on unnecessary communication. Technologically agnostic, the Yellow List is used to collect all non– time sensitive questions, ideas, and issues for anyone you connect with frequently. You can keep one list per person or a master list separated by first names. Instead of letting any old thought plop out as it enters your brain, you use the tool to consolidate communications that can wait.

It’s been one of the best things we’ve added to our company in the last decade. It allows us to come up with as many new ideas as we can, know that they’ll be heard, but they won’t be distractions throughout the day.

Whether you call it an “IDS List”, a “Yellow List” or something else entirely, it’s a fantastic simple little tool for your team that can have a huge impact.

Something I’ve tried to do over the years, with marginal success, is to schedule more white space on my calendar. It seems somewhat counter-intuitive (isn’t “white space” the opposite of “scheduling”?), but it’s often the only way to make it happen.

In recently reading Juliet Funt’s book “A Minute to Think“, she had a great comparison to throwing a jacket over a seat to save it. She shares:

“If your calendar is out of control as a result of this ill-conceived protocol, and you have insufficient white space to do your best work, try throwing a jacket on it. Like when you go to the movies alone and wouldn’t mind a little room around you. One often throws a jacket on the next seat. It’s a purposeful-accidental way of staking the territory. If someone asks, “Is this seat available?” of course you move the jacket. But until then, the jacket serves you, increasing your likelihood of comfort in a crowded world.”

The follow-up question that came to mind, and Funt has clearly seen before, is explained here:

“The question in the business world is “What’s the jacket?” If everyone knew and respected the term “white space” already, white space would be the jacket, confidently blocked in bare squares and slices across your happy, relaxed calendar. But until then, you’ll have to find more subtle ways of throwing down a jacket. You can put “strategy time,” “planning time,” “thinking time,” or “creative time”—all of which signal value and boundaries concurrently.”

My calendar is getting more and more “full” with these kinds of things, and it’s quite helpful. As she shared in the first quote, the time can still be used for other purposes if needed, but you’ve given control back to yourself. If someone tries to schedule on my Calendly link, those times will be blocked for me. However, if my team needs me or something more urgent comes up, I can certainly remove the jacket and try to reclaim the white space next time.

Do put any jackets on your calendar? What do you call them?