C
CosmoGTD
Guest
IMHO
QUIT!!!
Get an assistant!!!
No seriously, you have a heck of a workload there, so perhaps others will chime in who have a similar level of work.
But here is my humble opinion.
And if you have up to 150 NA in ONE-CONTEXT, thats a lot, isn't it? I wonder how many HOURS of work those Next Actions represent?
You can't break the Laws of Physics, you can only do so much in a day, right?
When i first started GTD, i was so behind, i put all of my BEHIND stuff into my ANTIAVOIDANCE category, and that I estimated at over 200+ hrs of WORK. So i basically pulled a bunch of all-nighters to catch up, and put in some 18hr Saturdays. But this was work i wanted to do for myself, not strictly Office work.
Maybe break the @Office into more sub-contexts? I think that is what i would do. If it were ME, i would look at a single list of 100-150 Next Actions, and i would say, "CosmoGTD, this is nutty!".
I personally never let ANY list get bigger than ONE SCREEN on my computer, as i lose sight of it. So i MIGHT make an arbitrary "rule" to say i will only allow maybe 30 or so in each context. So then i might break the @OFFICE into 4 logical sub-contexts perhaps. This way, i only have a list of 30 things in each area, as for me, over 100 things in one list would be too much.
I have over 300 NA in total in my context lists, but the most i have in each one is about 39 items, and that is pushing it for me. I feel best when i have around a dozen in a context list.
DA does say for those with LOTS of calls, to break them into sub-contexts for calls. I use @Calls Professional, and @ Calls Personal.
Also, what i do, is i do SORT my Next Actions to a degree. When something is extra important, i have a "field" i can use, to bump it up to the top of the list, so i know that its important.
If you review the 4-Criteria Model, your Context is @Office, Next is TIME available, then ENERGY available, then PRIORITY, right?
What if the @Office context was broken down a little, to make the lists more managable?
And then when you did get your windows of TIME, you checked your ENERGY level, and then picked the TOP PRIORTY by asking "whats the most important thing for me to do?" (p195).
In the book, DA then gets into a discussion of how one defines their Work, Responsibilites, Goals, and Values.
I do NOT have your volume of Inputs, so perhaps someone who does will have better advice.
But what i do, is when i have something i know is IMPORTANT, (i always sort by the Outlook Priority field), and i give it an A1, which puts it to the TOP of my context list. (i hear the GTD Police sirens!!!)
This way, as soon as i open that context list, i will have CALL LAWYER, WRITE LOVE POEM TO OPRAH, or DROP OFF NEW RESUMES TO AGENT, etc, right at the top of the list, so i don't even have to think.
I personally tend to OVERRIDE the ENERGY critieria usually, as if it needs to get done, then i just have to do it. So in this sense, the top thing on the list has been pre-defined and sorted, so when i get TIME, i can just do it without thinking. (if i don't avoid doing it, that is).
I have an extensive @Read/Review list, and i use a very ROUGH "priority" in it, putting the most important few at the top of the list, and the rest below in alphabetical order. So its a type of Darwinian struggle for relevence on that list. I will NEVER be able to read it all, even if i read 6+ hrs a day for years, but when i do read, i know to pick from the top 3 or so things to READ, and frankly, the things near the bottom of the list, like read Faust II by Goethe, might NEVER get read, but maybe tommorow that will become relevant, and i will bump it to the top of the list, and then read it.
Doesn't DA mention to put *** on REAL important calls, to bump them to the top of the list? (same thing i am doing).
So again, i sense i have not answered your question, but have just given my opinion. I would be very interested in how you solve this, and what others have to say.
Maybe look at page 199, where he talks about "The Moment to Moment Balancing Act". He clearly says that from moment to moment we need to decide using our "intuitive judgements".
So you have raised an excellent issue, please let me know how you decide to manage it. I am still very much in learning mode with GTD as well.
Coz
Anonymous said:
QUIT!!!
Get an assistant!!!
