How many times has your spouse asked, “Can you call and cancel the..?” or reminded you that “You need to send in this paperwork by the…” And how many times have you requested that they pay some bill, pick-up some grocery item, or fix some household appliance? Marriage is made up of little requests that we make of each other. However, sometimes we forget the details of what we were asked to do and the task does not get done.
So, how can you get your spouse to do what you want without nagging, or worse being too much like a boss?
Welcome to the world of action requests. By sending an email to each other detailing what needs to be done, there is a greater chance the items on the to do list actually get checked off. In sending action requests, using a standard format, we have been able to better accomplish the tasks that are requested of us.
Traditionally, this could be accomplished by leaving each other notes or relying on memory, but since many of us live in our inboxes, email can make things more efficient.
Because of its breadth of functionality, we will show you how to do this using Gmail, but you could use any email system you feel comfortable with. Using an Action Request form in Gmail is very simple. We’ll break these instructions into two parts: the Sender and the Receiver
The Sender
1. Turn on the “Canned Responses” function
You can do this in Gmail labs by clicking on the lab beaker or the settings button in the upper right hand corner of your Gmail page. This isn’t a requirement but it will make using this method often a lot easier as this will allow you to automatically insert text into an email draft. For non-Gmail users, you can just copy & paste the form into a new email each time.
2. Setup the “Canned Response” with the following format:
A. Action Request:
B. Additional Information
C. Due Date:
Note: Gmail currently doesn’t allow you to insert a canned response into the subject line so you’ll have to do that manually each time.
3. Subject line
This part is very important. In the subject line include “Action Request: Short title for your request and Due: Date”
Action Request: Pick up the kids from piano lessons. Due: 12/05/09
By including the due date in the subject line, Gmail will automatically recognize that there is a date and will offer to add that date to your recipients calendar.
4. Fill in and Send
Anytime you have a task that needs to get done, just fill out an action request using this format and email it to your spouse. Don’t forget to include all the necessary details. If you want them to make phone call for you, help them out and include the phone number.
With any Getting Things Done (GTD) strategy, this method is dependent on the will and use of the individual. If you go over the Action Request process with your Receiver (or at least sending them a link to this post) you will have a greater success rate.
The Receiver
Depending on your spouse, receiving your request could be all they need. They’ve received your request in writing with the information they need to accomplish it and the date you’d like it done. Really, there isn’t much more they need. However, there are a few optional steps they could take to further insure the task’s completion. Again, using Gmail’s functionality, we can simplify things.
1. Receive the Action Request.
2. Add event to calendar.
When you receive the Action Request, look to the right of the message. If the request included the date in the subject line there should be a “Add to Calendar” message. Click on the link. If you’re a Firefox or IE7+ user Ctrl+Click so that the next dialogue box opens in a seperate tab.
3. Adjust information
Here you can copy & paste any of the additional information into the event details box and set yourself a reminder (email, text message, SMS, etc.).
4. Complete the task
Your spouse has gone through the work to get you all the needed details to complete the task. Now its up to you to get the task done. If you want, you can shoot off a reply message to let them know it has been accomplished and what the results were.
Using this simple system of action requests in an office-like manner has helped us to get things done like never before.
Most of the time if you treat your spouse like a colleague or subordinate you are the one likely to get fired. However, this is an instance where bringing that task management way-of-thinking home can do wonders.
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