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What about those things you need to do where there is no physical next action that you want to take right now except for thinking about it? I find that I have many of these types of projects. It's projects that are in the planning stage where I simply want to be aware that I am looking for ideas but then give them time to come to me. It's like I'm brainstorming but I know that if I leave the item on the backburner of my mind (not in the pantry - on the backburner where it is being cooked, though very slowly), I will get good ideas and when the time comes to make a decision and take the next action, I will know what to do.
For instance, when I was in college and an instructor told us at the beginning of the quarter that we would have to write a research paper, I would come up with my topic within 24 hours of receiving the assignment. But then I would do absolutely nothing - at least physically - until the week before the paper was due. However, during that time, I would constantly be watching for ideas and information that I could use in my paper. In fact, the class lectures were a great source of material and inspiration for me, but if I did not know what my topic was, I would have missed that inspiration. Then at the end of the quarter, I would write the paper in one day. I was able to do that because I had thought about the paper while I was in class, I had thought about it when I was walking to and from class, while cleaning my room, etc.
I could easily come up with at least a dozen projects that are in this status currently. I am definitely doing them, but there is nothing that I want to do at the moment because I am thinking about them and watching for ideas. They aren't even at a stage where I would sit down and brainstorm on the back of an envelope. I am literally just thinking about them, and when the right idea pops into my head, I will start working on them.
So where do these things fit into GTD? The next action would be to think about it. I could start a project file where I write down my principles, ideal outcome and brainstorm ideas, but then it would go in with the projects which I don't review as often as my next ations, and I'd like to be reminded of such projects more often (like as often as my next actions). Sometimes I want to do some more active brainstorming - aka braindump - so that I can free my mind for more ideas to surface, so that would be a next action; but in the mean time, while I am simply waiting for ideas to come and I want to be reminded that I am looking for those ideas, what do I do? How do I track these projects that are simply in the planning stages so they don't get lost?
For instance, when I was in college and an instructor told us at the beginning of the quarter that we would have to write a research paper, I would come up with my topic within 24 hours of receiving the assignment. But then I would do absolutely nothing - at least physically - until the week before the paper was due. However, during that time, I would constantly be watching for ideas and information that I could use in my paper. In fact, the class lectures were a great source of material and inspiration for me, but if I did not know what my topic was, I would have missed that inspiration. Then at the end of the quarter, I would write the paper in one day. I was able to do that because I had thought about the paper while I was in class, I had thought about it when I was walking to and from class, while cleaning my room, etc.
I could easily come up with at least a dozen projects that are in this status currently. I am definitely doing them, but there is nothing that I want to do at the moment because I am thinking about them and watching for ideas. They aren't even at a stage where I would sit down and brainstorm on the back of an envelope. I am literally just thinking about them, and when the right idea pops into my head, I will start working on them.
So where do these things fit into GTD? The next action would be to think about it. I could start a project file where I write down my principles, ideal outcome and brainstorm ideas, but then it would go in with the projects which I don't review as often as my next ations, and I'd like to be reminded of such projects more often (like as often as my next actions). Sometimes I want to do some more active brainstorming - aka braindump - so that I can free my mind for more ideas to surface, so that would be a next action; but in the mean time, while I am simply waiting for ideas to come and I want to be reminded that I am looking for those ideas, what do I do? How do I track these projects that are simply in the planning stages so they don't get lost?