Areas of Focus vs Recurring Projects - birthday Lists

[ivanjay205]

Hi everyone,

I am trying to get a bit more pure in my system. I listen a lot to the GTD Nordic podcast and they make mention that areas of focus are never ending items you need to stay on track of. Projects should be no more than 1 year and have a finite end. I use OmniFocus as my tool.

What is the appropriate way to handle reminders such as Birthday Phone Calls etc. Right now, I have them all in my Omnifocus as a recurring project. However, I guess in the purest of GTD sense to call someone on their birthday should it be on my calendar? Or just on a areas of focus as something that pops into my mind.

What are your general thoughts on the best way and most appropriate way "GTD approved" to remind myself. I know GTD is built to be flexible so I really could do whatever. I am just trying to retool my system and get a bit more back to my roots with it.

Thanks!

 

[René Lie]

To me, birthdays are a day specific reminders that belong to my calendar.

Also, in Asana, I have created a tickler list for items that are farther into the future than I usually see in my weekly review, that I want to be reminded of. Certain birthdays find their way on there, typically when I want to do more than just sending my greetings...

I may also add that in the new level 1 course from Crucial Learning, birthdays is used as an example of things that go into your calendar.

 

[mcogilvie]

I treat birthdays, anniversaries and such as tickler items, because I don’t know in advance what actions or projects will happen. Sometimes it’s sending a gift online, sometimes it’s babysitting, sometimes it’s hosting a dinner party, et cetera. Sometimes we defer actions to a later date. My ticklers are maintained in the same application as my projects and next actions, and carry a “tickler “ tag whereas an errand has the tag “out.” This makes it easy to go from “birthday coming up” to the appropriate actions.

 

[schmeggahead]

Because iOS puts birthdays from Contacts onto my Calendar automatically, they show up as day specific items.

It's the weekly review (and monthly review) that I use to trigger any preplanning for those events. The weekly review spawns the projects to buy gifts, throw parties, make calls, etc. If I see a birthday where I know I really want to call or text (like my siblings) I will add a tickler dated their birthday to my calls list.

What I do with areas of focus "Engage Appropriately with Family and Friends": I keep an entry in my PKM (currently Obsidian) where I track last contact dates with friends and family. It's easy to review and make appropriate actions, ticklers and projects to make it happen (like schedule martini call with Marge & Harold, last one was March 3). It's part of my monthly review.

So the birthdays are kind of organically covered. It's those unrelated life events that spice up life that need more attention.

Thanks,
Clayton.

When guests are expected, schedule to complete your weekly review just prior to their arrival (the day or two before).

 

[UltravioletQueso]

I put birthdays in my calendar. For birthdays of close friends and family who I might buy a gift or send a card, the calendar notification is set for 2 weeks before the date, as well as on the date itself. That way I have time to decide what, if anything, I want to do. For those who are just going to get a text message, or even nothing at all, I just have the notification come up on the date.

 

[TesTeq]

Because iOS puts birthdays from Contacts onto my Calendar automatically, they show up as day specific items.

@schmeggahead I use Contacts for birthdays too. @ivanjay205

Additionally I create artificial contacts with birthdays for various anniversaries. For example:

Surname: "€ Anna", Name: "Nameday", Birthday: "2000-07-26"
Surname: "€ Mother's", Name: "Day", Birthday: "2000-05-26"
Surname: "€ John & Linda", Name: "Wedding Anniversary", Birthday: "1990-02-28"

In Calendar settings I have the default reminder for birthdays set to "2 days before at 09:00".

All surnames for artificial contacts begin with "€ " to make them appear at the end of Contacts list.

 

[cfoley]

I put birthdays in the calendar.

The weekly review has a step to look at the upcoming calendar. That is when I'll often create a project around an upcoming birthday.

 

[bcmyers2112]

The weekly review has a step to look at the upcoming calendar. That is when I'll often create a project around an upcoming birthday.

That's how I've been doing it: just putting birthdays as reminders in my calendar to prompt me for a decision when the time is right. Or at least how I was doing it before a few years off the wagon with GTD. I can't claim I had any great theory behind it. It's more like: that's how I did it because that's how I did it. But it occurs to me as I read this thread that it give me a level of flexibility that is comfortable for me. Because relationships change, my proximity to people changes, their health status can change, all things that influence whether I'm simply sending someone a card, ordering them a gift on Amazon, taking them out for dinner or planning a huge party. Or something else entirely. Knowing my personality, I think I'd feel a bit "confined" if I had someone's birthday as a recurring project or action in my list tool. It would imply (at least to me) there's something I "should" be doing when I can't know that until that person's birthday draws nearer.