Finding the task to work on today from different projects

[KatyP]

So where do you put the very next action for a project? You shouldn't be looking so much at projects as the next action. I try to only look at projects during my weekly review. Does your system integrate personal and professional? And the contexts would still work. There are some things you can only do on the phone. (Calls and Texts). @Computer for me is anything that can be done on the computer or phone that is computer-like. It's a little more fuzzy but I put that in @Computer. Do you "work" the farm like a job? I mean go out to the farm and work 8 hours? I'm not a fan of time blocking but maybe you could do that. Then do the @farm stuff @farm. Do you put day specific items on your calendar?

But I need to be aware of pending projects in all these context to decide how to direct my time that day. Like do I need to get some things done inside the house? Or maybe I need to go start on a farm project outside. Or I need to make some phone calls or do something on the computer.

That is why you need to put your very next action on you N/A list. It appears you are trying to do projects not next actions. GTD theory is you can't do projects you can only do the very next action to move that project forward. I'm in no way trying to suggest I know your business but I'm guessing the following example might be close.
Project-Plant 16 acres of corn.
@Farm-Get tractor and Plow 16 acres on the North Side.
That's it. I don't write down any next action til I've completed the first. I may do several next actions on that project. when I stop I write down the very next action and I can pick up the project where I left off. For example, If you finish plowing and stop for the day, Your next action could be @Farm- fertilize 16 acres.
And don't neglect the @Waiting For context. Sometimes you can still move a project forward with a waiting for item. Sometimes your project is on hold til the waiting for item is taken care of.
Hope this helps.

I use Things to organize all my lists. So yes I have the next action in each project, but then I have to mark those specific actions that I decide to do today with "Today" in order to see them in the "Today" list. So I either can search for them by some context or I can look through the projets and see what the next actions are for each one and then select them for today. I would have to do several searches for different contexts that I can get done today. Some I might just glance through the project list and decide which ones are important for me to make some progress on that day, and then mark the next actions of those projects with "Today".

>Do you "work" the farm like a job? I mean go out to the farm and work 8 hours?

Only on days I am loading for farmers markets, the rest of the time I'm either away 4 days out of the week doing 10 farmers markets markets per week and staying in the city, or I'm managing my employees at the farm. So whenever I am at home/farm, I need to make sure I don't miss anything that's important for me to do while I am there, regardless of context. Sometimes it's something physical there that's time sensitive, or I need to do something on my computer, or make a phone call while I have some time to do that at home.

I work 7 days a week. Right now I'm on vacation in hawaii and I am working a good chunk of the time doing administrative work and bookkeeping to try to catch up.
Posting about this GTD dilemma was on my Next Actions list. LOL I've been meaning to get some help on this for a while.

>Do you put day specific items on your calendar?

Only for specific appointments. The rest of the time is pretty chaotic. I might be doing different things on different days.

>That is why you need to put your very next action on you N/A list. It appears you are trying to do projects not next actions.

In Things I can search for Next Actions, but the problem is that I have so many pending projects that there are that many next actions that overwhelm me. So if I have 100 pending project, I'll have 100 pending Next Actions, and a good chunk of them will be things I could possibly do when I am home because I'm at home/farm and have access to computer and phone. But it's a lot to choose from when I have very limited time at home. That's the overwhelming part. Like everywhere I look in the house or farm, there are open loops. Every room, every drawer, every area things are grown, every storage area, something needs to be done. And when I look at the next actions, my head just wants to explode. Just the time it takes to review the Next Actions list and mark the things with "Today" becomes too much to do every day. I become overwhelmed and stop doing it.

>I don't write down any next action til I've completed the first.

But what if you complete the one next action for one project that week but you really need to also make more progress on that project later that week. Do you add another next action into that project right away?
Sometimes I have a couple things that need to be done in a project that are not dependant on the completion of the other. So sometimes I have more than one action because it's important to get those things done.

I'm starting to realize from talking to everyone here that my current projects need to be what I am actually going to be working on that week and nothing else. And anything I am going to be working on this month is going into Someday Soon, and will be reviews weekly to pull things into the active projects for each week. So that when I'm searching for Next Actions, they are only next actions from the projects I really need to do something about that week and nothing more.

Do you add Next Actions into Projects that are in your Someday/Maybe list? Or those just stay blank until you move them into current projects?

The other thing that is hard for me to track are all the organizational projects. I want to be making some progress on decluttering and organizing and cleaning stuff, but there are SOOOOOO many areas, rooms, drawers, shelves, sheds, greenhouses, vehicles, garages, tools, grow areas, grow building, bins, boxes.... I can't even tell you... it's absolute madness... . I have a seperate Area of Focus for that kind of stuff, and break the Projects out into rooms or storage areas. But a room could have cabinets and dressers and bins and each drawer of a dresser is like it's own project.
So maybe all of those need to stay in some kind of Someday/Maybe list and I just choose one per week and pull that into the Current Project with one Next Action. And then I'm only committing myself to one or two organizations task per week and no more.

Why do i make my life so complicated??? LOL.

People tell me that I am pretty crazy to attempt to do 10 farmers markets per week and mange like 10 employees and work 7 days a week. And I also think I probably have ADHD, which makes all this stuff that I am already trying to do that must more overwhelming.

