How detailed do you write your Next Actions?

Here's another take on how detailed your next actions should be. Think about how detailed they need to be if you ever have to delegate those tasks either by choice or through death or injury.

I keep a lot of the day to day financial and sheep management recurring taasks in my OF system. it's about half of what I track. My next actions for those things are very detailed when I create them. They function like a checklist for me but they are detailed enough that snyone with access to my computer, filing system and the password to my password manager can take them and do them. Actions that say for example "download and file statement x" have in teh notes the web site and also the folder location on my computer where it goes. In essense they are microcoded.

When I do those actions I roll right past the action support material of the note because I know how to do it. But it's there for someone else if needed.

Right now I'm automating a lot of those actions using Hazel and so I'm slowly changing the note to include that Hazel does the rename of files and transfer to the filing system automatically but still lists where they end up.
 
bcmyers2112 said:
@Jan Ernest, you're complicating this way too much. WAY too much. You know how to dial a phone, turn on a computer and use a printer. I'm sure you do things like that without thinking about them. Writing down instructions for stuff that you know how to do automatically is a waste of time and energy, which is the exact opposite of what GTD is designed to achieve.

GTD is for the things in your life that you can't put on cruise control, and produce stress if your managing them in your head. Remembering to call someone or read a proposal fall into that category. Whereas dialing a phone is close to breathing in that you do both automatically. You wouldn't put "remember to breathe" in your lists, would you?

What concerns me is that you would think you might want to break down your next actions to that level of detail. Can you help us understand why you don't feel confident simply stating in your list that you need to "call so-and-so about such-and-such"? That might help us guide you toward a better understanding of how to use GTD in a way that helps rather than hampers.
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Yep. That is why I am seeking help on what should be and shouldnt be. You cant have a verb that describes equally to a project, and with this answers, it is way too complicated to go to micro-tasks. I like particularly your example on te breathing part, I think this can be referrenced with when I am writing the NAs.
 
Tom_Hagen said:
IMHO writing NA as microcode is against another Allen's rule - I mean 2 minute rule. Allen says if something can be done whithin 2 minutes (or if you prefer: 5 or more minutes) - do it now. Do not write it down on NA's list - it's a waste of time.

Regards
Tom_Hagen
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Great perspective on this. Thanks!
 
Some time ago I wrote an article about the Next Action granularity: http://productivemag.pl/5/nd-10-um-en
It's in Polish but it specifies The Great Next Action equation:
NA = 10 * SKILL * EN²
where
NA - the optimal time in seconds of the Next Action in a given Project
SKILL - your skill level in a given Project (1 (beginner) to 10 (expert))
EN - your enthusiasm for a given project (1 (cleaning your bathroom) to 10 (changing the world))
 
Jan Ernest said:
While I am continuously improving my means and ways on getting on the GTD methodology, I am just curious on how detailed do you write your Next Actions? David Allen said that NAs should be the next physical and visible next action, and my mind is literally absorbing this principle. If for example the NA is: Call Jerry about the management committee meeting, do you go as far as : Get phone > Unlock phone > Dial number > Call Jerry about the management committee meeting
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I think it is important to have sharp edges between each of the 5 stages of workflow: capture, clarify, organize, review and do.
In my opinion, Call Jerry about the management committee meeting is what you have "captured", not necessarily the next action.
The next step would to be "clarify". There are 3 questions to ask for this:
1. "Can I do something about this?” This is similar to "Is it actionable?”, butI prefer to ask, “Can I do something about this?"
You might decide someone else should do it, or you might decide that you should do it, but not yet. Something else should be done first.

2. The next question is: what is the larger outcome? Will the outcome be reached after this one action, or is it multi-step (a project)?
The answer might be, to make an action plan for project xyz, or to define roles, responsibilities and tasks of each committee member.

