Making communication easier with this one thing

611. That’s all it said. And that number guaranteed privacy. And that the message would be read shortly by one of the most powerful men in the world.

Our world is crammed with distractions. 

Shiny things that get our attention.

39 tabs open on a laptop.

For 3 months.

Overflowing lists.

Things that need to be ticked.

Updated.

Renewed.

Completed.

And this is for the stuff we know we need to do.

Then there’s what comes up in the course of a day.

That we don’t know about until it shows up.

Managing all this can be helped with a system.

And whilst there’s an app for this, that and everything in between sometimes simple is best.

Jimmy Carter began his presidency of the United States in 1977.

And he had one simple technique to cut through the noise.

And yes, you’re right, it wasn’t an app.

His technique meant that a select group of two senior aides, his mother, his brother, his son, Jack, and his two sisters could contact him quickly and privately.

Any envelope that had 611 written on it remained unopened and was sent directly to President Carter.

611?

This was the phone number of Rosalyn, when Jimmy Carter’s wife, when they’d been dating as teenagers

Systems can be simple and powerful.

And personal and poignant, too.

What systems do you use to help create structure?