I've been fumbling around with GTD for over 20 years. I am determined to get it more functional this upcoming year. I don't think I can manage this farming chaos if I don't. My stress level is off the charts.

 

[Gardener]

Random thoughts, even though I'm not the person you're responding to:

I would have to do several searches for different contexts that I can get done today.

Have you considered choosing just one or two contexts each day, or one or two projects each day, instead of all of the ones that you could work on? I know that people often like to have the whole buffet of options spread out, to give them the opportunity to see the perfect one. But I think the net result is just time wasted in reading lists. At least for me.

But what if you complete the one next action for one project that week but you really need to also make more progress on that project later that week. Do you add another next action into that project right away?

I often do, yes. I also sometimes just keep working on a project, maybe through what would have been many actions if I'd written them down, but I don't write them down. Only when I break away from that project do I add a next action for it.

Sometimes I have a couple things that need to be done in a project that are not dependant on the completion of the other. So sometimes I have more than one action because it's important to get those things done.

I used to do this. I try very hard not to do it any more. It's not worth the complications that it adds. I either have just one action, or I split the project into the two (or more) independent lines of actions.

I'm starting to realize from talking to everyone here that my current projects need to be what I am actually going to be working on that week and nothing else.

Yes yep yes absolutely.

Do you add Next Actions into Projects that are in your Someday/Maybe list? Or those just stay blank until you move them into current projects?

I don't. The only time a Someday/Maybe project would have actions would be if the project was once active and I demoted it to Someday/Maybe. Even then I'll usually just delete those actions.

The other thing that is hard for me to track are all the organizational projects. I want to be making some progress on decluttering and organizing and cleaning stuff, but there are SOOOOOO many areas, rooms, drawers, shelves, sheds, greenhouses, vehicles, garages, tools, grow areas, grow building, bins, boxes.... I can't even tell you... it's absolute madness... . I have a seperate Area of Focus for that kind of stuff, and break the Projects out into rooms or storage areas. But a room could have cabinets and dressers and bins and each drawer of a dresser is like it's own project.
So maybe all of those need to stay in some kind of Someday/Maybe list and I just choose one per week and pull that into the Current Project with one Next Action. And then I'm only committing myself to one or two organizations task per week and no more.

Yep, I definitely agree with this--one or two per week. I also recommend Dana K. White's Decluttering at the Speed of Life for decluttering. Her system is designed for people who tend to be halted by overwhelm and by interruptions.

People tell me that I am pretty crazy to attempt to do 10 farmers markets per week and mange like 10 employees and work 7 days a week. And I also think I probably have ADHD, which makes all this stuff that I am already trying to do that must more overwhelming.

I've been fumbling around with GTD for over 20 years. I am determined to get it more functional this upcoming year. I don't think I can manage this farming chaos if I don't. My stress level is off the charts.

Another possible book is The Lean Farm by Ben Hartman.

 

[Y_Lherieau]

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?

Thank you for sharing your experience—your challenges resonate deeply with many of us. I believe the roots of this issue might be found in our collective human heritage, shaped over countless generations. My view on this is only personal and not backed-up by academic research yet:

1. Accumulation is in our nature: Historically, humans had to accumulate resources to survive harsher seasons like winter. Over time, this behavior became hardwired into us, even though our circumstances have changed. This tendency to accumulate—not just physical objects but also commitments, goals, and projects—can partly explain why so many of us have long and overwhelming project lists.

2. Striving for ease and efficiency: Humans are unique in the animal kingdom because our intelligence drives us to create tools and systems to make life easier. While this ingenuity has allowed us to achieve incredible things, it also feeds the cycle of doing more with less effort. This creates an ongoing loop of adding tools, projects, and tasks—sometimes without questioning their true necessity.

3. Social and hierarchical pressures: As social animals, much of our behavior is influenced by the rewards at the top of the “pyramid”—whether that’s power, money, recognition, or simply more. This drive pushes us to take on more, often without fully considering the physical, mental, and environmental consequences.

These three elements—accumulation, striving for efficiency, and social pressures—have immense consequences in the world we live in. Our actions and choices directly impact not only our personal systems (like GTD or productivity tools) but also the planet itself, as we approach its limits in terms of resources and sustainability.

With this perspective in mind, I’ve found it useful to pause and ask myself some key questions before committing to anything new:
• Why am I adding this to my project list?

• What purpose does it serve in the larger context of my life and responsibilities?

• What are the consequences of pursuing this—both for myself and the broader ecosystem I’m part of?

As for your specific GTD-related challenge, here are some actionable thoughts:

• Refocus on priorities: Consider identifying just 2–3 “key focus” projects for the week (or even the day). These are the ones that will have the most meaningful impact if progressed. Trust that others can wait.

• Reduce daily decision-making: If tagging “SOON” still leaves you overwhelmed, refine it further. Use the 2-minute rule or prioritize tasks based on their energy or context requirements (e.g., tasks requiring deep focus vs. quick admin tasks).

• Reframe your “Today” list: Tasks in “Today” should be non-negotiable. For the rest, consider a “Next Actions – Active” list that you review less frequently, like every other day or weekly. This way, you minimize the mental load of daily reshuffling.

