Finding the task to work on today from different projects

[KatyP]

I've been running into this problem any time I've tried to stick with using GTD. I have a lot of different projects that I need to make progress on. But I become overwhelmed and I am not sure how to efficiently look through the different tasks I might want to be working on today. I don't want to review all my projects every day, that's a lot of work. I use Things, and I started tagging the projects and tasks with the tag "SOON" that I need to make a lot of progress on with in the near future or things that are time sensitive, so I can search for that tag and then pull some of those tasks into what I plan to work on today. But even that list gets overwhelming.
Also I'll end up with a bunch of tasks in Today that I didn't get to, which gets carried over to the next day. So they shouldn't really be in Today unless they will definitely get done today. But I don't want to go through this processes several times a day to put tasks into today.

I know that if we have some projects we are not really working on currently that we can move them into a "Someday / Maybe" lists. And I have a "Someday Soon", "Someday Later", and "Someday Maybe" lists.

But it's specifically the plethora of projects I need to be making some consistent progress on that overwhelm me.

Any thoughts on how to go about deciding what to work on every day without getting overwhelmed and also not dropping the ball on making progress on many projects?

 

[fooddude]

I've been running into this problem any time I've tried to stick with using GTD. I have a lot of different projects that I need to make progress on. But I become overwhelmed and I am not sure how to efficiently look through the different tasks I might want to be working on today. I don't want to review all my projects every day, that's a lot of work. I use Things, and I started tagging the projects and tasks with the tag "SOON" that I need to make a lot of progress on with in the near future or things that are time sensitive, so I can search for that tag and then pull some of those tasks into what I plan to work on today. But even that list gets overwhelming.
Also I'll end up with a bunch of tasks in Today that I didn't get to, which gets carried over to the next day. So they shouldn't really be in Today unless they will definitely get done today. But I don't want to go through this processes several times a day to put tasks into today.

I know that if we have some projects we are not really working on currently that we can move them into a "Someday / Maybe" lists. And I have a "Someday Soon", "Someday Later", and "Someday Maybe" lists.

But it's specifically the plethora of projects I need to be making some consistent progress on that overwhelm me.

Any thoughts on how to go about deciding what to work on every day without getting overwhelmed and also not dropping the ball on making progress on many projects?

Are you using contexts? Are you putting just the very next action on a context list? Are you doing the weekly review consistently? Those are the major sticking points of GTD. I use Projects and Someday/Maybe only. I wouldn't muddy the water with all those other someday lists. Anything that I can complete in a year goes on Projects. Anything else including stuff I just might want to do goes on Someday/Maybe.

 

[KatyP]

Are you using contexts? Are you putting just the very next action on a context list? Are you doing the weekly review consistently? Those are the major sticking points of GTD. I use Projects and Someday/Maybe only. I wouldn't muddy the water with all those other someday lists. Anything that I can complete in a year goes on Projects. Anything else including stuff I just might want to do goes on Someday/Maybe.

I do use a Context list. And if I have all the things I need to work on within a year in my project list, I get completely overwhelmed and stop using GTD. I also break things out into Areas of Focus that's "Personal" and "Work". But even the organizational projects in my home seem endless and I get overwhelmed. Basically having it all lumped together into one big project list makes the system completely unusable for me.
I've adapted breaking things down into shorter lists and Area of Focus because I can't get my brain to deal with it all otherwise.

I try to put just one next action into projects, but I think of a lot of things that can be done in parallel to that first acton. But maybe I should just put one this down so I don't overwhelm myself.

I try to do weekly reviews but again, can't seem to stick with it for too long and get overwhelmed.

I don't know why my brain makes this so complicated. I've tried to use GTD for over 20 years like this.
I keep trying to simplify things for myself, but I keep hitting that overwhelm and stop using it consistently.

