From Your head, to inbox, to next action to ????

[Suelin23]

So my suggested solution for my own predicament is that once I think of something, write it down and process it I should double check to see if it is not part of a current project and if it is, where does it fall in, then put it in the project steps etc. where it belongs. But if it is not a necessary step in that project at that time why then have a next action for it. What is your thoughts on this?

The other scenario is that once I think of something that should be part of a project which I have not yet started I believe I should do as follows. Once I process that 'stuff' I check to see if it is part of a project, if not and if it should be a complete project then (Aha now I thought of it!!!) you should complete the project as you believe it should happen step by step and then only put the first step down as a next action for that project.

First point - yes, definitely I always check if the new 'stuff' is part of or related to an existing project. I find this is where having a complete project list is most helpful, if nothing comes to mind immediately a quick scan of the list should help identify any relevant projects (although if your project list doesn't change frequently you start to memorise it just by reviewing it frequently).
I keep my project plans in Word, all my ideas, including possible, future, and someday maybe actions are stored there. So I can just process the stuff directly into my Word file, identify the next action if there is one and put that on my list.

Secondly, if I identify a new project I like to do two things straightaway - setup the project plan in Word, and put in a next action. I keep a separate Word file that has all the headings created by me, so I can just copy and paste the new project section into the my planning document (I have one Word document per AOF, so each project is a new Heading 1). Then I'll process whatever stuff I have into that plan, identify any next actions that occur to me now, including 'plan project XYZ'. I usually find that going through the natural planning process is at least 20-30mins so I don't do that straightaway, it's usually an action on my list for later.

With regards to project size, this seems to vary greatly from person to person, I would have 'renovate home' as one project. My rule of thumb is one project = 1 natural planning model plan. I do break projects into sub-projects, I have fairly detailed plans, use Gantt charts, and my work projects are large also. If your work is often lots of little projects, then plan smaller ones. Try it a few different ways and see what works for you.