Hello
I have been re-thinking how I want to my main GTD actionable status "lists" to work. Here is a summary of the main lists that I think I need:
1. "INBOX"
2. "NOT LIVE"/ "SOMEDAY-MAYBE" / "Proposed stuff" / "Possible stuff"
... some of which is:
==> 2.1. "Paused Stuff"
==> 2.2. "Soon / Later"
3. "LIVE STUFF" / "Next Actions" / "Active Actions" / "Do ASAP" / "In Progress"
...some of which is:
==> 3.1.1. "Complete this week - EXTERNAL".
==> 3.1.2. "Complete this week - INTERNAL".
==> 3.2. "Urgent" / "Dead Urgent" / "Important stuff"
==> 3.3. "Focus on Today" / "Starred"
==> 3.4. List by each of my Contexts
4. WAITING / SCHEDULED / TICKLER
...some of which is:
==> 4.1. Person List/Agenda
5. ARCHIVE
6. INFORMATION
==> 6.1.1 "Points to ponder" / "New Ideas" / "Reflective Thoughts"
==> 6.1.2 "Points to ponder" / "New Ideas"/ "Reflective Thoughts"
==> 5.2 Information I want to store for possible use at some point.
7. COMPLETED
****************************************************************************************
Drilling down into what each of the above List actually means, and how I am going to use it, I have:
1. "INBOX"
[ - In practice not quite all of my new stuff gets added in here, as it's sometimes much faster to put new items that are closely related to existing stuff in next to that stuff... ]
2. "NOT LIVE"/ "SOMEDAY-MAYBE" / "Proposed stuff" / "Possible stuff" /
- This is stuff that I am NOT ready to start yet.
- ALL of this stuff must be reviewed every week (during my Weekly Review).
- Due to shifting priorities, I may not ever do this stuff.
- This is stuff I hope to get on to within the next 3 months or so.
... some of which is:
==> 2.1. "Paused Stuff"
- This is stuff that I have already started but have deliberately put onto hold.
- But it is kept here because it is hoped that I might restart fairly soon.
...and/or
==> 2.2. "Soon / Later"
- This is stuff which is coming at me but which I don't need to start yet.
- It is useful to have this sub-list when there is a vast amount of stuff already in Someday-Maybe.
- I will look at this during the week if I am getting ahead/have spare time to see if it is worth bringing "Live".
3. "LIVE STUFF" / "Next Actions" / "Active Actions" / "Do ASAP" / "In Progress"
- This is stuff that I hope to work on during this week (i.e. before the next Weekly Review)
- I need to scan ALL of this stuff at least once per day (during a Daily Review)
- For larger projects it is helpful to be able to only show the next [n] actions per project. (e.g. just 3 actions plus any "Force Nexts")
...some of the above will be:
==> 3.1.1. "Complete this week - EXTERNAL".
- Must be completed this week, due to immovable external deadline (e.g. a crunch meeting / conference etc)
==> 3.1.2. "Complete this week - INTERNAL".
This is has been committed to be completed this week, but there is no external/immovable deadline.
...some of the above will be:
==> 3.2. "Urgent" / "Dead Urgent" / "Important stuff"
- If dead urgent, then it will probably stay on successive "Focus on Today" lists
- This must leap out at me.
==> 3.3. "Focus on Today" / "Starred"
- At the start of each day I decide what stuff I shall work on today.
- This may or may not be similar to what was focused on yesterday
==> 3.4. "By Context"
- Separately, all of "3." (i.e. the Live stuff) needs to be viewable by Context
4. WAITING / SCHEDULED / TICKLER
[Yes, I am conflating GTD concepts - heresy, I know!]
- This is stuff I don't want to see AT ALL for X amount of time.
- I don't need to see it during Weekly Reviews.
- If I am waiting for someone to do something, will put in a start date of when I want to chase them up.
...some of the above will be:
==> 4.1. Person List/Agenda
-It may be useful to flag who the person I'm waiting for is, if only to use to create an Agenda list.
5. ARCHIVE
- This is very long term stuff that I know I won't do withing the next 3 months and I don't want to delete just yet. I will look at it every 3-6 months or so.
6. INFORMATION
This is stuff that is not actionable, that I just want to store
==> 6.1.1 "Points to ponder" / "New Ideas" / "Reflective Thoughts"
- Non-acdtionable stuff I want to review soon
==> 6.1.2 "Points to ponder" / "New Ideas"/ "Reflective Thoughts"
Stuff I do NOT want to review for a while.
==> 6.2 Information I want to store for possible use at some point.
- This could really be stored in Evernote
7. COMPLETED
This must NEVER appear when I am looking at
I will normally delete this stuff to get it out of the way.
***********************************************
Anyhow that is as far as my thinking has got. I have no idea how I am going to implement the above technically, as non of the tools I am aware of even has an separate field for List (i.e. actionable status) that is actually editable, and all other options seem to have unintended consequences.
Any thoughts?
