Scheduling action items

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I could be way off base but I believe that the "requirement" to go in order is actually only applicable to processing "IN". When you're going through your in box with all the various items that appear throughout the day, be they meeting notes, phone messages, mail, whatever, you process those to your lists one at a time in order. When you review your list, based on what context you're in, you can pick anyone that strikes your fancy at the moment, trusting your professional judgement to guide you in making the best choice for that point in time.

sue
 
Working straight through

Sue said:
I could be way off base but I believe that the "requirement" to go in order is actually only applicable to processing "IN".

To each their own, but from an "orthodox GTD" standpoint, Sue's right. The example in the book is that the first item in your inbox is junk mail, and the 2d is a letter from the President of the United States requiring your response. When processing IN, you'd address the junk mail first (quick skim then trash it), and then the President's letter (@NA = "measure blood pressure"?). I'd assume that for most of us, even if the next action for the President's letter were the 14th thing on our appropriate NA list, it had **better** take the #1 priority...:) Again, though, if you're getting things done in time to satisfy yourself and *all* your external constituencies, then who's to argue with your approach.
Click to expand...
 
There is a criteria in the book for deciding what to do next when you are looking at your next action list. I don't have it in front of me. It involved time and energy available, priority and urgency. A lot of people just skip past this, thinking you have to go in order of your list or only by your gut. (Of course you will do whatever works for you.)

Pam
 
Lists

I'm the one who started the "Too Darn Many Todos" thread. Saw this one and realized you're talking about the same thing.

I havent figured out a good method yet. I still feel overwhelmed by my todo list and unable to determine what to do next. Priority, time, and energy, considerations are pertinent, but are you really going to look at 200 things and ask yourself questions around those criteria?

I think David has said that its all about lists. Seems to make sense you'd have a "today" list. Is it really that big a deal if you dont get them all done today? At least you'd have a plan and its better than getting done with the day and realizing you tried to do it on the fly and didnt get anything important done.
 
THis is what has worked for me...

I have a hard landscape and a semi-hard landscape. The hard is for real deadlines and the semi is more of a tickler system for things I should do on a regular basis that are important but not urgent. I see them as reminders, like exercising, etc. I think I should exercise every three days, so it pops up on my calenday every three days. I find that this puts many important but not urgent items in the forefront.

Second thing I do is to mark projects that must get done. I must prepare something for a client but I don't actually have to clean my closet. I'm really tough on what I define as a must-- it really has to occur. When I think like this, I realize that I have more choices than I realize. I have a differnt mark for things that are musts and are time sensitive. By having my parameters marked, I feel better about using my discretionary time however I see fit.

Third thing I do is have a simple list of things that are important in my life..my family, my on-going education, haivng a sense of order in our home (Two kids under three!), etc. Every week I look at what I've accoplished and compare it againt what is important. This really helps me make better choices with discretionary time.

Hope this helps!
 
Planning

I also struggled with this issue and I think I've created a personal approach in the spirit of GTD. I try to keep my next action list to real next actions. These are only things that can be done in the present in the right setting.

What I've learned to do is write planning notes when I think about projects that I'm working on. I sketch out flow and timelines of my areas of current focus. These go in folders for the project.

Because of the power of GTD, my desk is always clear. When I sit down to work on something, the project folder comes out and review some of my recent notes and take some more. When I'm at project meetings, the folder is with me and my notes from the meeting go in.

All the while, I'm capturing those next action items as they occur to me.

For me, the essence is pulling back to a higher altitude to survey the landscape from time to time so the important things get done.
 
Try the "Quiet Hour"

I am somewhat of an organization junky so I have read a lot of books and articles on time management, somehow never being able to find the right thing. GTD has come the closest and I am still trying to find the way it can work for me. One suggestion that I have tried to implement is the Quiet Hour. It comes from a fairly old time management book called Time Power (I think). The author is Alex MacKenzie.

He suggests setting aside an hour each day that is designated as the quiet hour to just work on projects. The key is being able to work without interruption. You turn off the phone, put a sign on the door and you are unavailable for an hour.

I think what this might do is enable you to take stock of where you are with all the myriad projects and tasks and then do as DA says, take stock of the available time, energy and focus to get things done.

Hope this helps.
 
Comments from Jason or David?

I've run into the exact same situation as those above.

The "view only the next actions" approach seems to do great at taking advantage of small time stretches but other times I do want to review the most important project and then move it forward. Or the next action for that project may be @Computer and I am running errands and maybe could be doing another action for that project.