• Cycle through inactive projects: Your “Someday/Maybe” lists are great, but they can also benefit from a structured weekly or monthly review. Move projects in and out of active focus as your priorities shift, ensuring you don’t feel obligated to juggle everything simultaneously.

Finally, it might help to embrace the idea that progress is rarely linear. Even small steps on a few key projects can be more impactful than trying to spread your effort thin across too many.

 

[KatyP]

First of all: I use Microsoft To Do.

I formulate projects as main-projects and, if possible, sub-projects. Instead of moving projects to Someday/Maybe (which is a good option), I mark a maximum of 15 (sub-)projects in the Weekly Review that I need/want to work on in the coming week. They automatically appear in a separate list. During the week, I only look at this list.

Every morning, I look at the appointments in the calendar and the list with the marked projects. I then mark in the lists of today's expected contexts those tasks with "Today" that I want to complete in the time remaining that day (allowing for a time buffer for unplanned work). For the rest of the day, I then only look at the "Today" list if possible.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

I don't think I can create sub-projects in Things. So I think the way to go about this for me is to move everything I am not working on this week into a Someday/Maybe list. And then review it every week to pull some things into the Active Project list for the current. I think that is the solution. Actually I just sat down and move a mass of projects into Someday/Maybe and I feel like I can breath easier. I can feel the stress melting.

 

[KatyP]

Thank you for sharing your experience—your challenges resonate deeply with many of us. I believe the roots of this issue might be found in our collective human heritage, shaped over countless generations. My view on this is only personal and not backed-up by academic research yet:

1. Accumulation is in our nature: Historically, humans had to accumulate resources to survive harsher seasons like winter. Over time, this behavior became hardwired into us, even though our circumstances have changed. This tendency to accumulate—not just physical objects but also commitments, goals, and projects—can partly explain why so many of us have long and overwhelming project lists.

2. Striving for ease and efficiency: Humans are unique in the animal kingdom because our intelligence drives us to create tools and systems to make life easier. While this ingenuity has allowed us to achieve incredible things, it also feeds the cycle of doing more with less effort. This creates an ongoing loop of adding tools, projects, and tasks—sometimes without questioning their true necessity.

3. Social and hierarchical pressures: As social animals, much of our behavior is influenced by the rewards at the top of the “pyramid”—whether that’s power, money, recognition, or simply more. This drive pushes us to take on more, often without fully considering the physical, mental, and environmental consequences.

These three elements—accumulation, striving for efficiency, and social pressures—have immense consequences in the world we live in. Our actions and choices directly impact not only our personal systems (like GTD or productivity tools) but also the planet itself, as we approach its limits in terms of resources and sustainability.

With this perspective in mind, I’ve found it useful to pause and ask myself some key questions before committing to anything new:
• Why am I adding this to my project list?

• What purpose does it serve in the larger context of my life and responsibilities?

• What are the consequences of pursuing this—both for myself and the broader ecosystem I’m part of?

As for your specific GTD-related challenge, here are some actionable thoughts:

• Refocus on priorities: Consider identifying just 2–3 “key focus” projects for the week (or even the day). These are the ones that will have the most meaningful impact if progressed. Trust that others can wait.

• Reduce daily decision-making: If tagging “SOON” still leaves you overwhelmed, refine it further. Use the 2-minute rule or prioritize tasks based on their energy or context requirements (e.g., tasks requiring deep focus vs. quick admin tasks).

• Reframe your “Today” list: Tasks in “Today” should be non-negotiable. For the rest, consider a “Next Actions – Active” list that you review less frequently, like every other day or weekly. This way, you minimize the mental load of daily reshuffling.

• Cycle through inactive projects: Your “Someday/Maybe” lists are great, but they can also benefit from a structured weekly or monthly review. Move projects in and out of active focus as your priorities shift, ensuring you don’t feel obligated to juggle everything simultaneously.

Finally, it might help to embrace the idea that progress is rarely linear. Even small steps on a few key projects can be more impactful than trying to spread your effort thin across too many.

>• Reframe your “Today” list: Tasks in “Today” should be non-negotiable. For the rest, consider a “Next Actions – Active” list that you review less frequently, like every other day or weekly. This way, you minimize the mental load of daily reshuffling.

I really love the idea of creating a "Next Actions - Active" tag that I can search by.

Do you think projects that are in Someday/Maybe lists should not have any tasks in them? Do you think only the projects in the Active Project list should have a Next/Action?

Or maybe it's ok if some projects in Someday/Maybe have a Next Action, just no tags that would get those actions brought up in a Context search.

Another thing that confuses me is that I have a separate Area of Focus for organizations/cleaning tasks because there are so many. And I even have one for home and another one for farm. I would say every room and area needs some kind of organizational task. And there are a lot of those areas and some would have multiple projects just in like a dresser or a cabinet where each dresser drawer or one cabinet shelf might be its own project. So I don't want to mix these Organisational projects in with all the other projects. I think I want to pick just one or two organizational items out of some project in this Area of Focus and somehow add it to the Active Project list. Or maybe I just tag it "Next Action - Active" so that I don't have to move any of the organizational things out of this area, but my tag search picks it up as an Action for that week.

