Projects and next actions

Coachrubi

Registered
When you create a project, do you have the next actions for that project in the same notebook or page with that project, or does it go on a separate next actions list?

If it does go on a separate list, do all next actions for each of your projects, let's just say you have 10 projects you're working on, go on one single next actions list?

Thank you in advance
 

TesTeq

Registered
When you create a project, do you have the next actions for that project in the same notebook or page with that project, or does it go on a separate next actions list?
Store each Project plan in its reference document/note/notebook/page. Put Next Actions on @context lists.
If it does go on a separate list, do all next actions for each of your projects, let's just say you have 10 projects you're working on, go on one single next actions list?
Put Next Actions on @context lists. You will rarely have more than one Next Action per Project.
 

thomasbk

Registered
Store each Project plan in its reference document/note/notebook/page. Put Next Actions on @context lists.

Put Next Actions on @context lists. You will rarely have more than one Next Action per Project.

For something straightforward like "fix the car" that may be true, but I've found that complex projects often have simultaneous tasks occurring. For instance, different teams can be working on discrete pieces that need to come together on a specific date.
 

thomasbk

Registered
It sounds like you're using a paper organizer. It's been a while since I've looked at it, but I recall that the setup guide was extremely helpful with concrete examples. It's definitely worth downloading if you haven't already.
 

Coachrubi

Registered
Thanks for your reply TesTeq. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a project list is a list of all your projects like an index. For example, plan vacation, organize my office, buy ingredients for chocolate cake, and so on.
But what is a project plan? How does that look? Are there any examples online that you can point me to? I bought the projects audio but I'm still confused on what a project plan is even though they had PDFs with pictures, it still doesn't explain the project plan in detail.
Also, what do you do if you have three next steps that you have to take care of? For example I have to call three different contractors to follow up whether or not work was done for a home buyer as an example. Do you list them all as next actions like, call the , call the stucco company, call the cabinet company. I know these all go on the calls list, but what if they don't? I hope that makes sense.
 

Geeko

GTD since 2017
Thanks for your reply TesTeq. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a project list is a list of all your projects like an index. For example, plan vacation, organize my office, buy ingredients for chocolate cake, and so on.
But what is a project plan? How does that look? Are there any examples online that you can point me to? I bought the projects audio but I'm still confused on what a project plan is even though they had PDFs with pictures, it still doesn't explain the project plan in detail.
Also, what do you do if you have three next steps that you have to take care of? For example I have to call three different contractors to follow up whether or not work was done for a home buyer as an example. Do you list them all as next actions like, call the , call the stucco company, call the cabinet company. I know these all go on the calls list, but what if they don't? I hope that makes sense.

A project plan contains all necessary actions to complete the project. Only a small fraction of these will be next actions and some actions might not be in your project plan since they arise during the work on that project.
One important rule here: do as much planning as necessary but don't overdo it ;)
You should be able to make progress in most projects without defining a project plan. Just make sure that every project has a next action.

Cheers,
Tristan
 

mcogilvie

Registered
Thanks for your reply TesTeq. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a project list is a list of all your projects like an index. For example, plan vacation, organize my office, buy ingredients for chocolate cake, and so on.
But what is a project plan? How does that look? Are there any examples online that you can point me to? I bought the projects audio but I'm still confused on what a project plan is even though they had PDFs with pictures, it still doesn't explain the project plan in detail.
Also, what do you do if you have three next steps that you have to take care of? For example I have to call three different contractors to follow up whether or not work was done for a home buyer as an example. Do you list them all as next actions like, call the , call the stucco company, call the cabinet company. I know these all go on the calls list, but what nsif they don't? I hope that makes sense.

I think it is probably better to talk about project support rather than a project plan. Project support is everything about the project that’s not a next action. Important dates, constraints, phone numbers, meeting notes, possible future actions, everything. David Allen says no two projects require exactly the same kind of support, and I think that’s right. GTD focuses on next actions, and favors planning only as much as is needed. You don’t want to get hung up on some ideal plan you came up with when you started; typically you learn progressively more as you go along. The natural planning model is an iterative model that helps keep projects on track.

