A Next Action wondering . . . ?

G

gtdstudente

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Wondering if any fellow GTDers have any Next Action tips worth considering to help remove any . . . lets say subconscious or other potential frictions to more effortlessly crank-out Next Action(s) ?

Thank you very much

As you see GTD fit for forgetting everything by forgetting nothing
 
One realization I had recently was to try to use my Someday/Maybe list more effectively. I typically load up my next actions list with all the things I could do right now, but not necessarily things that are essential to get done soon. It bloated my list and created psychological drag. So I have been reviewing my next actions list during the weekly review for items that could be moved to someday/maybe because they are not critical to get done now.

I also recently read Cal Newport's new book Slow Productivity. In it he mentions the creating a "pull" work system. Instead of being subjected to a "push" system where everything is pushed onto your plate at once, creating a feeling of overwhelm. This helped me think about my lists slightly differently. Instead of looking at my lists and feeling like all of my actions are pushing on me to get done, I changed my perspective to having all of my actions on a shelf. I can then "pull" what I want to work on from the shelf. Of course, David Allen alludes to this in his books, but it might not stick for everyone. It didn't for me for a long time. Now I feel better about what I'm getting done and can keep the feeling of overwhelm at bay. It is funny how we all try to play little tricks on our minds to help stay in control and and feel good about things.

Cheers,
Stephen
 
GTDChemist said:
One realization I had recently was to try to use my Someday/Maybe list more effectively. I typically load up my next actions list with all the things I could do right now, but not necessarily things that are essential to get done soon. It bloated my list and created psychological drag. So I have been reviewing my next actions list during the weekly review for items that could be moved to someday/maybe because they are not critical to get done now.

I also recently read Cal Newport's new book Slow Productivity. In it he mentions the creating a "pull" work system. Instead of being subjected to a "push" system where everything is pushed onto your plate at once, creating a feeling of overwhelm. This helped me think about my lists slightly differently. Instead of looking at my lists and feeling like all of my actions are pushing on me to get done, I changed my perspective to having all of my actions on a shelf. I can then "pull" what I want to work on from the shelf. Of course, David Allen alludes to this in his books, but it might not stick for everyone. It didn't for me for a long time. Now I feel better about what I'm getting done and can keep the feeling of overwhelm at bay. It is funny how we all try to play little tricks on our minds to help stay in control and and feel good about things.

Cheers,
Stephen
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@GTDChemist,

Your reply makes terrific sense and the "push" vs. "pull" for control/keeping overwhelming numbing in check makes self-evident sense once grasped . . . H U G E . . . thank you very much

With all due respect and in the hopes of appreciating your insights all the more, how does ". . . David Allen alludes to this in his books, but it might not stick for everyone. It didn't for me for a long time." ?

As such, in the hopes of being a better reader of David Allen's books/authorship, can you elaborate more on your very good apprehension/insight

Thank you very much sir

Ps. In regards to Project list(s), the 'Shelf' idea is being managed with additional overwhelming numbness relief:

'Shelf 2' Someday/Maybe are being deemed as R E M O T E [pull possibilities]

'Shelf 1' After Current P R O X I M A T E [commitments moved to pull]

'Shelf 0' Current I M M E D I A T E [ life's 'stuff' necessaries . . . a Project(s) management mixture of 'pulls' and 'pushes' ?]
 
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gtdstudente said:
@GTDChemist,

Your reply makes terrific sense and the "push" vs. "pull" for control/keeping overwhelming numbing in check makes self-evident sense once grasped . . . H U G E . . . thank you very much

With all due respect and in the hopes of appreciating your insights all the more, how does ". . . David Allen alludes to this in his books, but it might not stick for everyone. It didn't for me for a long time." ?

As such, in the hopes of being a better reader of David Allen's books/authorship, can you elaborate more on your very good apprehension/insight

Thank you very much sir

Ps. In regards to Project list(s), the 'Shelf' idea is being managed with additional overwhelming numbness relief:

'Shelf 2' Someday/Maybe are being deemed as R E M O T E [pull possibilities]

'Shelf 1' After Runway P R O X I M A T E [commitments moved to pull]

'Shelf 0' Runway I M M E D I A T E [ life's 'stuff' necessaries . . . a Project(s) management mixture of 'pulls' and 'pushes' ?]
Click to expand...
I like how you have extended and framed the shelf idea. That’s a great way to think about “pulling” actions to your runway.

In regards to your question about DA alluding to the pull method in the books, there are several things that come to mind. One is how to choose actions in the moment. He lays out the 4-factor model for making choices (time, energy, context, priority). So, given those things, you use your intuition to choose what to do. To me, this is the same as pulling from the appropriate shelf. Another such pull would be to elevate something from someday/maybe to active status in your project list. You are making the choice to work on it now.

In Making it all Work, DA talks about a common problem with implementing GTD is once you have clear lists of all your projects and actions, you can feel shame or exhaustion or defeat about all the “incompletions” in your life. You can go numb to the lists. To get past this, you have to really think hard about what is actionable NOW vs. maybe in the future, and confront the reality of the limited amount of time you have to do things. I think this equates to pushing things onto higher/further shelves from which you can pull them back later.

Cheers,
Stephen
 
GTDChemist said:
I like how you have extended and framed the shelf idea. That’s a great way to think about “pulling” actions to your runway.

In regards to your question about DA alluding to the pull method in the books, there are several things that come to mind. One is how to choose actions in the moment. He lays out the 4-factor model for making choices (time, energy, context, priority). So, given those things, you use your intuition to choose what to do. To me, this is the same as pulling from the appropriate shelf. Another such pull would be to elevate something from someday/maybe to active status in your project list. You are making the choice to work on it now.

In Making it all Work, DA talks about a common problem with implementing GTD is once you have clear lists of all your projects and actions, you can feel shame or exhaustion or defeat about all the “incompletions” in your life. You can go numb to the lists. To get past this, you have to really think hard about what is actionable NOW vs. maybe in the future, and confront the reality of the limited amount of time you have to do things. I think this equates to pushing things onto higher/further shelves from which you can pull them back later.

Cheers,
Stephen
Click to expand...
@GTDChemist / Stephen,

Thank you very much for your additional post in helping one to rise above one's customized GTD system . . . helpful in objectifying one's system all the more . . . more and more objectivity brings with it more and more blissful clarity . . . good job, thank you very, very much

Your clarification(s) will undoubtedly be very helpful in facilitating other's GTD journey as well and good cheer to you as well !
 
sure, but imho we are speaking of different things.
If a process/project has independent actions on "different branches of a Gant chart", however important valuable one step is, once the branches come together in the future, the seemingly unimportant action of the other branch will get the same importance as the first chosen one.
in mathematical terms, if you have two conditions to be fulfilled before you can move on then these are of the SAME importance, however different it may look like...
if speaking about optional actions on the SAME branch then obviously you have to pick one and see whether it leads to the best direction (we often fail in a step and then try different options).
 
Stefan Godo said:
sure, but imho we are speaking of different things.
If a process/project has independent actions on "different branches of a Gant chart", however important valuable one step is, once the branches come together in the future, the seemingly unimportant action of the other branch will get the same importance as the first chosen one.
in mathematical terms, if you have two conditions to be fulfilled before you can move on then these are of the SAME importance, however different it may look like...
if speaking about optional actions on the SAME branch then obviously you have to pick one and see whether it leads to the best direction (we often fail in a step and then try different options).
Click to expand...
@Stefan Godo,

Always find it fascinating how a Next Action can have an 'autonomous life' of its own with innumerable effects

Thank you very much
 
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