I’ve been walking around with a bit of a buzz lately, and not because the pre-spiked eggnog has hit the supermarket shelves, but because I’ve been actually doing something about some of the things I’ve been thinking about, talking about, hoping to or putting off … for some time.

There are projects and ideas that have been kicking around in my head, many for ages, inadvertently shelved on what Brian Tracy calls, ‘Someday Isle’ by excuses around time or money or courage (or lack thereof).

And while circumstances have particularly changed, I’ve made the decision to start tackling and taking action towards several of them.

And the incremental progress I’m making feels exciting and energising.

This is a natural reaction to unblocking my “workflow”, says management consultant and Productivity Coach, David Allen, author of, “Getting Things Done” (Viking Penguin, 2001).

Whether they be big things or little things: the workshop I need to plan, the trip that needs organising, the festive decorations needing to be dug up, or finally getting that picture to the framers that’s been collecting dust for two years.

Priority or not, these ideas take up room and energy in our minds.

Thoughts on the back burner don’t quietly wait for the right time, they’re continually bubbling away and detracting from whatever we are otherwise trying to focus on.

“Anything that does not belong where it is, the way it is, is an ‘open loop’ pulling on our attention,” says Mr Allen.

I have items that seem to be on permanent rollover from one ‘to do’ list to another.

How inefficient to be having these same thoughts again and again (perhaps even adding a smattering of self-recrimination for not having addressed them yet).

A waste of creative energy and time. How much has that jiggley door handle that irks me daily and I think, “I must do something about that” cost me in terms of my creative potential — who knows where I could be right now! Seriously though, the little things add up.

People tend to have so much on our minds that they can’t cope, says Allen, “they’re constantly distracted, their focus disturbed by their own internal mental overload”. (I can definitely identify with this at times).

It is mental stress and creates levels of tension and pressure we’re perhaps not even aware we are carrying around.

One way around this, says Mr Allen, is to get it all out of our heads: to capture and record every ‘open loop’ (every one) that is creating drag, then put it through a three stage process of:

• Clarifying the intended outcomes

• Deciding on the next physical step to take to move it forward

• Putting reminders of outcomes and actions in a trustworthy system

Then it’s a case of doing them. Once the next actions have been identified, even an arduous or lofty project becomes so much more doable because we don’t do projects, we do actions. It’s then just a question of, when?

For those things we put off or ignore, by not making a choice, we are still making a choice.

I’ve had two harsh reminders this week that when something needs to be done, it’s so much better to just do it.

If I’d made that dentist appointment the first time I wrote it on my list, the doc says it would have meant only one cavity filled (insert frowny face) rather than two (double frown)! How did I not know tooth decay is contagious?

And my fancy double oven, only half of which has worked since it was installed …

I thought it was time I got it looked at with the Christmas cook-fest fast approaching. I finally made the call and it turns out it’s been under warranty … until two months ago!

Scratch the spa treatment off my Santa list and put down a parts order for an oven temp regulator thingamabob … all for the sake of not picking up the phone.

It’s as true for relationships, business endeavours, personal pursuits grand or small, as it is for dental hygiene.

“Squat or get off the pot” as my dad used to so eloquently put it. It pays to think about our outcomes, not just what we intend, but what’s likely to happen if we don’t take action.

Entrepreneur and business coach, Bev James says: “The fine line between success and failure depends upon the decision that are made or not made — every moment of every day.”

In her recent book, “Do It or Ditch It” (Virgin, 2011) she writes of her personal decision making approach.

“It depends upon asking a series of very straightforward questions: What? Why? Who? How? How Much? When? On the basis of the answers to those questions I know whether I should take the decision forward with a ‘do it!’ or recognise that it’s time to walk away and ‘ditch it.”

When we get our ideas out of our heads, figure out what their value and meaning is to us, translate the ones worth doing into next-step-actions and decide on their priority — when we’ll do them, we are resuming control and containing the vast array of demands on our attention.

Taking the time to do these processes clears our heads so we are able to fully focus on the action at hand, our subconscious relaxed in the knowledge that the rest is ‘thought of’, scheduled, and going to happen.

If my experience is anything to go by, there is great joy that accompanies being ‘in action’ on several of these long-term ‘to do’s.

There’s a release and I can almost feel that ‘workflow’ flowing. It brings a sense of movement and energy and also calm — good stuff, especially around this particularly busy time of year.

Gather the thoughts, ask the questions, go through the steps. Let’s do ourselves this favour so we can be more efficient and it feels like less work getting more done … and don’t forget to floss!

Julia Pitt is a trained Success Coach and certified NLP practitioner with Benedict Associates Ltd. Telephone (441) 295-2070 or visit www.juliapittcoaching.com for further information.