Re: Need help with Next Action....
pbs said:
I just don't get NA!!!!! I suppose I'm so used to a daily to-do list that I get overwhelmed by a huge NA list and don't know where to go next. Does anyone have any advise about how you adjusted and implemented the system?
I think defining ALL of your next actions on all your projects - big, little, personal, professional - is a great exercise. Then, what you actually DO decide to work on then is top quality. The Someday/Maybe list, though, is what I'd suggest people utilize more. (I have over a hundred on it right now.) Might as well either dump the stuff or park it on S/M so you don't have to have anything actually to DO about it.
That way, you won't feel bad about your own agreements.
Sometimes, it's easy to avoid defining the project or reviewing the next actions lists - by context - because it's too big ("amorphous, out of my control"), too small ("some dumb, dorky little thing") or too ambiguous ("I'm supposed to do WHAT?").
Interestingly, people frequently avoid taking action if the very next step isn't clear enough or the project is not meaningful enough, given all your other projects. A great way to get around that is to completely define the successful outcome of the accumulation of action steps required to complete that "thing." For every active project on that list, ensure there is a "next action" defined and captured into your system. Finally, if you're still not getting it done, then slide it off the active list.