How to handle stuff with "next action" and "waiting" at the same time?

[skoller]

Dear community,
It happens to me from time to time that I end up with actionable stuff which has a "next action" and "waiting" at the same time.

A current example:
I need to write down an item description. I can do most of the content for myself but for one paragraph I need feedback from a colleague. As it took less than 2 minutes, I wrote the e-mail with my question to the colleague right now.

Now I end up with two items for the same stuff in my lists:

• Next action:
  Item description - Write down description!
• Waiting:
  Item description - Feedback from colleague received?

Is that the way the GTD framework should work or is there a better solution?
Thank you for sharing your experience.

Best regards
Stefan

 

[TesTeq]

Now I end up with two items for the same stuff in my lists:

• Next action:
  Item description - Write down description!
• Waiting:
  Item description - Feedback from colleague received?

@skoller Yes, though probably you could use two Next Actions: "Draft the description!" and after receiving the feedback "Write the final version of the description!".

 

[mcogilvie]

@skoller Yes, though probably you could use two Next Actions: "Draft the description!" and after receiving the feedback "Write the final version of the description!".

I think it’s a key personal workflow issue: how to handle short bursts of sequential actions.

 

[TesTeq]

I think it’s a key personal workflow issue: how to handle short bursts of sequential actions.

@mcogilvie I think "Write down description" is not a Next Action if you have to wait for a feedback in the middle of it. So I divided it into two parts: pre-feedback draft and post-feedback final version.

 

[mcogilvie]

@mcogilvie I think "Write down description" is not a Next Action if you have to wait for a feedback in the middle of it. So I divided it into two parts: pre-feedback draft and post-feedback final version.

Of course it’s not a next action, but getting to the point where you recognize the pattern can take time. So someone might write “WF Jerry” when their future self would appreciate “Waiting for Jerry to return comments so I can finalize xyz report.” By the time you get a reply, you may have forgotten who Jerry is, and what the report’s about.

 

[skoller]

@skoller Yes, though probably you could use two Next Actions: "Draft the description!" and after receiving the feedback "Write the final version of the description!".

Thank you. Makes total sense to start with "Draft the description!" Does this also mean its ok to have 2 items for the same "stuff"?
My understanding was, you either have a "next action" OR a "waiting", not both of them at the same time.

 

[ianfh10]

Dear community,
It happens to me from time to time that I end up with actionable stuff which has a "next action" and "waiting" at the same time.

A current example:
I need to write down an item description. I can do most of the content for myself but for one paragraph I need feedback from a colleague. As it took less than 2 minutes, I wrote the e-mail with my question to the colleague right now.

Now I end up with two items for the same stuff in my lists:

• Next action:
  Item description - Write down description!
• Waiting:
  Item description - Feedback from colleague received?

Is that the way the GTD framework should work or is there a better solution?
Thank you for sharing your experience.

Best regards
Stefan

Whether this is the way the framework "should" work doesn't really matter. If it works for you, that's fine. If it doesn't, you can change your system to suit you.

Since you're asking if there's a solution, I'm going to presume it's a problem for you. What exactly isn't working about this for you? Is it that you have an action and a waiting-for in your system for the same 'stuff'?

It depends on your workflow. Can you, or do you need to write the description before the colleague gets back to you? Or do you need to wait for the colleague before you can complete the description? Will the colleague's feedback change a lot of the writing you've done?

I don't think the waiting-for can really be changed as it's an indispensable tracker for things delegated to others. Therefore it's the next-action that needs to be looked at.

Can you delete it and just have one waiting-for? Do you trust your system enough that the waiting-for works as a reminder to then complete subsequent work? Something like:

waiting for colleague feedback on item description before writing the rest?

Then, use the feedback to trigger an item you can create or place in your inbasket: 'write description' if you can't immediately do it. If you can write the rest as soon as you get feedback, I'm guessing you'll intuitively know what you need to do without putting actions back through your system?

Personally, the fewer items in my system the better. For example, I have a "writing" context list (this should be @computer strictly speaking, but all my work in @computer so I need to separate out lengthier/difficult stuff from mindless admin and emails) that already has 20+ items on it. I don't want to keep looking at a next action on there I can't do because there's also an item on my waiting-for list relating to the same task.

 

[cfoley]

I would also create a next action and a waiting for. I think that is reasonable for this kind of situation.

However, I have had projects before where multiple next actions were possible. In those situations, I have found that adding more than one to my lists causes several problems. It makes my lists more difficult to review, means I am pausing more to think strategically when I really want to be cranking through my lists and ultimately leads to me resisting progress in that project.

What works better for me is to make the decision, of the options available which one will I choose to be the next action?

I don't suggest applying this to your situation but in order to illustrate, you've already sent the email. You could choose to write what you can up front or you could choose to wait for your colleague's input before writing anything? This choice would inform what you add to your lists.

 

[gtdstudente]

Of course it’s not a next action, but getting to the point where you recognize the pattern can take time. So someone might write “WF Jerry” when their future self would appreciate “Waiting for Jerry to return comments so I can finalize xyz report.” By the time you get a reply, you may have forgotten who Jerry is, and what the report’s about.

Of course it’s not a next action, but getting to the point where you recognize the pattern can take time. So someone might write “WF Jerry” when their future self would appreciate “Waiting for Jerry to return comments so I can finalize xyz report.” By the time you get a reply, you may have forgotten who Jerry is, and what the report’s about.

 

[larea]

I agree with the comment that you should decide whether you will write part of the report before receiving the feedback or not. If you do intend to draft the partial report, and also are waiting on the feedback, then it is absolutely correct to have both of those in your list. Any time a project has multiple tasks that are independent but all could be next actions, you list each one because each is part of your list of action options. (In the case of waiting for, the task serves as the reminder to follow up if at some point you don't get the feedback.)

 

[Zaneta]

I have a bunch of these kinda tasks every week, I can write most of a report but then I need to wait up to a week to see if there are any survey responses before I can finalise it. I think technically cause of the number of steps it takes and the waiting that it might be considered a project, though I don't want to deal with it as a project since the process itself is simple.
So the way I have started to deal with it is, that I have a checklist in the task for each step that needs to occur (FacileThings makes this easy). I check off the steps as I go along and if there are any steps that I can do, it stays a Next Action, but once I get blocked on waiting for a checklist item I transfer it completely onto the waiting for list associated with that person and add a little to the title.