 

[mcogilvie]

Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up, David Allen advises. As a fellow Things user, I know how easy it is to overflow your Today list, and how daunting the full inventory of all your next actions in Anytime can be. I recommend trying the 3-3-3 method of Oliver Burkeman, a journalist and writer on productivity. It’s extremely lightweight and flexible: 3-3-3 :

Every normal working day, my intention is:

• to spend three hours on my most important current project, having defined some kind of specific goal for the progress I aim to make on it that day;

• to complete three shorter tasks, usually urgent to-dos or "sticky" tasks I've been avoiding, usually just a few minutes each (I count calls and meetings here, too); and

• to dedicate time to three 'maintenance activities', things that need my daily attention in order to keep life running smoothly.

This is not designed to fill your day or even your workday, but it sets a realistic intention which can turn a day in which nothing seems to have been accomplished into a not-bad-at-all day. It’s easy to implement, GTD-compatible, and if you don’t find it helpful, you haven’t lost much. Don’t be afraid to change it; I don’t follow its prescription rigorously.

 

[fooddude]

I do use a Context list. And if I have all the things I need to work on within a year in my project list, I get completely overwhelmed and stop using GTD. I also break things out into Areas of Focus that's "Personal" and "Work". But even the organizational projects in my home seem endless and I get overwhelmed. Basically having it all lumped together into one big project list makes the system completely unusable for me.
I've adapted breaking things down into shorter lists and Area of Focus because I can't get my brain to deal with it all otherwise.

I try to put just one next action into projects, but I think of a lot of things that can be done in parallel to that first acton. But maybe I should just put one this down so I don't overwhelm myself.

I try to do weekly reviews but again, can't seem to stick with it for too long and get overwhelmed.

I don't know why my brain makes this so complicated. I've tried to use GTD for over 20 years like this.
I keep trying to simplify things for myself, but I keep hitting that overwhelm and stop using it consistently.

The following are examples of my project list. Actually 57 total items. My next action contexts and my agendas. I may add an agenda for a large project that will take some time to complete. And there is a person attached to it. Then my @home context wit the very next action for some project on my project list. Remember, you can only do the very next action only in the context you can do it. I keep it really simple. I used to have a complicated system. I found I was working more on the system than actually getting things done. I did notice you said you use contexts, but didn't say if only the very next action was on that list. Hope this helps All the best.

 

[KatyP]

Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up, David Allen advises. As a fellow Things user, I know how easy it is to overflow your Today list, and how daunting the full inventory of all your next actions in Anytime can be. I recommend trying the 3-3-3 method of Oliver Burkeman, a journalist and writer on productivity. It’s extremely lightweight and flexible: 3-3-3 :


This is not designed to fill your day or even your workday, but it sets a realistic intention which can turn a day in which nothing seems to have been accomplished into a not-bad-at-all day. It’s easy to implement, GTD-compatible, and if you don’t find it helpful, you haven’t lost much. Don’t be afraid to change it; I don’t follow its prescription rigorously.

Do you put your maintenance activities in a separate area? Or is there like a maintenance Project list? That's another thing I get hung up on. I have things I continuously have to do to maintain whatever that never get complete and I'm not sure where those should go.

 

[KatyP]

The following are examples of my project list. Actually 57 total items. My next action contexts and my agendas. I may add an agenda for a large project that will take some time to complete. And there is a person attached to it. Then my @home context wit the very next action for some project on my project list. Remember, you can only do the very next action only in the context you can do it. I keep it really simple. I used to have a complicated system. I found I was working more on the system than actually getting things done. I did notice you said you use contexts, but didn't say if only the very next action was on that list. Hope this helps All the best. View attachment 2175View attachment 2176View attachment 2177

I am a farmer, and majority of projects and actions are executed @Home, inside my house, or @Farm, outside but basically on the property. So that doesn't cut down on the number of actions I would suddenly see if I search by contexts. What I'm saying is that this number of actions that I could choose from on any given day is overwhelming to the point where I don't want to use the system.. And it's a lot of reading and deciding what to pull into Today. Searching by Context doesn't help with the overwhelm.
Hence why i created different Someday/Maybe lists, so I can move some of the pending things I am currently not doing there, to minimize how much I see by context.

