Battling Overwhelm

[illuscat]

The problem I'm having is that things are still on my mind. I don't know what on my list to do first, because everything seems equally important (is there a priority gene that I'm missing?). Each week, I find myself choosing between projects and tasks that all seem important and relatively urgent, and at the end of the week, I end up feeling like I've failed, because I haven't moved everything forward. It seems I'm having to choose between important projects -- and emptying my inboxes (including voicemail and email), which often goes undone as I try to make headway on my lists. The result is that I'm sinking.

Any advice on knowing what to pick and how to keep it all going? I know David Allen would say to focus on whatever is on my mind. Unfortunately, that's everything!

I wonder if I have some gaping hole in my system that I'm just not seeing? Or if I'm doing something wrong?

Thank you in advance!

 

[clango]

Next Step

The problem I'm having is that things are still on my mind. I don't know what on my list to do first, because everything seems equally important (is there a priority gene that I'm missing?). Each week, I find myself choosing between projects and tasks that all seem important and relatively urgent, and at the end of the week, I end up feeling like I've failed, because I haven't moved everything forward. It seems I'm having to choose between important projects -- and emptying my inboxes (including voicemail and email), which often goes undone as I try to make headway on my lists. The result is that I'm sinking.

Any advice on knowing what to pick and how to keep it all going? I know David Allen would say to focus on whatever is on my mind. Unfortunately, that's everything!

I wonder if I have some gaping hole in my system that I'm just not seeing? Or if I'm doing something wrong?

Thank you in advance!

I'm struggling like you but reading your email it seems it's time to read the last book of David Allen. Thanks to it, it would become clear you may have a problem of direction

 

[illuscat]

Thank you for the suggestion

I'm on the waiting list at my library for the new book. I hope it'll be helpful--

 

[ellobogrande]

While you're waiting for the book, here are some short-term suggestions I have for you.

Make sure that your action lists are clean and contain true next actions on your projects, not vague undoable stuff or mini-projects in disguise. That will cause you to go numb to your lists. Think of your actions as bookmarks - you only need the last place where you left off on a project.

If your lists are in fact clean as they should be but you have too many from which to choose, it's time to prune them down to a manageable size. Shuttle some of those projects to your Someday/Maybe list and remove the corresponding next actions from your action lists.

Another thing you can do with a large action list to prune it down is to identify actions that would require < 10 minutes to complete. Flag them in some manner and go on a short marathon session and just do them. That cuts the list down to size. I frequently do that with my @Home list; there are over 45 items on it.

Finally, if I'm really hung up on priority decisions, I choose a context and starting with the oldest item on the list I examine each item until I find one that I have the time and energy to handle. Then I just do it. Is it the best thing for me to be doing right now? I'm not sure, but it's better to get something done than to fret over priorities and get nothing done.

Best of luck.

 

[sdann]

Another thing you can do with a large action list to prune it down is to identify actions that would require < 10 minutes to complete. Flag them in some manner and go on a short marathon session and just do them. That cuts the list down to size. I frequently do that with my @Home list; there are over 45 items on it.

I like this idea. I have used the oldest first method but I like the marathon

 

[TesTeq]

Read &quot;The Power of Less&quot; by Leo Babauta.

Any advice on knowing what to pick and how to keep it all going? I know David Allen would say to focus on whatever is on my mind. Unfortunately, that's everything!

Read "The Power of Less" by Leo Babauta.

 

[Brent]

I sympathize with your feelings! I've been there, and it's hard.

If it makes you feel any better, I have the same prioritization perspective. I actually think there's nothing wrong with it; you realize that "importance" and "urgency" are not simple linear concepts. Everything is important, in different ways!

Anyvay, first off, deep breath: You're not going to get everything done. You may well not move everything forward every week. That's okay. How much are you getting done?

GTD gets all your commitments out and on the table. That can create an overwhelming list, but it's reality! You had all these commitments before; you just didn't see them all at once until now.

I've dealt with this by pruning my Projects list down to things I expect to accomplish--or at least make major progress on--this week. For me, that means a maximum of about 7 Projects. Everything else goes on Someday/Maybe, knowing I may add much of it back on next week.

Does that help?