3. The third question is: What is the next action?
Here you think about what would be the next thing I need to do about this.
Possible answers might be:
a. ask someone else to call Jerry
b. call someone else
c. Make a list of things to discuss about the meeting.
d. or you might be ready and the next action is Call Jerry about the management committee meeting

Once you have done the clarification stage/process correctly, I think it will be intuitive and easy to write the next action.
It will also be easier to do it, when you get to the "do" stage.

Also, the book Getting Things Done by David Allen in the chapter on projects (page 77) states, “How much of this planning model do you really need to flesh out, and to what degree of detail? The simple answer is, as much as you need to get the project off your mind." I think this can be applied to next actions as well as project planning. You should write as much or as little as you need so you know what to do (and get it off your mind). How much you write depends on how familiar you are with each task, and therefore will differ from task to task.

I think you are referring to the subheading "The Action Step Needs to Be the Absolute Next Physical Things to Do" (Getting Things Done, page 130). David Allen gives an example of "set meeting". He writes that people might think "set meeting" is a next action, but it's not descriptive of a behavior. You need to think what you would do to set the meeting. Would you call, or email, and to whom?

I think the point is to get the main idea of what you want to do (the next action), and not get stuck in unimportant details, or get stuck in vagueness.

Hope this helps. I'd appreciate feedback on my reply.

Sarah
 
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@Sarahsuccess: The five phases of workflow, which you've done a good job of summarizing, are indeed critical to success with GTD. But the OP's question is not how to clarify a next action, but how to express it once you've clarified it. For the purposes of this discussion, I think it's OK to assume that "Call Jerry about the management committee meeting" is an appropriate next action. In the real world -- at least in my experience -- this is sometimes the appropriate action to take to move on something.

@Jan Ernest, I hope I don't sound harsh but I believe you are someone who tends to overthink to the point of inhibiting yourself from doing and I think this goes deeper than just your GTD practice. As someone who used to also suffer from "analysis paralysis," my advice to you is to try to do more and think less. In my experience overthinking flows from an irrational belief that the consequences of any mistake no matter how small will be catastrophic. Try to reorient your thinking by imagining that life is like riding a bicycle. If you make a wrong turn, it's not a disaster because you can correct course. But if you just try to sit still you'll fall and hurt yourself.

As far as how this relates to GTD practice, try to express everything in the simplest terms possible, and then when you've done that to your satisfaction simplify them even further until it makes you uncomfortable. After all, if you're truly applying the GTD methodology there will be a lot of stuff in your lists. You'll resist even looking at them if they're overflowing with unnecessary detail. If you're doing GTD correctly, often you'll be reviewing these lists multiple times in a day. Don't make that more difficult than it needs to be.

If you know that the next step to move on something is to "Call Jerry about the management committee meeting" then that's all you need to put in your calls list. Trust yourself that you'll know what to do from there.
 
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I'd add that a next action should be "stand-alone useful". What I mean is: If your next action is "Call Jerry about the management committee meeting" and you did just that, then you have moved the project regarding the meeting forward in a tangible way. You are now measurably closer to its completion. Also, you can do that particular action and then move on to another project / action and it would make sense.

Now compare that to a next action of "Get phone". So you get the phone and then what? On its own it accomplishes nothing at all. It only makes sense in the overall step of calling Jerry. Same with "Unlock phone". If you were to unlock the phone and then move on to another project with its own next action, that would be silly.

So while "Call Jerry..." does indeed comprise all these actions (get phone, unlock phone, dial number, greet Jerry, exchange pleasantries with Jerry, get to the point with Jerry...), they can't stand in isolation. I'd therefore call the "Call Jerry..." action an atomic action, because you can't reasonably split it into smaller units (emphasis on reasonably. Of course you can split them, just like you can split an atom into its constituent electrons, protons and neutrons, but that costs a lot of energy and might leave you with a radioactive mess.
 
Gardener said:
Returning to this:



I think that you're likely taking this too literally. The idea isn't that you choreograph every breath and muscle movement in the task. In fact, it might work better to use the word task instead of action: "...the next physical and visible task...."

Some tasks are too big to be a next action. And some are too small.