No seriously, you have a heck of a workload there, so perhaps others will chime in who have a similar level of work.
But here is my humble opinion.
And if you have up to 150 NA in ONE-CONTEXT, thats a lot, isn't it? I wonder how many HOURS of work those Next Actions represent?
You can't break the Laws of Physics, you can only do so much in a day, right?
When i first started GTD, i was so behind, i put all of my BEHIND stuff into my ANTIAVOIDANCE category, and that I estimated at over 200+ hrs of WORK. So i basically pulled a bunch of all-nighters to catch up, and put in some 18hr Saturdays. But this was work i wanted to do for myself, not strictly Office work.
Maybe break the @Office into more sub-contexts? I think that is what i would do. If it were ME, i would look at a single list of 100-150 Next Actions, and i would say, "CosmoGTD, this is nutty!".
I personally never let ANY list get bigger than ONE SCREEN on my computer, as i lose sight of it. So i MIGHT make an arbitrary "rule" to say i will only allow maybe 30 or so in each context. So then i might break the @OFFICE into 4 logical sub-contexts perhaps. This way, i only have a list of 30 things in each area, as for me, over 100 things in one list would be too much.
I have over 300 NA in total in my context lists, but the most i have in each one is about 39 items, and that is pushing it for me. I feel best when i have around a dozen in a context list.
DA does say for those with LOTS of calls, to break them into sub-contexts for calls. I use @Calls Professional, and @ Calls Personal.
Also, what i do, is i do SORT my Next Actions to a degree. When something is extra important, i have a "field" i can use, to bump it up to the top of the list, so i know that its important.
If you review the 4-Criteria Model, your Context is @Office, Next is TIME available, then ENERGY available, then PRIORITY, right?
What if the @Office context was broken down a little, to make the lists more managable?
And then when you did get your windows of TIME, you checked your ENERGY level, and then picked the TOP PRIORTY by asking "whats the most important thing for me to do?" (p195).
In the book, DA then gets into a discussion of how one defines their Work, Responsibilites, Goals, and Values.
I do NOT have your volume of Inputs, so perhaps someone who does will have better advice.
But what i do, is when i have something i know is IMPORTANT, (i always sort by the Outlook Priority field), and i give it an A1, which puts it to the TOP of my context list. (i hear the GTD Police sirens!!!)
This way, as soon as i open that context list, i will have CALL LAWYER, WRITE LOVE POEM TO OPRAH, or DROP OFF NEW RESUMES TO AGENT, etc, right at the top of the list, so i don't even have to think.
I personally tend to OVERRIDE the ENERGY critieria usually, as if it needs to get done, then i just have to do it. So in this sense, the top thing on the list has been pre-defined and sorted, so when i get TIME, i can just do it without thinking. (if i don't avoid doing it, that is).
I have an extensive @Read/Review list, and i use a very ROUGH "priority" in it, putting the most important few at the top of the list, and the rest below in alphabetical order. So its a type of Darwinian struggle for relevence on that list. I will NEVER be able to read it all, even if i read 6+ hrs a day for years, but when i do read, i know to pick from the top 3 or so things to READ, and frankly, the things near the bottom of the list, like read Faust II by Goethe, might NEVER get read, but maybe tommorow that will become relevant, and i will bump it to the top of the list, and then read it.
Doesn't DA mention to put *** on REAL important calls, to bump them to the top of the list? (same thing i am doing).
So again, i sense i have not answered your question, but have just given my opinion. I would be very interested in how you solve this, and what others have to say.
Maybe look at page 199, where he talks about "The Moment to Moment Balancing Act". He clearly says that from moment to moment we need to decide using our "intuitive judgements".
So you have raised an excellent issue, please let me know how you decide to manage it. I am still very much in learning mode with GTD as well.
Coz
o vs Stage 4: Review).
A complexity beast. And its not for everybody. I have hard landscape and todos but few "due bys." I dont need it. But I think it can be integrated into a GTD system nevertheless.