Waiting For

gtdstudente

Registered
Wondering, Does anyone only look at "Waiting For" during their Weekly Review? If not, is it more "Attached" to Context List, Projects Lists, stand alone, etc.? Thank you for your feedback! :)
 

cfoley

Registered
For me there is no set schedule. I look at it as frequently as required in order to keep the items it contains off my mind. Not only is this personal but it also changes over time.
 

John Forrister

GTD Connect
Staff member
I check Waiting For daily, because that list often contains items that I need to follow up on if they don't arrive by a certain date.
 

ivanjay205

Registered
I do it as part of my morning startup routine so I can followup and get any responses throughout the day on my checkins
 

gtdstudente

Registered
I check Waiting For daily, because that list often contains items that I need to follow up on if they don't arrive by a certain date.
Thank you . . . removing wondering can be challenging . . . does that simply mean putting an "expected date" next to arriving "item" that is in the Waiting For list and still not in Calendar?
 

John Forrister

GTD Connect
Staff member
Thank you . . . removing wondering can be challenging . . . does that simply mean putting an "expected date" next to arriving "item" that is in the Waiting For list and still not in Calendar?
Yes. If I put a due date on the Waiting For item, that is the date by which I want to have received the item, and if I haven't I will follow up. That's another way that I think of the Waiting For due dates. Those are the dates that trigger a follow-up if I have not received the physical item, or the information, or whatever I am waiting for. Even in a perfect world where everyone uses GTD and tracks their commitments, the Waiting For list is still valuable. Sometimes packages get lost, or an email gets addressed to the wrong person, etc.

Yes again, I do not put my list items, including Waiting Fors, on my calendar, even if they have due dates. My list items with due dates are "due by" dates. My calendar has items that are "due on" a specific date. People often put their list items on the calendar simply because they trust they will look at the calendar but have not developed trust about looking at their lists.
 

gtdstudente

Registered
Yes. If I put a due date on the Waiting For item, that is the date by which I want to have received the item, and if I haven't I will follow up. That's another way that I think of the Waiting For due dates. Those are the dates that trigger a follow-up if I have not received the physical item, or the information, or whatever I am waiting for. Even in a perfect world where everyone uses GTD and tracks their commitments, the Waiting For list is still valuable. Sometimes packages get lost, or an email gets addressed to the wrong person, etc.

Yes again, I do not put my list items, including Waiting Fors, on my calendar, even if they have due dates. My list items with due dates are "due by" dates. My calendar has items that are "due on" a specific date. People often put their list items on the calendar simply because they trust they will look at the calendar but have not developed trust about looking at their lists.
Mr. Foster, Thank you very much for your GTD clarity, elegance, and professionalism . . . no current wondering here . . . spot on! Thank you very, very much. All you have me thinking is one big take-away . . . which is . . . allow GTD! Thank you.
 

RS356

Registered
Thank you . . . with Next Actions . . . may I please ask you what tool you use for your Next Actions? Thank you

I’m currently using a simple paper list. Despite using many digital tools, I’ve found nothing else as efficient or flexible for GTD.
 

Oogiem

Registered
Wondering, Does anyone only look at "Waiting For" during their Weekly Review?
I use waiting for as a descriptor in the next action in the context where I would find the info eventually. So for example I had a "Waiting for electrical inspection to be completed" action in the context of Juniper Gulch in the Juniper Gulch Ranch Solar Project. So when I look at the context "Juniper Gulch" I can see that I have a couple of things I am waiting for, a couple I can do and a couple that someone else has to do but I'm tracking. This is the one case where I have actually used tags in Omnifocus to give more than one context to an item. Because all those waiting for items ALSO have a tag/context of Waiting For so I can see them all at once as a regular next action list if I choose to. I review all my next action lists by context, including Waiting For each morning.
 

gtdstudente

Registered
I’m currently using a simple paper list. Despite using many digital tools, I’ve found nothing else as efficient or flexible for GTD.
Thank you for your reply . . . what do use to prevent paper from going every where. Loose-Leaf Binder with Tabs? Keep it clean by rewriting "everything" with the Weekly Review or using Post-its? Thank you
 

gtdstudente

Registered
I use waiting for as a descriptor in the next action in the context where I would find the info eventually. So for example I had a "Waiting for electrical inspection to be completed" action in the context of Juniper Gulch in the Juniper Gulch Ranch Solar Project. So when I look at the context "Juniper Gulch" I can see that I have a couple of things I am waiting for, a couple I can do and a couple that someone else has to do but I'm tracking. This is the one case where I have actually used tags in Omnifocus to give more than one context to an item. Because all those waiting for items ALSO have a tag/context of Waiting For so I can see them all at once as a regular next action list if I choose to. I review all my next action lists by context, including Waiting For each morning.
Oogiem, Makes a lot of GTD sense. Sounds like your Project Lists include Next Actions . . . big no . . . no? Nice to know that your Waiting For is leveraged with Contexts. I love the multi-tags/Contexts, however when you change/modify/remove one, do the other multi-tags/Contexts do as well, i.e., re-sync? Too good to be true? Thank you!
 
Last edited:

Oogiem

Registered
Sounds like your Project Lists include Next Actions . . . big no . . . no?

I can see a project list just by looking in the left sidebar of my Omnifocus app. All the projects are listed there. I have a few folders to organize them in ways that make sense to me but the entire list can be see or collapsed easily. I can not handle a system where I keep projects separate from actions. I need them associated and I need it to be easy to choose what layer I view them at. I've never made it more than 3-4 days in a paper system before I am reaching for the nearest reasonable computer alternative. Any computer alternative is better than the best paper system for me.

I love the multi-tags/Contexts, however when you change/modify/remove one, do the other multi-tags/Contexts do as well, i.e., re-sync?

I almost never change contexts that are associated with an action. In fact I can't think of a case where I have done that in the last few months. I don't modify or remove contexts, I either do or do not the task.

Omnifocus is always synced across all my devices using my own WebDAV server. I am very cloud adverse, I will not use external cloud services unless forced to by some other constraint. It's not my default choice. But I also do not want tohave my task list on only one device so I do my own personal sync system.
 

gtdstudente

Registered
I can see a project list just by looking in the left sidebar of my Omnifocus app. All the projects are listed there. I have a few folders to organize them in ways that make sense to me but the entire list can be see or collapsed easily. I can not handle a system where I keep projects separate from actions. I need them associated and I need it to be easy to choose what layer I view them at. I've never made it more than 3-4 days in a paper system before I am reaching for the nearest reasonable computer alternative. Any computer alternative is better than the best paper system for me.



I almost never change contexts that are associated with an action. In fact I can't think of a case where I have done that in the last few months. I don't modify or remove contexts, I either do or do not the task.

Omnifocus is always synced across all my devices using my own WebDAV server. I am very cloud adverse, I will not use external cloud services unless forced to by some other constraint. It's not my default choice. But I also do not want tohave my task list on only one device so I do my own personal sync system.
Oogiem, Thank you for clarifying. Thank you!
 
Top