J
I have been re-thinking how I want to my main GTD actionable status "lists" to work. Here is a summary of the main lists that I think I need:
1. "INBOX"
2. "NOT LIVE"/ "SOMEDAY-MAYBE" / "Proposed stuff" / "Possible stuff"
... some of which is:
==> 2.1. "Paused Stuff"
==> 2.2. "Soon / Later"
3. "LIVE STUFF" / "Next Actions" / "Active Actions" / "Do ASAP" / "In Progress"
...some of which is:
==> 3.1.1. "Complete this week - EXTERNAL".
==> 3.1.2. "Complete this week - INTERNAL".
==> 3.2. "Urgent" / "Dead Urgent" / "Important stuff"
==> 3.3. "Focus on Today" / "Starred"
==> 3.4. List by each of my Contexts
4. WAITING / SCHEDULED / TICKLER
...some of which is:
==> 4.1. Person List/Agenda
5. ARCHIVE
6. INFORMATION
==> 6.1.1 "Points to ponder" / "New Ideas" / "Reflective Thoughts"
==> 6.1.2 "Points to ponder" / "New Ideas"/ "Reflective Thoughts"
==> 5.2 Information I want to store for possible use at some point.
7. COMPLETED
****************************************************************************************
Drilling down into what each of the above List actually means, and how I am going to use it, I have:
1. "INBOX"
[ - In practice not quite all of my new stuff gets added in here, as it's sometimes much faster to put new items that are closely related to existing stuff in next to that stuff... ]
2. "NOT LIVE"/ "SOMEDAY-MAYBE" / "Proposed stuff" / "Possible stuff" /
- This is stuff that I am NOT ready to start yet.
- ALL of this stuff must be reviewed every week (during my Weekly Review).
- Due to shifting priorities, I may not ever do this stuff.
- This is stuff I hope to get on to within the next 3 months or so.
... some of which is:
==> 2.1. "Paused Stuff"
- This is stuff that I have already started but have deliberately put onto hold.
- But it is kept here because it is hoped that I might restart fairly soon.
...and/or
==> 2.2. "Soon / Later"
- This is stuff which is coming at me but which I don't need to start yet.
- It is useful to have this sub-list when there is a vast amount of stuff already in Someday-Maybe.
- I will look at this during the week if I am getting ahead/have spare time to see if it is worth bringing "Live".
3. "LIVE STUFF" / "Next Actions" / "Active Actions" / "Do ASAP" / "In Progress"
- This is stuff that I hope to work on during this week (i.e. before the next Weekly Review)
- I need to scan ALL of this stuff at least once per day (during a Daily Review)
- For larger projects it is helpful to be able to only show the next [n] actions per project. (e.g. just 3 actions plus any "Force Nexts")
...some of the above will be:
==> 3.1.1. "Complete this week - EXTERNAL".
- Must be completed this week, due to immovable external deadline (e.g. a crunch meeting / conference etc)
==> 3.1.2. "Complete this week - INTERNAL".
This is has been committed to be completed this week, but there is no external/immovable deadline.
...some of the above will be:
==> 3.2. "Urgent" / "Dead Urgent" / "Important stuff"
- If dead urgent, then it will probably stay on successive "Focus on Today" lists
- This must leap out at me.
==> 3.3. "Focus on Today" / "Starred"
- At the start of each day I decide what stuff I shall work on today.
- This may or may not be similar to what was focused on yesterday
==> 3.4. "By Context"
- Separately, all of "3." (i.e. the Live stuff) needs to be viewable by Context
4. WAITING / SCHEDULED / TICKLER
[Yes, I am conflating GTD concepts - heresy, I know!]
- This is stuff I don't want to see AT ALL for X amount of time.
- I don't need to see it during Weekly Reviews.
- If I am waiting for someone to do something, will put in a start date of when I want to chase them up.
...some of the above will be:
==> 4.1. Person List/Agenda
-It may be useful to flag who the person I'm waiting for is, if only to use to create an Agenda list.
5. ARCHIVE
- This is very long term stuff that I know I won't do withing the next 3 months and I don't want to delete just yet. I will look at it every 3-6 months or so.
6. INFORMATION
This is stuff that is not actionable, that I just want to store
==> 6.1.1 "Points to ponder" / "New Ideas" / "Reflective Thoughts"
- Non-acdtionable stuff I want to review soon
==> 6.1.2 "Points to ponder" / "New Ideas"/ "Reflective Thoughts"
Stuff I do NOT want to review for a while.
==> 6.2 Information I want to store for possible use at some point.
- This could really be stored in Evernote
7. COMPLETED
This must NEVER appear when I am looking at
I will normally delete this stuff to get it out of the way.
***********************************************
Anyhow that is as far as my thinking has got. I have no idea how I am going to implement the above technically, as non of the tools I am aware of even has an separate field for List (i.e. actionable status) that is actually editable, and all other options seem to have unintended consequences.
Any thoughts?
J