Touch It Once / O.H.I.O
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
Only Handle It Once. For any piece of information or item, once your hand touches it, you must immediately decide its fate (execute, delegate, archive, or delete), and never put it back for 'later processing'. Scaffolding effect: eliminates backlog. When processing emails or chores, it is forbidden to 'take a look and put it down'. Either reply immediately or archive. Every 'pick up and put down' is a needless drain on cognitive energy.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
Eliminates backlog. When processing emails or chores, it is forbidden to 'take a look and put it down'. Either reply immediately or archive. Every 'pick up and put down' is a needless drain on cognitive energy.
Anchor fast decisions
Each 'pick up and put down' consumes cognitive energy to reload context; immediate disposition (execute/delegate/archive/delete) completes the decision in one go, avoiding accumulation and attention loss caused by repeated touching.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/4Practice this model in one real situation:
account_treeGenealogyexpand_more
menu_bookReferencesexpand_more
Source support: Explicit
- au.lifehacker.comhttps://au.lifehacker.com/tech/21895/hack/use-the-ohio-method-to-manage-endless-tasks-and-messagesverified
PRIVATE NOTES · Only visible to you
SAVED Q&A
ENTRY Q&A · Private saving available
Ask with a clear boundary
thinkingmodels answers from published entry context only.
Your question is sent to thinkingmodels. The answer uses public entry context only.
RELATED MODELS