Where does project support material go? This gets a little tricky. Big projects tend to require more support material. A folder of papers, a document on your computer- there’s no right answer, and most people use more than one method. If you use a digital list tool, you should use one with a note field. This is a handy place to store small amount of project support information.

The weekly review will help you tie together the next actions on your lists with the status of your projects. Some people like the capabilities of specialized tools which can tie projects and next actions together. Omnifocus and Things are well-known for this on macs and iPhones. My own preference, paraphrasing Einstein, is for a system that’s as simple as possible, but not simpler.
 

TesTeq

Registered
Thanks for your reply TesTeq. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a project list is a list of all your projects like an index. For example, plan vacation, organize my office, buy ingredients for chocolate cake, and so on.
But what is a project plan? How does that look? Are there any examples online that you can point me to? I bought the projects audio but I'm still confused on what a project plan is even though they had PDFs with pictures, it still doesn't explain the project plan in detail.
Also, what do you do if you have three next steps that you have to take care of? For example I have to call three different contractors to follow up whether or not work was done for a home buyer as an example. Do you list them all as next actions like, call the , call the stucco company, call the cabinet company. I know these all go on the calls list, but what if they don't? I hope that makes sense.

Yes. The Project list is just a list - an index.

Project support materials/plans are perfectly described by @Geeko and @mcogilvie above.

A Next Action is an action that you can do NOW without any dependencies on other actions or conditions (in a given @context).

So if you can call the stucco company and call the cabinet company independently you've got two Next Actions in the @call context.

But if you need information from the stucco company when you call the cabinet company - only the "call the stucco company" is the Next Action. And now - what about the "call the cabinet company" action which is not the Next Action? You can use three methods:
1. Put it in the Project's support material. The drawback? You would have to somehow know that you should review the Project's support material looking for potential Next Actions.
2. Put it on the @WaitingFor list. Theoretically reasonable but you would also have to somehow know that you should review @WaitingFor list at this moment.
3. Combine both dependent actions into one Next Action: "call the stucco company AND THEN call the cabinet company." That's what I would do.
 

Coachrubi

Registered
So I have 70 projects like this. This is just one example. The highlighted pink items have been done, but the rest have not. The green highlighted lines are the contractors that need to take care of the items above them. For instance, the first item on the list that has not been done is, "repair water-damaged cabinets at powder bath", then "kitchen backsplash grout touch up & crooked tiles", and so on. For everything that's not done I have to call, or email to follow up with the contractors. Does that mean each of these items goes on my call, or next actions list? That means I'll have hundreds of next actions, or calls. Is that what I have to do, or am I missing something and there's an easier way to do it? I hope this makes sense. Again thank you all for your help.
 

mcogilvie

Registered
So I have 70 projects like this. This is just one example. The highlighted pink items have been done, but the rest have not. The green highlighted lines are the contractors that need to take care of the items above them. For instance, the first item on the list that has not been done is, "repair water-damaged cabinets at powder bath", then "kitchen backsplash grout touch up & crooked tiles", and so on. For everything that's not done I have to call, or email to follow up with the contractors. Does that mean each of these items goes on my call, or next actions list? That means I'll have hundreds of next actions, or calls. Is that what I have to do, or am I missing something and there's an easier way to do it? I hope this makes sense. Again thank you all for your help.

As I am in the very final stages of a kitchen remodel myself, I can relate. I have a similar punch list. I think that punch lists are a good example of project support material for a major project, but not a typical project for most of us. Here’s a recent one for me that may be more typical:

Project: renew license plates before April 1st.
Next Action: try renewing online. Result: need emissions inspection.
Next Action: schedule inspection and maintenance. Result: calendar item.
Next Action: try renewing online. Result: need tax receipts.
Next Action: get tax receipts from wife.
Next Action: try renewing online. Result: failure for unknown reasons. Advised to renew in person.
Next Action: schedule time to take all docs and renew plates in person.

Notice how linear this project is? At no time do I have more than one next action. There’s no planning either. Just me dealing with a system that was not well-designed. Most projects are like that. There is no magic bullet- you have what you have. However, you don’t have to do it all at once, and you can get it all off your mind. “Time is Nature’s way of making sure everything doesn’t happen all at once.”
 

