[curt.clifton]

I occasionally fall into the trap of organizing when I should be processing also. To avoid that I use two different approaches. If I have time and clarity on what to do with an email, I follow Lucas's plan (though I almost never create a new project that way). Otherwise, particularly if the item belongs in a new project or if I'm trying to process my mail inbox quickly, I'll just hit the hot key and rewrite the action item to start with a verb. I'm religious about daily reviews so nothing lingers for more than a day before I organize it out of my OF inbox and into the right project and context.

The five phases really multiply in value when you're doing them all well. Personally, mastering review to the point of complete trust is what allowed me to make progress on separating processing from organizing. YMMV, of course. Hang in there!