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If you so please: How do fellow GTDers/GTD Enthusiasts avoid PROJECTS being able to disguise as NEXT ACTIONS? Thank you!
Your providing rich context and meaning to: "just do. . . . without having to do any prep work", "I like small projects", and 'Project to Project' thinking very helpful . . . thank you!My main definition for a next action is something that I can "just do". I know how to do it, and I'm prepared to do it without having to do any prep work. If I have to do prep work, then that prep work is one or more next actions.
So let's say that I have a "next action" of "plant rose hedge."
But I can't just do that. There are a lot of "but first..." things. So that's really a project.
But first...I have to have prepared ground for the hedge.
So I have a "next action" of "prepare ground for rose hedge."
But first...I have to have soil amendments.
So I have a "next action" of "get soil amendments for rose hedge."
Let's say that I already know what I want, so I don't have to add next actions for research. But I have to get the stuff, and I have to get it home.
Finally, I have a next action.
My project is "Plant rose hedge" or, if I want to make it outcome-based, "Rose hedge is planted and thriving."
My "next action" is "call the Grange to see if they can deliver bulk compost."
Now, really, I would have several projects for planting that rose hedge, because I like small projects. So I would split it into several parallel efforts:
Project: Prepare ground for rose hedge.
Project: Choose and acquire plants for rose hedge.
Project: Establish irrigation for rose hedge.
When those are all done, and I have lush prepared dirt, and plants in pots getting hand-watered every day, and the drippers are all set up and the timer knows how to turn them on, and we're within a week or so of appropriate weather, then I'm finally prepared for:
Project: Plant rose hedge.
My main definition for a next action is something that I can "just do". I know how to do it, and I'm prepared to do it without having to do any prep work. If I have to do prep work, then that prep work is one or more next actions.
So let's say that I have a "next action" of "plant rose hedge."
But I can't just do that. There are a lot of "but first..." things. So that's really a project.
But first...I have to have prepared ground for the hedge.
So I have a "next action" of "prepare ground for rose hedge."
But first...I have to have soil amendments.
So I have a "next action" of "get soil amendments for rose hedge."
Let's say that I already know what I want, so I don't have to add next actions for research. But I have to get the stuff, and I have to get it home.
Finally, I have a next action.
My project is "Plant rose hedge" or, if I want to make it outcome-based, "Rose hedge is planted and thriving."
My next action is "call the Grange to see if they can deliver bulk compost."
Now, really, I would have several projects for planting that rose hedge, because I like small projects. So I would split it into several parallel efforts:
Project: Prepare ground for rose hedge.
Project: Choose and acquire plants for rose hedge.
Project: Establish irrigation for rose hedge.
When those are all done, and I have lush prepared dirt, and plants in pots getting hand-watered every day, and the drippers are all set up and the timer knows how to turn them on, and we're within a week or so of appropriate weather, then I'm finally prepared for:
Project: Plant rose hedge.
You have my full sympathy - I am a dreadful procrastinator. This needs some anti-procrastination techniques. Things I find usefulThank you so much for this excellent write-up! I just have one question; when we arrive at the actual next action (after going through all the "but first") how do you actually make yourself do that next action when it is repealing you?
I know what my next action is: "just do" and write a section of my report. There are no "but firsts" there. However, I'm still procrastinating on it because the next action is literally pushing me away.
If you so please: How do fellow GTDers/GTD Enthusiasts avoid PROJECTS being able to disguise as NEXT ACTIONS? Thank you!
I don't it happens fairly often. Once I identify the "next action" as really a project I then just change its type in my task manager and figure out what the REAL next action is.How do fellow GTDers/GTD Enthusiasts avoid PROJECTS being able to disguise as NEXT ACTIONS?
I shrink and shrink and shrink the next action until it's ridiculously tiny. So if it logically would be "write next report section" I might shrink it to, "spend ten minutes outlining next report section" or even, "create Word file for next report section." Then I make another ridiculously tiny action.Thank you so much for this excellent write-up! I just have one question; when we arrive at the actual next action (after going through all the "but first") how do you actually make yourself do that next action when it is repealing you?
I know what my next action is: "just do" and write a section of my report. There are no "but firsts" there. However, I'm still procrastinating on it because the next action is literally pushing me away.
Yes. The flip side of the little next action is that it’s just a bookmark. Often when I have Focus on a project, I can see the next few small steps to take, and make nice progress easily.I shrink and shrink and shrink the next action until it's ridiculously tiny. So if it logically would be "write next report section" I might shrink it to, "spend ten minutes outlining next report section" or even, "create Word file for next report section." Then I make another ridiculously tiny action.
I very much like to think of a project's next action as a bookmark. It's not only efficient, it's a way to be kind to my future self. It reduces the switching cost to get back into that project. Imagine I'm reading a long book, in chunks of 30 minutes a day. A bookmark means I can open the book and start where I left off in a couple of seconds. What about no bookmark and I memorized the page number to start? I still have to leaf through the pages to find that page, and I've used memory for that page number instead of the content of the book. What about no bookmark and no memorized page number to start? Even worse. I pick up the book and leaf forward and backward until I see something familiar. Maybe I go too far back, and then have to go forward until I find something unfamiliar. And is it unfamiliar because I haven't read it, or unfamiliar because I didn't absorb and retain if from the last session? I resist some projects plenty on my own without making it harder to hop back into them easily.Yes. The flip side of the little next action is that it’s just a bookmark. Often when I have Focus on a project, I can see the next few small steps to take, and make nice progress easily.
A big part of my job is writing, and I have studied some of the literature on how to write. In most cases, for most people, “write next section of report” is not a good next action. My process for writing is generally brainstorm (what to say), arrange (in what order), draft (make complete sentences), revise (connect it all up), polish (check grammar, spelling, et cetera). Like the gtd five phases of work, or the natural planning model, it’s an iterative model which can be applied at many levels. Most professional writers do something like this, although some are so practiced it seems like they ”just write.”Thank you so much for this excellent write-up! I just have one question; when we arrive at the actual next action (after going through all the "but first") how do you actually make yourself do that next action when it is repealing you?
I know what my next action is: "just do" and write a section of my report. There are no "but firsts" there. However, I'm still procrastinating on it because the next action is literally pushing me away.
Thanks! That's a really great tip!A big part of my job is writing, and I have studied some of the literature on how to write. In most cases, for most people, “write next section of report” is not a good next action. My process for writing is generally brainstorm (what to say), arrange (in what order), draft (make complete sentences), revise (connect it all up), polish (check grammar, spelling, et cetera). Like the gtd five phases of work, or the natural planning model, it’s an iterative model which can be applied at many levels. Most professional writers do something like this, although some are so practiced it seems like they ”just write.”