I usually process as I receive things. I have a fair number of projects, but most of them are not in flux, just need to Get Done. Things I am collecting during the day are things like "call so-and-so re: widget." I don't bother with an inbox->process->NA workflow there. I might capture it on the capture area of my hPDA, but that's if I am in a real rush. Otherwise, it goes straight onto the @Calls context card. Any other actions like that go directly on their respective cards. So, effectively, I have my system and inbox with me all the time, email excluded of course.

I collect receipts and scraps of paper throughout the day that need to be entered somewhere else as well. Receipts I enter sort of when I remember to or when my pockets are brimming. I can keep an eye on my finances on my bank site so I don't worry too much about this. When I get handouts in class, I have a file folder they go in and then I toss that folder into in every day or three.

My inbox at home gets processed regularly, but definitely not every day. This is stuff like snail mail and filing stuff. My inbox at work gets processed first thing when I get there and it doesn't get addressed again that day. I have conditioned my boss that if it's urgent, it doesn't go in "In" for me.

The last place that I receive action items is in my email. If my wife says, "Will you...?" I immediately say, "Send me an email." This is the same response if I agree to do or decline to do "...". It keeps me from being rash in my decision making because I almost always agree if I make the decision on the spot. When I am processing these emails, I can evenhandedly evaluate my available time and my workload and make the best decision.

That sounds like an awful lot of collection buckets but it works for me. My capturing is more a "15 second rule." If I am on the run and something comes in, do I have 15 seconds to put it on its proper card? No? It just gets jotted in my capture area. Capturing is also context sensitive. Obviously since I need my labeller, filing box (can't afford a cabinet just yet...), and file folders to do filing, so that just goes in a folder all together to be dealt with later. But I find that with my hPDA, I can deal with most other things as they come in. When I am checking email, I have my hPDA with me and can process right there. When I'm on the run, my hPDA is in hand, not in my pocket.

FWIW, I have a tendency to allow stuff to slip through cracks. If I waited to process stuff once or twice per day, I would lose trust in my system. This is ye olde "If it hasn't blown up by now, it probably won't" thinking. Great for your email DMZ, but really bad for workflow in general. "Well, I didn't process my inbox yesterday and nothing blew up" or "I didn't do a review last week and stuff turned out okay, so why do I need to do one this week - or ever for that matter??" OK, that was a lot more than I thought I had to say about all this.