 

[mwkoehler]

Seperate &quot;Not Now&quot; lists

I've dealt with this by pruning my Projects list down to things I expect to accomplish--or at least make major progress on--this week. For me, that means a maximum of about 7 Projects. Everything else goes on Someday/Maybe, knowing I may add much of it back on next week.

Does that help?

I always resisted the idea of putting projects that I can't do right now on Someday/Maybe. It seemed too much like pushing them into the far future, so I would keep them active. Lately I have tried creating a new list called On Hold. I feel less resistance to moving a project there (and also off my NA lists) as I know it will not get lost inside my more futuristic Someday/Maybe list. It also gives me a quick metric on my level of overwhelm; the longer the On Hold list the more overwhelmed I am and it is time to renegotiate some projects.

 

[ellobogrande]

I always resisted the idea of putting projects that I can't do right now on Someday/Maybe. It seemed too much like pushing them into the far future, so I would keep them active.

Someday/Maybe isn't just for far future or "blue sky" projects. If it was, the list would be called "Maybe". The "Someday" part is for projects you may or definitely will do...someday. There's little value in making that distinction, that's probably why David suggested just one list for these items.

I'm not saying that having an "On Hold" list is wrong; do what works for you. But isn't "On Hold" the same as "Someday" (you'll get back to it later)?

Are you sure you've identified the real reason you're not comfortable with Someday/Maybe? Are you doing a weekly review every single week? Are you reviewing each one of those items on your Someday/Maybe list every single week and deciding whether or not to move some of them back to Projects? If you're not, that's the more likely reason you're not comfortable with that list.

 

[illuscat]

Thank you for great ideas!

I want to thank everyone for the great ideas!

* I've begun to implement the

 

[ellobogrande]

I want to thank everyone for the great ideas!

* The discussion about someday/maybe has also been helpful. I think I've been using my someday/maybe as a black hole. Things that go in there rarely see the light of day. So, I end up piling up my next actions list -- and, well, I get overwhelmed by it. I can see how dusting off the someday/maybe list might help me keep my list for the week in manageable shape.

I have one other small suggestion for you regarding Someday/Maybe. If you move a project to Someday/Maybe, delete the current next actions for that project from your action lists. Do not move the actions to Someday/Maybe; it will bloat and distort the list.

When you move something back to Projects during your weekly review, decide right there what the next action is to get started and put the reminder back on the list. The true next action may have changed since you incubated the project, so don't worry about saving the previous next actions you had defined, unless you really want to. In that case, note them in your project support material, whatever that may be.

Best of luck!

 

[Brent]

I always resisted the idea of putting projects that I can't do right now on Someday/Maybe. It seemed too much like pushing them into the far future, so I would keep them active.

You're reviewing your Someday/Maybe list every week as part of your Weekly Review, aren't you? And part of that review is to evaluate each item on your Someday/Maybe list to see if it should become active again, right? That's an integral part of the Weekly Review.

Putting something on Someday/Maybe only means "I'm not doing it this week."

 

[unstuffed]

What ellobogrande said.

In addition, you might benefit from different types of context lists, because I've found that creative use of context lists can (a) trim down my NAs to a manageable set that I can steam through, and (b) reduce procrastination and overwhelm.

If you're interested, I've written a couple of posts about it: here and here.

 

[Jon Walthour]

I like this idea. I have used the oldest first method but I like the marathon

 

[illuscat]

Thanks for clarification on Someday/maybe

This helps a lot!

I also started tracking my time, just to see why I wasn't tackling many things on my lists from week to week. I don't think I mentioned in my initial post that I teach, tutor, and administrate an educational program. I hadn't ever tracked time, so I was surprised to learn that I spend 30 hours/week away from my desk in student tutoring meetings ( 16 ), in classes ( 8 ), and commenting on student work ( 6 ). This leaves only 10 hours/week during regular business hours for actual desk/administrative time.

I'd been frustrated with myself for not keeping my inbox squeaky clean and not moving forward on many next actions. As I look at the raw data now, though, I see that I'm actually making progress, for someone with my schedule. Maybe I've been expecting too much, for a mere mortal.

 

[seraphim]

If your lists are in fact clean as they should be but you have too many from which to choose, it's time to prune them down to a manageable size. Shuttle some of those projects to your Someday/Maybe list and remove the corresponding next actions from your action lists.

How do you decide which ones to move to Someday/Maybe, when they all seem important and urgent?