Coachrubi

Registered
As I am in the very final stages of a kitchen remodel myself, I can relate. I have a similar punch list. I think that punch lists are a good example of project support material for a major project, but not a typical project for most of us. Here’s a recent one for me that may be more typical:

Project: renew license plates before April 1st.
Next Action: try renewing online. Result: need emissions inspection.
Next Action: schedule inspection and maintenance. Result: calendar item.
Next Action: try renewing online. Result: need tax receipts.
Next Action: get tax receipts from wife.
Next Action: try renewing online. Result: failure for unknown reasons. Advised to renew in person.
Next Action: schedule time to take all docs and renew plates in person.

Notice how linear this project is? At no time do I have more than one next action. There’s no planning either. Just me dealing with a system that was not well-designed. Most projects are like that. There is no magic bullet- you have what you have. However, you don’t have to do it all at once, and you can get it all off your mind. “Time is Nature’s way of making sure everything doesn’t happen all at once.”
Thank you for your reply. My challenge is that I do have to make it all happen at once. In one day. The home owner gives me the date they want their items taken care of, and then I enter them into a program that sends out the work requests to the various trades. It can be from 1 to 30 work requests. 1 to 30 next actions, for 70 current projects and I have to make sure all the work gets done. I'm overwhelmed, and stressed, and trying to get a grip in this.
 

Longstreet

Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases
Thank you for your reply. My challenge is that I do have to make it all happen at once. In one day. The home owner gives me the date they want their items taken care of, and then I enter them into a program that sends out the work requests to the various trades. It can be from 1 to 30 work requests. 1 to 30 next actions, for 70 current projects and I have to make sure all the work gets done. I'm overwhelmed, and stressed, and trying to get a grip in this.
I would suggest time blocking your day as to the type of work. Assign tasks to different blocks and stick with it. This is not standard GTD practice, but when you face having to do so much work and it is due all at once, this approach works well. I would be glad to help with this approach.
 

mcogilvie

Registered
Thank you for your reply. My challenge is that I do have to make it all happen at once. In one day. The home owner gives me the date they want their items taken care of, and then I enter them into a program that sends out the work requests to the various trades. It can be from 1 to 30 work requests. 1 to 30 next actions, for 70 current projects and I have to make sure all the work gets done. I'm overwhelmed, and stressed, and trying to get a grip in this.

OK, I see. What you want to do falls into the category of a specialized system to handle recurring tasks. I don’t know how much of the work the program does for you, but this now sounds more like a checklist. Each home is a project, say, in a special list of similar projects. Each item a homeowner wants done will progress through the system as the project progresses. There is a lot of value, imho, in having a standard form so you can see instantly where each item stands. This is different from a running chronological list. I could see having a multi-line entry for each item, with space for updating status. Another approach is to have sections for different statuses, and move items in and out of sections. Either is probably better than chronological, but you should definitely do what works for you.
 

TesTeq

Registered
Thank you for your reply. My challenge is that I do have to make it all happen at once. In one day. The home owner gives me the date they want their items taken care of, and then I enter them into a program that sends out the work requests to the various trades. It can be from 1 to 30 work requests. 1 to 30 next actions, for 70 current projects and I have to make sure all the work gets done. I'm overwhelmed, and stressed, and trying to get a grip in this.
Does this "program that sends out the work requests to the various trades" only send requests? Or is it a database that allows monitoring/entering status changes of each request?
 

Coachrubi

Registered
Does this "program that sends out the work requests to the various trades" only send requests? Or is it a database that allows monitoring/entering status changes of each request?
It only sends out the work request. I then have to call each homeowner to make sure their work got done. If the work doesn't get done, I have to call the contractor to find out why, and then schedule the work again for the home owner. I do my best to get all the work done in a single day, but it doesn't always work out.
 

Longstreet

Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases
It only sends out the work request. I then have to call each homeowner to make sure their work got done. If the work doesn't get done, I have to call the contractor to find out why, and then schedule the work again for the home owner. I do my best to get all the work done in a single day, but it doesn't always work out.
Just do the best you can. But I think you will find my time blocking approach works as well as anything else.
 
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