Any opinons from Jason or David?
 
using categories

Here's something I've found useful.
I use Outlook with the GTD add-in. (Before that, Outlook set up as David Allen recommends in his white paper.) But with one wrinkle. I added a category called @This Week. (I tried a second one called @Today but eventually found it superfluous and rejected it.) Now, if you're familiar with the GTD add-in, you know that it has added drop-downs to the task screen that enable you to assign each task to a project and to an action (@Agenda, @Office, @Calls, @Errands, etc.). Outlook's category window is still at the bottm of the task screen.
When you assign a task to an action, that action shows up in GTD's new action drop-down but also in the pre-existing categories drop-down. Very convenient, if you use a Palm, since the Palm recognizes categories but seems to know nothing of actions.

At least once a week, I take inventory of those tasks or "next actions" that are important to me to get done that week and I assign them to the @This Week category. (This doesn't change the "action" assignment. ) Then I set up the taskpad in Outlook's Calendar view to filter out only those tasks or "next actions" that have the @This Week category assignment. The taskpad then shows everything that I've decided I want to focus on during the week, still organized by action. I can still look at the entire list of 200-300 tasks in the task list organized either by project or by action anytime I choose to do so, but I don't have to be confronted by all of them throughout the day. They're duly recorded, and safely out of my mind.
 
using categories

Here's something I've found useful.
I use Outlook with the GTD add-in. (Before that, Outlook set up as David Allen recommends in his white paper.) But with one wrinkle. I added a category called @This Week. (I tried a second one called @Today but eventually found it superfluous and rejected it.) Now, if you're familiar with the GTD add-in, you know that it has added drop-downs to the task screen that enable you to assign each task to a project and to an action (@Agenda, @Office, @Calls, @Errands, etc.). Outlook's category window is still at the bottm of the task screen.
When you assign a task to an action, that action shows up in GTD's new action drop-down but also in the pre-existing categories drop-down. Very convenient, if you use a Palm, since the Palm recognizes categories but seems to know nothing of actions.

At least once a week, I take inventory of those tasks or "next actions" that are important to me to get done that week and I assign them to the @This Week category. (This doesn't change the "action" assignment. ) Then I set up the taskpad in Outlook's Calendar view to filter out only those tasks or "next actions" that have the @This Week category assignment. The taskpad then shows everything that I've decided I want to focus on during the week, still organized by action. I can still look at the entire list of 200-300 tasks in the task list organized either by project or by action anytime I choose to do so, but I don't have to be confronted by all of them throughout the day. They're duly recorded, and safely out of my mind.
 
What an eye opener

Doug, this is a wonderful idea. I was less than focused when staring at all my next actions throughout the day. Having the task pad list only those next actions for the week has already improved my productivity.
 
filtering the calendar task pad by high priority/overdue

Doug Smith said:
Here's something I've found useful.
I use Outlook with the GTD add-in. (Before that, Outlook set up as David Allen recommends in his white paper.) But with one wrinkle. I added a category called @This Week. (I tried a second one called @Today but eventually found it superfluous and rejected it.) Now, if you're familiar with the GTD add-in, you know that it has added drop-downs to the task screen that enable you to assign each task to a project and to an action (@Agenda, @Office, @Calls, @Errands, etc.). Outlook's category window is still at the bottm of the task screen.
When you assign a task to an action, that action shows up in GTD's new action drop-down but also in the pre-existing categories drop-down. Very convenient, if you use a Palm, since the Palm recognizes categories but seems to know nothing of actions.

At least once a week, I take inventory of those tasks or "next actions" that are important to me to get done that week and I assign them to the @This Week category. (This doesn't change the "action" assignment. ) Then I set up the taskpad in Outlook's Calendar view to filter out only those tasks or "next actions" that have the @This Week category assignment. The taskpad then shows everything that I've decided I want to focus on during the week, still organized by action. I can still look at the entire list of 200-300 tasks in the task list organized either by project or by action anytime I choose to do so, but I don't have to be confronted by all of them throughout the day. They're duly recorded, and safely out of my mind.
Click to expand...

I liked the theory behind this Doug so tried it out but thought I would have problems witha 'this week' category that i would probably also overhwelm it with being too ambitious and then get cross that I didn't achieve even half of them. What I'm going to try 'this week' is using a filter that shows only the 'high priority' tasks - still by contextual category - they scream at me with their exclamation marks and any that are really properly 'overdue' are in a bold red font ....I will only make a next action high priority if I would like to see it 'gone' by the end of this week... and i won't get distracted and go off and do any 'easier' actions because I can't see them there!!!
I really like that aspect...

cheers
 
I have decided to try David's way, and see how it goes. That means not using my 3rd party app to ive me Palm ToDo "ticklers." Instead, I am putting some things in two places. I put a note in calendar (undated) on the day when I really has to be done. Then I put a context related ToDo in my ToDo list to remind me. No dates attached to the ToDos.

We'll see. I notice already that it means that I go to my context lists more. Otherwise I tend to view the ToDo ticklers as "urgent" when then aren't (yet).

Gordon
 
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