projects in GTD
Robo:
I'm just another person like you trying to use GTD. As I understand it,
in GTD a "project" is something that needs more than one action, and
that has a definite outcome that can be achieved in about 3 months or less.
Example: put up a new light fixture at home: two steps:
step one, buy the new fixture; step two, put it in at home.
There could be more steps, such as talking to family members,
and you might discover more steps along the way, such as going
back to the store for a nut and bolt to attach it. When it's finished,
it's finished and is more-or-less the way you imagined it would
be before you started.
Something like exercising isn't usually a project because it keeps
going for months and years. It counts as an "area of focus".
There are also "goals", which have specific outcomes like
projects but may take more than 3 months.
If you have "someday" actions within your projects, maybe they
aren't really projects but are collections of projects, or possible
projects for which you haven't clearly defined the outcome yet,
or areas of focus or something.
I could have "learn Tai Chi" including
definitely "finish learning 48-form" soon and someday-maybe
"learn 36-form". Maybe your projects are like that?
I think "learn Tai Chi" wouldn't count as a GTD project.
It could be an area of focus. I could have a project
"finish learning 48-form" with next action "practice
48-form by myself at home". I can visualize how well
I would have to be able to do it by myself to consider myself
to have learned it and therefore the project done (though I
would still try to improve on it afterwards).
A project has to have a defined outcome so you know when
the project is finished. If it has someday actions, do they
have to happen before the project can be considered done?
In GTD, "someday/maybe" is for projects you're not doing now,
and projects you are doing have next actions on the action lists.
If an action can't be done until after another action is done,
then it goes in the project support material. If it can't be done
until a later date, (e.g. "plant tomatoes") then it goes on a calendar or in a tickle file;
I might move it to an action list when it pops up, if I don't
do it immediately.