 

[FocusGuy]

I use Things to organize all my lists. So yes I have the next action in each project, but then I have to mark those specific actions that I decide to do today with "Today" in order to see them in the "Today" list. So I either can search for them by some context or I can look through the projets and see what the next actions are for each one and then select them for today. I would have to do several searches for different contexts that I can get done today. Some I might just glance through the project list and decide which ones are important for me to make some progress on that day, and then mark the next actions of those projects with "Today".

In Things I can search for Next Actions, but the problem is that I have so many pending projects that there are that many next actions that overwhelm me. So if I have 100 pending project, I'll have 100 pending Next Actions, and a good chunk of them will be things I could possibly do when I am home because I'm at home/farm and have access to computer and phone. But it's a lot to choose from when I have very limited time at home. That's the overwhelming part. Like everywhere I look in the house or farm, there are open loops. Every room, every drawer, every area things are grown, every storage area, something needs to be done. And when I look at the next actions, my head just wants to explode. Just the time it takes to review the Next Actions list and mark the things with "Today" becomes too much to do every day. I become overwhelmed and stop doing it.

Things is a very good software. I guess your main problem is about putting too much on your plate.

Put only the very next action. Use subtasks when needed for complex try to make it simple. Using area is great with things as you can drop project and tasks.

Keep your active list as short as possible and use as much as you can the someday function as much as possible. I noticed GTD can become a real burden when you drop too much things on your lists. It may become totally un manageable and the choice impossible.

Understand that GTD is just making options. If you can't make a choice less than 2 3 options, it is better.

I use omnifocus and stopped using things. it is just a question of list and amount of datas.

(1) I put the most I can in a tag I call Hold = non actionable but try to do it this week. So I can Hide it as I want. I reduce my active context to 2 our 3 choices per context. I review my hold action every day and decide my today view. I also plan a lot. I see in my forecast view 2 or 3 things per day. It can be a meta context eg work on that building (it is ok with me I know what to do) it just say to my brain dont forget this. I will know what to do...

(2) I flag the Mitask for the week it is just a single list of task I dont want to forget a kind of weekly must do list

(3) Everything I dont know I will ever do goes in a someday may be list. @Someday I review it once a week. It is out my weekly focus list

(4) I do the same with projects. I choose the one I want to work on this week. the other are inside a someday project. I dont want to see them until my next weekly review (sometime I can do 2 weekly review per weeks it depends on my activities and business...)

 

[KatyP]

Random thoughts, even though I'm not the person you're responding to:

Have you considered choosing just one or two contexts each day, or one or two projects each day, instead of all of the ones that you could work on? I know that people often like to have the whole buffet of options spread out, to give them the opportunity to see the perfect one. But I think the net result is just time wasted in reading lists. At least for me.

I think this would work if I was home and mostly did the same kind of things most days. But my time at home is so limited and I manage so many things that I need to have a big picture overview of everything so I don't miss something. LIke while I am on vacation I have a good size list which I put into a "Hawaii Week" list. I have grant applications, and a whole bunch of farmers markets applications and certificates I have to renew and send before the end of the year. Just very random admin task, and I need to not forget to do them. So I try to spend some time working on getting them done while I am on vacation.
And there are my weekly schedule list I need to be looking at to delegate things to my employee at the farm, and also stay in contact with delivery customers and make sure my business partner know what deliveries he has to make while I am away.

I often do, yes. I also sometimes just keep working on a project, maybe through what would have been many actions if I'd written them down, but I don't write them down. Only when I break away from that project do I add a next action for it.

I used to do this. I try very hard not to do it any more. It's not worth the complications that it adds. I either have just one action, or I split the project into the two (or more) independent lines of actions.

Yes yep yes absolutely.

I don't. The only time a Someday/Maybe project would have actions would be if the project was once active and I demoted it to Someday/Maybe. Even then I'll usually just delete those actions.

Yep, I definitely agree with this--one or two per week. I also recommend Dana K. White's Decluttering at the Speed of Life for decluttering. Her system is designed for people who tend to be halted by overwhelm and by interruptions.

Another possible book is The Lean Farm by Ben Hartman.

Great! I'll check these out! I just added them into my Audible library. I have to listen to books because I don't have time to sit and read books, unless it's like a list of of steps I have to reference.

 

[Mrs-Polifax]

@KatyP

Thank you so much for clarifying these details. I think you have a good plan here: To put things you will work on this week on your Projects List, and put the things you will work on this month into Someday-Soon, and put everything else that you could work on later into Someday-Maybe. I also like your idea that you will work on household decluttering and organizing in very small, manageable areas, such as only a drawer at time, and these Projects will remain in Someday-Maybe until time allows.

This is a flexible plan that keeps evolving week by week as your present reality confronts you. You will need to allow for the possibility that you may not be able to complete all the tasks during the week they are planned. Your next Weekly Review will allow you to gather up things that are incomplete and to arrange the next week as suits you then. You will learn by doing how much you can include in a week. I am guessing that at first you will overbook rather than underbook yourself, but it is possible that you will finish everything you plan for the week with time left over. If so, this is an ideal time to enjoy getting some rest.

Also, as some have mentioned, be sure you clarify your next actions clearly and granularly. A next action is a very small physical action step that is described in a way that makes it entirely clear what needs to be done. The important thing is that you have done the thinking up front in the clarify and organize process, so when you take action, you don't need to figure anything out, you can simply do what needs doing.

