getting a single view of all projects and all associated actions

[Evan Siegel]

Hi all...looking for some validation here before I begin my first execution of the GTD method

starting from the mind sweep, everything at that point that is written down is simply a brain dump. it's not considered an action. Once you go through all of those items you follow the framework and determine if it's actionable...for the stuff that is actionable, at this point you've moved on from that first brain dump and now your list of actions is the very next physical action for each of the original items that was determined an action needs to happen. once you identify those very next actions, you group them by common bucket. at this point, is what is in those grouped buckets considered the 'project list'? in some cases those actions are single actions that can solve a project but most will require more than one action. how and where do you add those additional actions? I see the part about extending the rationale what do i have to do next to each action but where do you see the list of all actions associated to a project?

 

[Dragon]

is what is in those grouped buckets considered the 'project list'?

No, your project list is literally just a list of your active projects, such as, file my 2016 taxes, book 2017 vacation, fix leaky tap in kitchen, or whatever projects you have. Absolutely just that simple list, there are no actions or groupings. Just a list of your open projects, of outcomes that will take more than one step to complete.

If it's not clear, the purpose of having a projects list separate to your next actions lists is because if you have one next action for a project and you complete it and cross it off your list, you have nothing in your system to remind you that you may still have an open loop unless you keep a separate projects list. For outcomes which take only one step to complete, this doesn't matter, because by definition when you cross that item off your list, you're done, your loop is closed, and you don't need any future reminders of anything.

how and where do you add those additional actions?

It depends. For example, if I send a document to someone for review, I'll cross off that next action, and immediately add a "waiting for" next action right there and then. Other times, I might add an action during the weekly review if I see that a particular project doesn't have a next action identified.

where do you see the list of all actions associated to a project?

In paper GTD, you don't. The project list and next actions lists are separate, and if you're appropriately engaged with your system then when you look at your projects list you're going to just know if you have a next action identified or not, because you're familiar with the contents of your lists. On the other hand, most task management software will let you associate a next action with a project, and in those cases it's easy to see such a list.