 

[Mrs-Polifax]

I do use a Context list. And if I have all the things I need to work on within a year in my project list, I get completely overwhelmed and stop using GTD. I also break things out into Areas of Focus that's "Personal" and "Work". But even the organizational projects in my home seem endless and I get overwhelmed. Basically having it all lumped together into one big project list makes the system completely unusable for me.
I've adapted breaking things down into shorter lists and Area of Focus because I can't get my brain to deal with it all otherwise.

I try to put just one next action into projects, but I think of a lot of things that can be done in parallel to that first acton. But maybe I should just put one this down so I don't overwhelm myself.

I try to do weekly reviews but again, can't seem to stick with it for too long and get overwhelmed.

I don't know why my brain makes this so complicated. I've tried to use GTD for over 20 years like this.
I keep trying to simplify things for myself, but I keep hitting that overwhelm and stop using it consistently.

Hi, @KatyP

I have been learning GTD ever since I bought David Allen's first GTD book, which was published in 2001, so like you, I've been learning GTD for a couple of decades. I am still struggling with it, so please do not feel alone. We are all different, and we all need to go at our own speed. I really hear you that even organizational household projects seem endless and overwhelming, and I have the same experience.

I have learned in the GTD Forum and from the GTD coaches in their videos on You Tube at GTD Focus is that there is no right way to do GTD. There are best practices, but they are flexible. What matters is that you feel attracted to your GTD system, so it is easy and fun for you to use, and that you feel free to experiment and to do GTD in whatever way works best for YOU.

You said you feel overwhelmed when you put the many projects that need to be done in the next year on your projects list. It may be that you need a projects list with fewer projects on it. How did it work when you tried to break down your projects list into Areas of Focus?

Another way to do that is to morph your projects list into a projects binder that contains one project per page. You could still see each one of your projects by turning the pages in your binder, but you might feel more ease and peace because you would not see them all at once, which could be more manageable for you.

Another way to have fewer projects on your projects list is to move ALL your projects to your Someday-Maybe list, leaving your Projects List empty. Then you could choose ONE project, and move it back to your Projects List, and see how it goes when you have only one project to manage. If you do not feel overwhelmed, you could add another project the next week, and you could continue this each week. When you notice that you feel overwhelmed, you could put one or more projects back into Someday-Maybe. This will start to define your boundaries, so you are not overwhelmed.

One important feature of GTD is that we are making a commitment only to our active lists. We do not have any commitment to our Someday-Maybe list. We can relax, knowing we have not committed to it. We can also renegotiate our commitment to an active matter, if we need to do so.

I know it can be difficult to decide what NOT to do when we have many projects, and we cannot possibly do all the things we want to do or need to do or would love to do in life. There is simply not enough time. The result of trying this impossible task is overwhelm, so we need to choose.

But how will we choose? This is where your higher horizons come in. You need to know what truly matters to you in order know where you want to put your energy. I haven't worked on this yet, but I can see how valuable it is to know what really matters to me, so I will feel good when I choose.

I think it is great to be curious and experiment. The way your brain works is fine. Your brain is giving you a message about what it needs. Give what it needs a try and see how that works. Also, if you think something might appeal to you, then try it and see.
Best Wishes,

Emily

 

[fooddude]

I am a farmer, and majority of projects and actions are executed @Home, inside my house, or @Farm, outside but basically on the property. So that doesn't cut down on the number of actions I would suddenly see if I search by contexts. What I'm saying is that this number of actions that I could choose from on any given day is overwhelming to the point where I don't want to use the system.. And it's a lot of reading and deciding what to pull into Today. Searching by Context doesn't help with the overwhelm.
Hence why i created different Someday/Maybe lists, so I can move some of the pending things I am currently not doing there, to minimize how much I see by context.