Your plan may help you a lot. Give it a try, and see how it works for you. I think with this plan you will be better able to do your Weekly Review because your Projects List and your Next Actions list will not be so huge that they overwhelm you. If this is not quite right for you, you can keep adjusting these things until they do feel right for you.

You say your stress levels are very high. This may be because you are attempting an awful lot at once here. If you are working seven days a week, you are pushing yourself hard, and it can take a toll. Some people do this for awhile, only to sadly discover that they can never work again. I don't think you want that to happen to you.

I think it would be best to get more help, or find another way to cut back further on what you do, or to cut back your business to a more manageable level, or if necessary to lease or sell your farm, and in one way or another work out how to give yourself a reasonable amount of rest. You have said that you cannot take much more stress, so you are well aware of the difficulty. This is not something wrong with you. This is something right with you. Your body is telling you what you need. It is crying for help. In GTD we turn the problems that have our attention into Projects that can be acted on. Please consider doing this as you start your new system.

One way to reduce stress right away is to make a point of resourcing yourself. This means to take a few moments every day at frequent intervals to notice how you are feeling and what you are sensing in your body and to acknowledge what is arising for you right now. You could start by noticing the rhythm of your breathing, and how your feet are supported by the floor or earth, or how your buttocks and back are supported in your chair. Then you could notice places in your body where emotions and sensations arise. Nothing to change here. Only to notice whatever is. This is a way to bring yourself into the present moment.

Resourcing also means intentionally focusing on something that inspires you, gives you pleasure or joy, warms your heart, or comforts you. It could be a memory that makes you happy, such as a great laugh with a friend or some inspiring music. It could be something in your current situation that you notice and appreciate, such as a sunset, or a purring cat in your lap. It could be something you imagine that relaxes you, such as a hot bath, a massage, or a walk away from all that troubles you into a restful place where stress does not exist. I hope you will allow yourself to rest a moment to enjoy Hawaii and bring back memories of peace and pleasure to resource you on your farm.

Resourcing can help you reduce stress, but it is not a substitute for getting the rest you need. I imagine that it is not easy to be in your position with all you have to do, and all the stress coming down on you, and all the overwork this has entailed. Can you acknowledge to yourself how difficult this is?

It sounds like you have a very powerful desire to make this venture work. I hope you will find a healthy way you can fulfill your dreams. As some people here have said, sometimes we need to slow down, or even back up, in order to move forward. I think your plan is good. I encourage you to give it a try and see how well it works for you.

Very Best Wishes,

Emily

 

[fooddude]

I use Things to organize all my lists. So yes I have the next action in each project, but then I have to mark those specific actions that I decide to do today with "Today" in order to see them in the "Today" list. So I either can search for them by some context or I can look through the projets and see what the next actions are for each one and then select them for today. I would have to do several searches for different contexts that I can get done today. Some I might just glance through the project list and decide which ones are important for me to make some progress on that day, and then mark the next actions of those projects with "Today".

>Do you "work" the farm like a job? I mean go out to the farm and work 8 hours?

Only on days I am loading for farmers markets, the rest of the time I'm either away 4 days out of the week doing 10 farmers markets markets per week and staying in the city, or I'm managing my employees at the farm. So whenever I am at home/farm, I need to make sure I don't miss anything that's important for me to do while I am there, regardless of context. Sometimes it's something physical there that's time sensitive, or I need to do something on my computer, or make a phone call while I have some time to do that at home.

I work 7 days a week. Right now I'm on vacation in hawaii and I am working a good chunk of the time doing administrative work and bookkeeping to try to catch up.
Posting about this GTD dilemma was on my Next Actions list. LOL I've been meaning to get some help on this for a while.

>Do you put day specific items on your calendar?

Only for specific appointments. The rest of the time is pretty chaotic. I might be doing different things on different days.

>That is why you need to put your very next action on you N/A list. It appears you are trying to do projects not next actions.

In Things I can search for Next Actions, but the problem is that I have so many pending projects that there are that many next actions that overwhelm me. So if I have 100 pending project, I'll have 100 pending Next Actions, and a good chunk of them will be things I could possibly do when I am home because I'm at home/farm and have access to computer and phone. But it's a lot to choose from when I have very limited time at home. That's the overwhelming part. Like everywhere I look in the house or farm, there are open loops. Every room, every drawer, every area things are grown, every storage area, something needs to be done. And when I look at the next actions, my head just wants to explode. Just the time it takes to review the Next Actions list and mark the things with "Today" becomes too much to do every day. I become overwhelmed and stop doing it.

>I don't write down any next action til I've completed the first.

But what if you complete the one next action for one project that week but you really need to also make more progress on that project later that week. Do you add another next action into that project right away?
Sometimes I have a couple things that need to be done in a project that are not dependant on the completion of the other. So sometimes I have more than one action because it's important to get those things done.

I'm starting to realize from talking to everyone here that my current projects need to be what I am actually going to be working on that week and nothing else. And anything I am going to be working on this month is going into Someday Soon, and will be reviews weekly to pull things into the active projects for each week. So that when I'm searching for Next Actions, they are only next actions from the projects I really need to do something about that week and nothing more.