And then, how do you handle your Someday/Maybe list when it grows to the point where IT becomes unmanageable and difficult to review?

 

[seraphim]

Another thing you can do with a large action list to prune it down is to identify actions that would require < 10 minutes to complete. Flag them in some manner and go on a short marathon session and just do them. That cuts the list down to size. I frequently do that with my @Home list; there are over 45 items on it.

Thanks for your suggestions here.

I've done this kind of thing, and it can help in the short-term. But because this is a chronic problem for me, I need to resort to this kind of thing too often. As a result, I tend to focus on the easy, short things that can be done in < 10 minutes, rather than the sustained work and attention to some matter, that brings the real results that matter.

 

[SiobhanBR]

How often do you want to review someday/maybe?

It's been mentioned in other places but seems appropriate to add to this discussion as well. If your someday/maybe is getting too unwieldy it may be time to consider splitting it. Some ideas:
- separate work and personal lists
- separate someday (definitely will do) and maybe (those bucket list items, for example)
- separate someday/maybe by Area of Focus
- separate by how often you want to review (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually)
- add a pending or on-hold list as a transistion tool and decide at an upcoming weekly review what needs to happen with it (sort of like tickling it until the next review)

I completely understand overwhelm - both personally and professionally I have a lot going on. My next action and someday/maybe lists are quite long. In my world, if I decide to put a project into someday/maybe that doesn't stop outside forces from raising it back up to a priority. But that's ok - I just go get it from someday/maybe and start working on it again. That's what someday/maybe is for.

But there are some things you do not need to look at every week. If you've got a lot of far future someday/maybes then splitting them off might make those lists smaller. Only you can decide how often you want to see "Buy/build a sauna" or "Rewrite program procedures" given your current workload and relationship to the item.

Play with contexts and frequency of review until you find something that works for you. And expect it to change as your life changes.

 

[Oogiem]

How do you decide which ones to move to Someday/Maybe, when they all seem important and urgent?

And then, how do you handle your Someday/Maybe list when it grows to the point where IT becomes unmanageable and difficult to review?

If every project is actually important and urgent but you really MUST move some to someday/maybe then flip a coin on each one and move it if the coin is tails. What is likely to happen though is you'll flip a coin on a project and it comes up tails, move to someday, but you say there is no way I can do that because X. Now, you've gained a better understanding of why you need that project in your pile. Some you'll do that and have no problem putting them in someday/maybe. Once you've cut the list of active projects down to about half then really go through each one that is still active and see why and how it is so important. Consider trying to renegotiate some of them to be someone else's project. Hire help to finish some of them or just buckle down and work at it because you over committed initially and now have to pay the piper until you get out from under the snowball.

When someday/maybe list gets too big take time for a more detailed review. Can some of the items be reviewed less often? The big bucket list items that take a lot of money may realistically need to be on hold for several years until loans and credit cards are paid off for example. If that is the case you don't need to review them until those financial obligations are handled so you have the $ to consider adding those projects back in. Change their review date to be once a year or so instead of weekly. Can some of the projects be reduced in scope and still give you the win/positive outcome you need? For example, the "remodel house so we can have more parties with friends" might be reduced in scope to "Make the back yard a comfortable place for BBQ's by building a BBQ pit with additional seating for guests" and that is good enough for you now.

 

[cwoodgold]

How do you decide which ones to move to Someday/Maybe, when they all seem important and urgent?

If they're all equally important and urgent, then you can just pick one at random and do it,
then immediately do the next one etc., without wasting any time planning or prioritizing. Or you can just choose some at random to move to Someday/Maybe.

You may also want to re-evaluate your priorities. Maybe you can you reduce your
responsibilities (quit a job, hire a babysitter, delegate work, quit a hobby,
quit as member of an organization, reduce your hours of work,
increase your hours of work if you have lots
you want to get done at work, get other family members to take over more housework, etc.) or stop doing things that used to make sense when you
used to have more time; e.g. buy meals rather than taking time to cook your
own, etc.

Taking a deep breath and imagining calmly accepting life without
getting X done (for each project) might help to clarify priorities. If you don't have time for
them all, then some will have to be left undone. Try thinking this in
a calm, accepting manner.

And then, how do you handle your Someday/Maybe list when it grows to the point where IT becomes unmanageable and difficult to review?

I use my "powers-of-2" system to review some items more often than others.