I only do by context. Even though I now work from home, I used to have Work and Home contexts. So the two you have would be good to keep one from encroaching on the other. I never have a "today" list unless it has to be done today. And time specific items go on the calendar. If it is day specific, it is an all day event. If it is time specific it goes on my calendar at that time. I don't have separate systems for personal and work. Especially with time specific items, all appointments personal or professional, need to be on the same calendar. I like to keep the system simple. I have one project list and one Someday/ Maybe list.
What I'm saying is that this number of actions that I could choose from on any given day is overwhelming to the point where I don't want to use the system.. But you can only "do" one action (right now). It doesn't really matter how many you have. The steps for choosing are: you have to be in the right context, you have to have the mental energy to do it. And are you sure it is the very next action or is there more clarifying that needs to be done? Do you want to do it? I have someday maybes that just don't interest me anymore. I delete those during weekly reviews. Would you give us an example of a project and the very next action to move it forward?

 

[mcogilvie]

Do you put your maintenance activities in a separate area? Or is there like a maintenance Project list? That's another thing I get hung up on. I have things I continuously have to do to maintain whatever that never get complete and I'm not sure where those should go.

I do, but that’s still a relatively new practice for me. Right now that area is called Recurring. I used to put them in an area for things that were critical today, but I found that the routine items were getting in the way of things that were critical that particular day. I have a few areas at the top of areas which are not areas of focus, but buckets for next actions and projects: Focus, Critical, Recurring. Projects and next actions move in and out of these areas as needed. The rest of the areas are conventional: Health, Money, et cetera. I’ve found I don’t have a strong need to attach contexts (tags in Things) or Areas to projects and next actions, but right now I do use them. I’m not good with long unbroken lists, so breaking them is better for me.

 

[Oogiem]

I am a farmer, and majority of projects and actions are executed @Home, inside my house, or @Farm, outside but basically on the property. So that doesn't cut down on the number of actions I would suddenly see if I search by contexts

I am also a farmer, so make the lists appropriate. We have different barns, 2 separate properties that are about a 15 minute drive, several distinct fields and more. I have context lists for Hay barn, Sheep flock, orchard pasture, back cedars pasture, Juniper 2, ship building, red barn and guest house. I also have contexts, for outside with help, outside by myself (note, some things require 2 people at least to perform safely.)

But it's specifically the plethora of projects I need to be making some consistent progress on that overwhelm me.

I can usually separate things by season. Each year at the equinoxes and solstices I can sort through the bunch of projects and move those that can’t continue to be worked on in the next 3 months into someday/maybe. So now in Winter into early spring, can’t do any fence building, or irrigation upgrades but I can burn the brush pile from the fire mitigation work if weather and assistance permits. I can plan for and start making lambing food for the freezer so in April when it's lambing time I have stuff I can pop in the microwave for dinner between lambs. I can Collect all the tax paperwork and have it ready to go to the accountant. I can schedule the ewe ultrasounds for february and I can also track hay conumption and see how we are doing. Checking weather and planning future irrigation and major maintenance. also happens now.

Do you put your maintenance activities in a separate area? Or is there like a maintenance Project list?

All ym maintenance taks are in themselves projecgs that repeat. I use them like a cehcklist. I have a template of rhte project with all the tasks with the dependencies (do this, then this, then that). I have start dates for all of them. Then on the start date the first task is to make a copy of my checklist and make it active. I can work down the checklist and things come up avaulable in my next action lists as I can do them.

A lot of folks just use a checklist and they just work it and then clear it ready for the next instance of that task but I need to pleasure of checking things done and being able to go back and see that I did them so I make each instance of using the checklist its own set of tasks. It took a while to set up but it's working well now.

Here's an example from this season. The project is Weigh lambs at Post weaning and here are the tasks in my checklist template. The dates vary from year to year as they are dependent on when the lambs actually are born

- [ ] Figure out days to weigh early lambs #Context/InsideByMyself
- [ ] Figure out days to weigh middle lambs #Context/InsideByMyself
- [ ] Figure out days to weigh late lambs #Context/InsideByMyself
- [ ] Weigh early lambs for post weaning weights #Context/OutsideWithHelp -- I add the start and end dates once I figure them out
- [ ] Weigh middle lambs for post weaning weights #Context/OutsideWithHelp -- I add the start and end dates once I figure them out
- [ ] Weigh late lambs for post weaning weights #Context/OutsideWithHelp -- I add the start and end dates once I figure them out