Do you add Next Actions into Projects that are in your Someday/Maybe list? Or those just stay blank until you move them into current projects?

The other thing that is hard for me to track are all the organizational projects. I want to be making some progress on decluttering and organizing and cleaning stuff, but there are SOOOOOO many areas, rooms, drawers, shelves, sheds, greenhouses, vehicles, garages, tools, grow areas, grow building, bins, boxes.... I can't even tell you... it's absolute madness... . I have a seperate Area of Focus for that kind of stuff, and break the Projects out into rooms or storage areas. But a room could have cabinets and dressers and bins and each drawer of a dresser is like it's own project.
So maybe all of those need to stay in some kind of Someday/Maybe list and I just choose one per week and pull that into the Current Project with one Next Action. And then I'm only committing myself to one or two organizations task per week and no more.

Why do i make my life so complicated??? LOL.

People tell me that I am pretty crazy to attempt to do 10 farmers markets per week and mange like 10 employees and work 7 days a week. And I also think I probably have ADHD, which makes all this stuff that I am already trying to do that must more overwhelming.

I've been fumbling around with GTD for over 20 years. I am determined to get it more functional this upcoming year. I don't think I can manage this farming chaos if I don't. My stress level is off the charts.

So I only do context. I would never mark them today. Anything that has to be completed today goes on my calendar. If it is time specific it goes on the time. If just day specific it is an all day event. Open loops indicate that your weekly review is not complete. Do you have one system or do you have two? I only have one.
I don’t put any next action for someday maybe items. I just have a project list. The very next action on a context list. For example, a call or text next action goes on @Phone list. 90% of the time I just have one next action on a list. If I work on a next action I may work several actions for it. If I stop I put the very next action in a context list. I do not make a list of every action for a project anywhere. List your projects by what it looks like when it’s done. “Have piano tuned” next action was an agenda question for email for tuner from wife. Once I had that the next action was @computer email tuner. Then waiting for answer. But those next actions were never on a list at the same time. I really try and keep it simple. Below is project list, contexts, and one context list @Computer I do those when I’m at the computer

 

[KatyP]

So I only do context. I would never mark them today. Anything that has to be completed today goes on my calendar. If it is time specific it goes on the time. If just day specific it is an all day event. Open loops indicate that your weekly review is not complete. Do you have one system or do you have two? I only have one.
I don’t put any next action for someday maybe items. I just have a project list. The very next action on a context list. For example, a call or text next action goes on @Phone list. 90% of the time I just have one next action on a list.

If I work on a next action I may work several actions for it. If I stop I put the very next action in a context list.

Not sure what you mean by that. Can you clarify?
Do you mean if you complete a Next Action, you will create another Next Action for that project and tag it by Context so it's cued up and searchable as your Next Action by that Context for that Project?

I do not make a list of every action for a project anywhere. List your projects by what it looks like when it’s done. “Have piano tuned” next action was an agenda question for email for tuner from wife. Once I had that the next action was @computer email tuner. Then waiting for answer. But those next actions were never on a list at the same time. I really try and keep it simple. Below is project list, contexts, and one context list @Computer I do those when I’m at the computer View attachment 2179View attachment 2180View attachment 2181

The second screen kind of confuses me. Why does it show days of the week?

The first screen is your Project List.
The second is a search by the Next Action tag?
The third is a search by @Computer tag/context?

I wish Things had a way that I could search by more than one context. Like if I could search for anything marked as @nextaction, and could also have any of these tags: @Home, @Farm, @Computer, @Phone. This would allow me to see all the task with contexts I have access to that day, that are on my Next Action list. But I can only do one search. I guess I'd have to do severapre searches when I'm at home/farm for all those contexts to then choose which ones I want to work on. This is why I mark them for Today because then I have a game plan. Otherwise I have to search by these contexts several time a day or look at a Next Action list which includes things I can't do because I am at home and not @Errands or @ParkingGarage where I have one of my vehicles that goes to farmers market 2 hours away.

And even using a context @Errands is not always useful because I might be @Errands near where I live/farm, or I am over 2 hours away where I do farmers markets and stay 4 days out of the week. I often forget to search by context then. So I set reminders for certain task to pop-up and remind me around the day/time when I am somewhere where I need to do something.

 

[Gardener]

I think this would work if I was home and mostly did the same kind of things most days. But my time at home is so limited and I manage so many things that I need to have a big picture overview of everything so I don't miss something.

Got it. Then this is all the more reason for having ultra-short lists, so that when you're at home you're just plowing through an already-decided list, instead of, for example, wasting precious at-home-and-daylight-and-it's-not-raining time reading lists and struggling with decisions.

 

[Gardener]

I wish Things had a way that I could search by more than one context.

I assume you don't use a Mac? There are so many tool issues that you mention that OmniFocus could solve. I'm not saying go get a Mac just to use OmniFocus--there are elements of it that just don't work with the way some people form mental models, so you might not like it. But if you already have a Mac, it could be worth playing with it just to see.

 

[fooddude]

Not sure what you mean by that. Can you clarify?
Do you mean if you complete a Next Action, you will create another Next Action for that project and tag it by Context so it's cued up and searchable as your Next Action by that Context for that Project?



