Depending actions

[Mattias Nystrom]

How would you handle actions that are depending on something else to happen? One example could be that I learn about a company that supplies a certain service. I have no need for this right now, but if a particular situation occurs, then X would be of interest. I guess you could create agendas and checklists for every imaginable situation, but that wouldn't be practical.

 

[TesTeq]

How would you handle actions that are depending on something else to happen? One example could be that I learn about a company that supplies a certain service. I have no need for this right now, but if a particular situation occurs, then X would be of interest. I guess you could create agendas and checklists for every imaginable situation, but that wouldn't be practical.

IMHO it is not an example of actions dependency. When you "learn about a company that supplies a certain service" it is just a piece of non-actionable reference info.
But if you want to buy a Bullet Journal and you don't know who sells it, your first step is to find the seller. So the action "Order Bullet Journal online" is dependent on "Find Bullet Journal supplier". In such simple cases I don't create seprate actions since I know that to order something I must find a supplier first.

 

[Oogiem]

How would you handle actions that are depending on something else to happen? One example could be that I learn about a company that supplies a certain service. I have no need for this right now, but if a particular situation occurs, then X would be of interest. I guess you could create agendas and checklists for every imaginable situation, but that wouldn't be practical.

What you describe are not dependent actions . It's also not a checklist or an agenda. Instead as TesTeq says it is reference material. How you store it is up to you.

Here is an example of one from my own system.

I have some old China and at one point I was considering getting some replacements for the missing pieces. In DEVONThink in the folder "China and Pottery" I have a note titled '"Royal Worcester China Chantilly" because the pattern is Chantilly. The contents of the note are "
Prices are as of 5/11/2010 and are from http://www.replacements.com/webquote/RW_CHAN.htm
10.5 dinner plates appears to be made in 1929 $64.95"

So if I ever decide to get them I have the place and a reference to a price at a specific point in time. It can sit in my system until I either decide to do it or decide to delete it. Say I give or sell all my Chantilly china. I won't need to buy any replacements thena nd could delete the note about where to buy them.

 

[Tom_Hagen]

"If a particular situation occurs" and you know when it will happen then you can write a note in your calendar at specific date like "Activate project /action: Buy X". "If a particular situation occurs" is on your next action list in some Project then "Buy X" can be your next action on that list.

 

[AFG]

How would you handle actions that are depending on something else to happen? One example could be that I learn about a company that supplies a certain service. I have no need for this right now, but if a particular situation occurs, then X would be of interest. I guess you could create agendas and checklists for every imaginable situation, but that wouldn't be practical.

I love this question!

Others have answered for "If you know when the situation occurs".

Back when I managed an R&D group, I wanted a system to keep track of "conditional prophecies". Like "if A happens, then I predict that B will happen within a year." Or, even better "If A and B happen, them I have an invention that can make C 100 times faster."

As far as I can tell, the state of the art for this sort of thing is scanning.

E.g. in your weekly/annual/decadal review, go through your list of such things, and see if the triggeringconditions have been met.

I use Google Alerts to do part of therse things semi-automatically.

I know of no system that fully automates what you ask for.

Although... methinks the NSA and CIA might be interested in such a system. Terrorism monitoring, etc.

E.g. "10 lbs of plutonium stolen." "Surface to Air Missile stolen". By same group .... duck and cover!!!!