I once saw a interview between Yanni the composer and Diane Sawyer. Sawyer asked the typical question: "Whose music do you listen to?"
Yanni's answer was "No one." He explained that "Creativity is formed in a vaccum. " What I took this to mean was similar to a computer's harddrive, our brain is hindered from finding solutions to our problems if we fill it with too much stuff. If we have less on our mind, we can find creative solutions to our challenges.
One of the things that clutters up our minds is unfinished tasks. Usually tasks that we need someone elses help or decision to complete. Some one like our customer or co-worker.
The unfinished tasks can also clogg our desk surface. Just looking at our desk can clog our minds. What piece of paper do we work on next?
We need an organizational tool to file away these tasks when we have done everything we can do with them until we get a response from someone else.
This tool is called a follow-up. A follow-up is a instruction placed on a document reminding you went to revisit the task if the person you are waiting for does not get back to you with their contribution to your task. An example of this is a customer not calling you back with their decision on a purchase.
FOLLOWING UP ON CORRESPONDENCE:
