“…my understanding is that each action only gets released to the NA lists once the preceding action for a particular project is completed…”
@Ritchie, you’re on the right track! You kind of drip-feed project actions into your next action list.
Imagine the project is “Repair Car”. You’d think through what you need to do to complete the project. In your project notes you might come up with:
Repair Car:
1) Order new gasket from
www.GTD-Autos.com
2) Call Fred to borrow his wrench set
3) Check Service Manual to get gasket part number
4) Fit new gasket
Now at this time, none of these are in your next actions list, they’re simply the steps you thought you’d need to take to either mark a start on or complete the project.
Looking at them, you can’t do 4 right now as it depends upon all the rest.
You could do 2 and 3.
But you can’t do 1 as you don’t know the part number yet!
So at this stage, what’s the very next action(s) that would get this moving towards completion?
Steps 2 and 3 can be done right now, so you add them to your next action lists.
For example:
@Calls: Call Fred to borrow his wrench set
@Home: Check Service Manual to get gasket part number
These are clearly defined steps that you can do right now without having to complete preceding actions first.
So @Home you check the service manual and find the part number.
Now, you can write the part number in your “Repair Car” project notes and at the same time, mini-review the project to see what the new next action will be.
This is a key point – at each time you complete a next action for a project, consider what you have just completed and think of the new next action the completion triggers.
It may be an action you noted before in the project notes or it may be a completely new next action. But basically, when you complete a next action, think then what the “new” next action should be.
As you now know the part number, you could now add step 1 to the next actions list:
@Online: Order new gasket from
www.GTD-Autos.com
So you order the gasket online and as you tick it off as completed what does this trigger?
Add it to the @Waiting For list so you can track the order.
In the meantime you @Calls: Call Fred and arrange to pickup the wrench sometime that week.
This in turn then triggers @Town: Visit Fred and borrow wrench or you may put it on your calendar instead: Wed 12-Sept – Visit Fred and Borrow Wrench etc.
Next, the gasket arrives, so it’s ticked off the @Waiting For list and you review you project list again.
Only thing stopping you now is Fred’s Wrench! So you visit Fred and borrow his wrench. This triggers a tickler item/calendar reminder for say 7 days time: “Remember to return Fred’s wrench!”
So now you’re set and the next time you are @Home and you feel up for it and have the time, you decide to fit the gasket as it’s pretty important. (Based on the “Context, Time, Energy, Priority” method of choosing what to do and when).
You fit the gasket, tick it off the list and it appears the project is complete. You’re glad it’s done and out of the way – but you forget all about returning Fred’s wrench!
But 5 days later either your tickler file or your calendar reminder saves the day and reminds you to return Fred’s Wrench!
But, say you broke the wrench? Then it’s back to @Online: Order new wrench from
www.GTD-Autos.com, when that’s done it’s on the @Waiting For list. When it arrives, it’s ticked off the @Waiting For list and this triggers @Town: Visit Fred and give him the new wrench.
The absolute key is picking up on the new next actions once a next action is completed! Reviewing your next action and projects lists whenever an action is completed is a good start. Sometimes it’s pretty obvious what a completion will trigger; sometimes it’s not!
Also, you don’t have to note all the exact actions in the project notes before you start – sometimes the actions change from what you initially planned.
In the above example, when you try to order the part from
www.GTD-Autos.com say you find they’ve gone out of business! Then the next action is @Online: Google for supplier of XYZ wrenches!
The key is that your next actions lists are specific do-able actions right now (at the right context). There should be nothing there can’t be done until other next actions are completed.
It means you simply look at the actions lists and can go and do the actions.
You’re not thinking “Well, I can’t do that until I’ve ordered that. But I can't order that till I’ve checked the part number! And I can't check the service manual until I'm back at home!”
In this way, the project is broken down into smaller, do-able actions that lead you to the successful completion of the project.
Hope this helps, let me know if not! Sorry if I’ve over simplified it too much – please don’t be offended!
Good luck, best regards,
Andy.