The second screen kind of confuses me. Why does it show days of the week?

The first screen is your Project List.
The second is a search by the Next Action tag?
The third is a search by @Computer tag/context?

I wish Things had a way that I could search by more than one context. Like if I could search for anything marked as @nextaction, and could also have any of these tags: @Home, @Farm, @Computer, @Phone. This would allow me to see all the task with contexts I have access to that day, that are on my Next Action list. But I can only do one search. I guess I'd have to do severapre searches when I'm at home/farm for all those contexts to then choose which ones I want to work on. This is why I mark them for Today because then I have a game plan. Otherwise I have to search by these contexts several time a day or look at a Next Action list which includes things I can't do because I am at home and not @Errands or @ParkingGarage where I have one of my vehicles that goes to farmers market 2 hours away.

And even using a context @Errands is not always useful because I might be @Errands near where I live/farm, or I am over 2 hours away where I do farmers markets and stay 4 days out of the week. I often forget to search by context then. So I set reminders for certain task to pop-up and remind me around the day/time when I am somewhere where I need to do something.

I didn’t mean to be confusing. With any project I list the very next action. If there are ten actions. I may do three and then put the very next action on a context list. But again I don’t generally have a list somewhere of those ten actions. I try and keep it simple. Some actions just flow from the previous one. If I had a project “get new tires for van” since I know the size of tires, my next action @phone- call Pam set appointment for tires.
Pam would let me know if she has them and when I can come in. Appointment goes on calendar. Time specific next action. I will say in the tire example, since they give a discount for cash, I would have get cash for tires in the @errands note.
I use Apple notes for gtd. I have one note for projects. One note for each context. And next actions for projects in the context note. Sadly, Apple puts the last date a note was updated. That I’m now way shows a time to accomplish that action. I don’t do tags. No need. I see where you use reminders. I just put it on the hard landscape of the calendar. I guard my time closely. Those are appointments I have with myself or other people and I don’t budge (too much) on those appointments. A just need to get it done sometime on a day is an all day event. “Call James” can be done anytime that day but it must be done that day. The others are time specific appointments. One other bit of advice. You can’t put three gallons of water in a one gallon bucket.

 

[KatyP]

Does

I assume you don't use a Mac? There are so many tool issues that you mention that OmniFocus could solve. I'm not saying go get a Mac just to use OmniFocus--there are elements of it that just don't work with the way some people form mental models, so you might not like it. But if you already have a Mac, it could be worth playing with it just to see.

I do use a Mac actually. Things is Mac only.
Does OmniFocus allow one to manage lists through phone as well?
Dows OmniFocus allow delegating items to different users? Like if I come share tasks with my business partner or farm employees. But they don’t all have a Mac/iPhone.

 

[Gardener]

Does

I do use a Mac actually. Things is Mac only.
Does OmniFocus allow one to manage lists through phone as well?
Dows OmniFocus allow delegating items to different users? Like if I come share tasks with my business partner or farm employees. But they don’t all have a Mac/iPhone.

Ah--no, I don't think so. People may have come up with some trick for that, but I don't know of one.

 

[KatyP]

Thank you for sharing your experience—your challenges resonate deeply with many of us. I believe the roots of this issue might be found in our collective human heritage, shaped over countless generations. My view on this is only personal and not backed-up by academic research yet:

1. Accumulation is in our nature: Historically, humans had to accumulate resources to survive harsher seasons like winter. Over time, this behavior became hardwired into us, even though our circumstances have changed. This tendency to accumulate—not just physical objects but also commitments, goals, and projects—can partly explain why so many of us have long and overwhelming project lists.

2. Striving for ease and efficiency: Humans are unique in the animal kingdom because our intelligence drives us to create tools and systems to make life easier. While this ingenuity has allowed us to achieve incredible things, it also feeds the cycle of doing more with less effort. This creates an ongoing loop of adding tools, projects, and tasks—sometimes without questioning their true necessity.

3. Social and hierarchical pressures: As social animals, much of our behavior is influenced by the rewards at the top of the “pyramid”—whether that’s power, money, recognition, or simply more. This drive pushes us to take on more, often without fully considering the physical, mental, and environmental consequences.

These three elements—accumulation, striving for efficiency, and social pressures—have immense consequences in the world we live in. Our actions and choices directly impact not only our personal systems (like GTD or productivity tools) but also the planet itself, as we approach its limits in terms of resources and sustainability.

With this perspective in mind, I’ve found it useful to pause and ask myself some key questions before committing to anything new:
• Why am I adding this to my project list?

• What purpose does it serve in the larger context of my life and responsibilities?

• What are the consequences of pursuing this—both for myself and the broader ecosystem I’m part of?

As for your specific GTD-related challenge, here are some actionable thoughts:

• Refocus on priorities: Consider identifying just 2–3 “key focus” projects for the week (or even the day). These are the ones that will have the most meaningful impact if progressed. Trust that others can wait.

• Reduce daily decision-making: If tagging “SOON” still leaves you overwhelmed, refine it further. Use the 2-minute rule or prioritize tasks based on their energy or context requirements (e.g., tasks requiring deep focus vs. quick admin tasks).