For example, "Plant vegetable garden" is too big. But "turn page in seed catalog" is too small. "Make preliminary list of seeds for vegetable garden" might be just right.

Similarly, "Throw surprise birthday party for Jane" is too big. "Pick up phone" is too small. "Call Joe to ask about possible party venues" may be just right.
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"turn page in seed catalog"
i just told people about your post =D
 
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When I first read this, my mind went to "it depends". As others have said, the goal is that you can do that task without impediment. So, in the original example, if Jerry's number is in my phone, then I would just use "Call Jerry ...". If however I don't know Jerry's number I would add a preceding task to find Jerry's number. Last thing I want is to be out with time on my hands and not be able to act on calling Jerry because I don't have his number. When that happens, the task will tend to stagnate because whenever we could do it, we won't have the number.

I would never go so far as to "unlock phone" unless of course I absolutely could not remember my phone PIN and needed to research that :)

During my reviews, I try to remain sensitive to tasks that I have passed over during the course of the week and ask myself why. That usually leads to a point where I need more granularity.
 
Thanks guys, I have moved pass this albeit not absolutely. But I take your advice and I read it once in a while when I, at times, fall into this trap of overly thinking about microcoding/ granulality. I think writing most sensible NA, with some details, work best. Atomic level like our examples take time and increase friction, whereas just/good enough detail (not vague too) works best.
 
Jan Ernest said:
Thanks @Gardener . Do you now mean to say that it is not any more necessary to go " excessively / too deep" in writing the next actions if you already know the preceding actions to be done, especially if these are too micro already?
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Personally I detail action if am Am uncomfortable with it. The very next action is only but what mobilize my energy. I dont micro manage. I just want to be able to do things without thinking how to do it... So I would say for me "Call jerry about projet x" and add in Omnifocus note all the point I want to check as a trigger list one under the other. That's all
 
Gardener said:
Some tasks are too big to be a next action. And some are too small.

For example, "Plant vegetable garden" is too big. But "turn page in seed catalog" is too small. "Make preliminary list of seeds for vegetable garden" might be just right.

Similarly, "Throw surprise birthday party for Jane" is too big. "Pick up phone" is too small. "Call Joe to ask about possible party venues" may be just right.
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I haven't seen this mentioned, but I have boundaries on what a next action is.

Next actions should be bite-sized and meaningful.
  • "turn page in seed catalog" is not really meaningful.
  • "Research which vegetables that grow well in my area" is meaningful.
These are my rules
<2 minutes do it now
< 1 hour and will be completed in one session => Next Action
> 1 Hour or has easily discernible discrete parts => Project

I think it is very important that Next Actions are all or nothing. If it isn't going to be done all at once then it should be a project so that you can track the parts. Often times we write something as a next action and then realize that there are multiple steps. This happens to me when the first step takes too long. It is obvious that "buy a new car" is a project, but less so for "buy new bath towels".

Also, in some cases, I might have a Next Action that will be done as a single task, but has a checklist of discrete steps, just so that I can mark off each step as I do it. This is how I develop habits.
e.g. Do Morning Routine (working to make this a habit)
  • check calendar
  • scan email
  • check next actions for "due" today (I have recurring tasks that show up on the day they are due)
 
julie777 said:
I think it is very important that Next Actions are all or nothing. If it isn't going to be done all at once then it should be a project so that you can track the parts. Often times we write something as a next action and then realize that there are multiple steps. This happens to me when the first step takes too long. It is obvious that "buy a new car" is a project, but less so for "buy new bath towels".
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Sometimes I have next actions that are just bookmarks, like “work more on manuscript.” It’s a bookmark, or a reminder. In the case of writing, I often have another bookmark, often “START HERE”, in the manuscript. Although writing a book is a big project, I haven’t found tracking next actions very useful. Like “buy new bath towels”, a lot of it is doing the next action and then setting another. But I’m actively looking to minimize my time and effort spent organizing, and a lot of people like to do more.
 
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