Help breaking down a huge next action

[Harrowdrive]

I have hit a snag in my GTD system, but only a small one.

I have a huge next action and I was wondering how to break it down.

here is the action:

I have bought a new cricket bat and the job is the "knock it in" (that is to say prepare it for use by hitting it repeatedly with a cricket ball).

Now here is the issue. I need to do this for at least 2 hours, but as it drives my good lady wife crazy with all the noise I can only do it in 5-10 min segments.

But each segment is exactly the same as the last. In many ways it is the most repetitive of tasks.

Here is what I have done:

I have created a project called "Knock in cricket bat" and a next action called "knock in bat for 10 minutes". When I do a 10 minute segment I tick it off then write it in again.

This works but seems a little inelegant.

Any other ideas for this next action, or highly repetitive actions in general?

 

[Borisoff]

Find out how your wife is ready to take this Project and plan it the way she wants (i.e. daily 10 minutes tasks on your calendar, or one 2 hours project in your calendar, or 10 minutes tasks done when you think it should be done - actually that's what you do now).

Regards,

Eugene.

 

[Brent]

I agree with Eugene.

This is a Project. Next Action is "Spend 5-10 minutes knocking in cricket bat." That Next Action will re-occur in the same context every time you finish it, until the Project is done.

 

[ReBuild]

I'll throw out a totally different idea. Delegate (a.k.a outsource) the task to someone with the time (i.e. local kid looking to pick up some pocket change).

The benefits of this is approach:
1] the job is done;
2] you don't bother your good wife;
3] it's probably a better us of your valuable time.

Another alternative is to send your wife off on a 2 hour or better still day 'spa' treatment and settle down in front of the telly and watch the Ashes while your knock the bat into shape!

 

[Harrowdrive]

Another alternative is to send your wife off on a 2 hour or better still day 'spa' treatment and settle down in front of the telly and watch the Ashes while your knock the bat into shape!

Now that is a genuine win-win situation for all involved! Thanks.

If only England could actually win a game....

The idea having a next action called "10mins knocking in bat" which i tick off and re-write seems a little clunky though.

I did think perhaps I could keep the project in my projects list add 'knock in bat' to my 'repetative daily tasks' list (its got stuff I have to do every day like 'write a blog post', 'check rss reader', 'wash dishes' you get the idea) and keep it out of my Next Action contexts altogether.

As I scan that list every day but never tick anything off it it would get remembered.

 

[Brent]

The idea having a next action called "10mins knocking in bat" which i tick off and re-write seems a little clunky though.

Who says you have to tick it off and re-write it? Can't you just not tick it off?

 

[andersons]

The idea having a next action called "10mins knocking in bat" which i tick off and re-write seems a little clunky though.

Yes, it is a bit clunky, but it is the way to do this if you are writing action lists by hand. It is simply a disadvantage of the pen-and-paper tool.

You could also use a daily tickler. Instead of rewriting, move the same piece of paper to the next day's folder. Rewriting is replaced by moving papers and folders around.

I would personally schedule the task to recur automatically until the project is done because I hate rewriting things. I have many repeating tasks recurring at all kinds of different intervals.

On the other hand, you don't HAVE to write everything like this down. In a Motley Fool interview, DA said he didn't have to write down "Do laundry" because it serves as its own visual reminder. You could simply place the bat in a convenient location and take the opportunities to knock it in as they arise, whether they are 10-minute intervals or 30-minute chunks where the wife goes out shopping or something.

 

[Harrowdrive]

Who says you have to tick it off and re-write it? Can't you just not tick it off?

It's my own brain wiring at work. If I don't tick it off I don't feel like I have done it and the task is hangin around on my 'home' list not getting done and I feel all blerg.

Just me I guess.

I like the idea of a visual reminder and just making a note of how much I have done, although I might uncomfortable about not having everything written down in one place. (Then again I don't have 'brush teeth' or 'get dressed' on a list so maybe I should think of it as an extension of that).

 

[AdamMiller81]

It's my own brain wiring at work. If I don't tick it off I don't feel like I have done it and the task is hangin around on my 'home' list not getting done and I feel all blerg.

Just me I guess.

I like the idea of a visual reminder and just making a note of how much I have done, although I might uncomfortable about not having everything written down in one place. (Then again I don't have 'brush teeth' or 'get dressed' on a list so maybe I should think of it as an extension of that).

Could you write it down with, say, 12 checkboxes, and then you can both tick it off, not have to re-write it, and have a quick visual indicator of how far along in the process you are?

 

[WebR0ver]

Could you write it down with, say, 12 checkboxes, and then you can both tick it off, not have to re-write it, and have a quick visual indicator of how far along in the process you are?

I like this.

 

[dermeck]

It's my own brain wiring at work. If I don't tick it off I don't feel like I have done it and the task is hangin around on my 'home' list not getting done and I feel all blerg.
(....).

It looks to me you do not want to knock in your cricket thing 5minutes every day. You want the full 2hours. Everytime you're doing this 5minutes it reminds you there could be something wrong with your wife ( or cricket in general ).
GTD speaking your next action does not reflect the commintment you made to yourself and the english tradions alltogether. It's rather a next action for a project called 'try to live in peace with my wife'.

 

[Jeff Kelley]

I am not sure if it was meant to be funny, but I find this thread to be highly entertaining. (Sometimes it is hard to tell when cricket players are joking or not)