• Reframe your “Today” list: Tasks in “Today” should be non-negotiable. For the rest, consider a “Next Actions – Active” list that you review less frequently, like every other day or weekly. This way, you minimize the mental load of daily reshuffling.

• Cycle through inactive projects: Your “Someday/Maybe” lists are great, but they can also benefit from a structured weekly or monthly review. Move projects in and out of active focus as your priorities shift, ensuring you don’t feel obligated to juggle everything simultaneously.

Finally, it might help to embrace the idea that progress is rarely linear. Even small steps on a few key projects can be more impactful than trying to spread your effort thin across too many.

Another question I have is, if you have a tag "Next Action - Active", do you also have "Next Action - Inactive"?

And what would you recommend I do with projects where there are tasks for different people that I need to make sure get done. So as an example, I will have a Next Action, and I might have a task for both me and my business partner to discuss something or do something together. Then he will end up with a next Action that he committed to, and I need to track that in case he doesn't. And then I also need to delegate to my employees. So I tag those tasks with their name. And probably should also tag it with Delegate. But then I end up having multiple task in each project, and that's not the best practices. Here is an example:



It would be great if they all just used GTD and I could just forward these to them and they all track it in their system. But I basically have to track it on my end to make sure we are moving these things forward. I have a seperate Area of Focus for projects that involve task for other people, mostly my business partner has to do something and sometimes employees. That way I will only review that Area of Focus with my business partner and those projects are easy to find. But then I don't have just one Next Action per project. I divide them by headers. And all these tasks are part of the same project.

When I worked in tech we used the Agile development model at several companies, and that kind of tracking platform might be ideal for a team. But I don't really have anything like that in place right now. In Agile development they don't just have the Next Action because they have to plan the entire project and timeline. We would have the daily scrum meeting where everyone would update the group on where they are with the task they were assigned. In a lot of ways farming projects might need to have the end in mind and have a timeline. There are phases to implement project that need to be planned. Maybe that kind of project planning would be done in a different system. But then I have to delegate and oversee everything in my own tracking system somehow. Maybe I need to have some kind of timeline and phases in the notes of those type of projects for reference.

Would appreciated your thoughts on how to manage this. What I'm doing is not as complicated as building a software project and managing a big team, but I'm also not just managing my own tasks.

 

[KatyP]

Ah--no, I don't think so. People may have come up with some trick for that, but I don't know of one.

I just posted an example above on how I track different Next Actions for different people for the same project. It's probably not the best way to do it, but I'm not sure how else to make sure these things get done.

 

[FocusGuy]

Does OmniFocus allow one to manage lists through phone as well?

Yes there is a mobile app for Omnifocus but it is less powerful and easy than the one with things

Dows OmniFocus allow delegating items to different users?

Not really, you can share but not collaborate for collaborate may be reminder would be better

Like if I come share tasks with my business partner or farm employees. But they don’t all have a Mac/iPhone.

TODOIST is one the best app for that. It works with android and Apple. You can collaborate with people. it is a very good app. Notion can do the same but it is complex to set an all in one system.

 

[mcogilvie]

I just posted an example above on how I track different Next Actions for different people for the same project. It's probably not the best way to do it, but I'm not sure how else to make sure these things get done.

Clear enough to me. You’re using headers for different personnel groupings. Personally, I’d use tags instead so I could manage across projects. I have another comment, well two. You wrote that you are spending up to four days a week selling product, and managing the farm with the rest of your time. I’m guessing you’re good at sales and enjoy it. There’s a reason why companies reach a certain size and separate sales and production. There’s a reason why managers manage the work of others. There is no software, no productivity method that will do the impossible. To put it in GTD terms, you can’t solve a horizon 2-5 problem (areas of focus to life vision) at the level of projects and next actions. Is it possible that the roots of your issues lie at higher horizons?

 

[KatyP]

Clear enough to me. You’re using headers for different personnel groupings. Personally, I’d use tags instead so I could manage across projects.

The problem I am seeing in how I am doing this is that I end up with more than one Next Action per project because I am tracking actions delegated to others. Not totally sure how to change that. The reason I use headers is because it's easier for me to visually see how the workload is divided. I use tags too so I can search by person's name.

I have another comment, well two. You wrote that you are spending up to four days a week selling product, and managing the farm with the rest of your time. I’m guessing you’re good at sales and enjoy it. There’s a reason why companies reach a certain size and separate sales and production. There’s a reason why managers manage the work of others. There is no software, no productivity method that will do the impossible. To put it in GTD terms, you can’t solve a horizon 2-5 problem (areas of focus to life vision) at the level of projects and next actions. Is it possible that the roots of your issues lie at higher horizons?

I have most markets covered by other people who sell for me but I am the fill in person if someone cancels. I also have to drop off at markets and transfer thing to different vehicles. The reason I have to go there 4 days out of the week is because my farmers' markets are in the Bay Area in the big cities there and the farm is over 2 hours away. I stay with my family in San Francisco while I come down to do these market and do deliveries. Logistically I can't pay someone to take all the product and go out and do this for me or pay them for all those day, and provide them with a place to stay. But I am sure I can benefit from looking into Horizons of Focus more to gain better clarity and vision. It's already one of my Next Actions. I've kind of done some exploration of Horizon of Focus but have not fully implemented it.