New to the GTD Method. Need some advice

commander

Registered
Hello everyone,

I just very recently started using the GTD method to boost my productivity especially as my life became a pile of meetings, projects and family commitments. I created a somehow manageable and solid system on Todoist and I am liking it but I need some answers to some rather basic questions so please bear out with me.

1- Lets say I am working on a task and I just finished it. Do I need to go to the system and mark it as completed or do I have to wait for the weekly review?
2- I have a rather long ongoing process of studying a Software Engineering course but it requires one recurring next action that happens daily (study for 2 hours). Do I still keep this in a project or separate as a one-off task?
3- If I was working on a task, and in the middle of it, I got something else on mind. I understand that I should capture it immediately and write it down. But what I don't understand is when should I process it? In other words, when do I organize it and see where it fits?
Should I do this immediately after I capture it?
Or should I wait till I finish the task at hand and do it?
Or do I wait till I am done with the tasks of the day and organize all the ideas/tasks that came in the middle of something?


Thank you!
 
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Gardener

Registered
1- Lets say I am working on a task and I just finished it. Do I need to go to the system and mark it as completed or do I have to wait for the weekly review?
You mark it as completed, and probably add another action to that project. Note that ALL of my answers are the way that I see as more GTD standard. In the end, you do what works for you.
2- I have a rather long ongoing process of studying a Software Engineering course but it requires one recurring next action that happens daily (study for 2 hours). Do I still keep this in a project or separate as a one-off task?
I would have a project that would usually have just this repeating action, but might occasionally have something else--maybe I need to ask a question, maybe I need to get another book, etc. But I lean toward smaller actions; others might handle this a totally different way.
3- If I was working on a task, and in the middle of it, I got something else on mind. I understand that I should capture it immediately and write it down. But what I don't understand is when should I process it? In other words, when do I organize it and see where it fits?
IMO, weekly review. No harm in doing it earlier, but part of the job of the weekly review is to gather and organize all these thoughts.
 

commander

Registered
You mark it as completed, and probably add another action to that project. Note that ALL of my answers are the way that I see as more GTD standard. In the end, you do what works for you.

I would have a project that would usually have just this repeating action, but might occasionally have something else--maybe I need to ask a question, maybe I need to get another book, etc. But I lean toward smaller actions; others might handle this a totally different way.

IMO, weekly review. No harm in doing it earlier, but part of the job of the weekly review is to gather and organize all these thoughts.
Thank you so much. Very straight forward. Just what I needed!
 

Oogiem

Registered
1- Lets say I am working on a task and I just finished it. Do I need to go to the system and mark it as completed or do I have to wait for the weekly review?
I go in and mark that action done and see if there are other tasks I can do while I am in the same context. Either on that project or on another. And if I don't already have a next action for the project I was working on I'll add one. However, for me 99.9% of the time I have my projects well defined so that the next actions automatically become available as I process them.

2- I have a rather long ongoing process of studying a Software Engineering course but it requires one recurring next action that happens daily (study for 2 hours). Do I still keep this in a project or separate as a one-off task?
I would have a project of the Software engneering course as completed and separate actions for each day's study. The reason I'd avhave it as a project is that there are likely to be tests, papers or presentations to write and other things all realted to compleiting the course so a singel action won't cover them all.
3- If I was working on a task, and in the middle of it, I got something else on mind. I understand that I should capture it immediately and write it down. But what I don't understand is when should I process it? In other words, when do I organize it and see where it fits?
Should I do this immediately after I capture it?
Or should I wait till I finish the task at hand and do it?
Or do I wait till I am done with the tasks of the day and organize all the ideas/tasks that came in the middle of something?
I capture it immediately and it goes into my inbox. Either my paper one (most of my capture is on paper) or perhaps one of my electronic ones. I sometimes use Siri to capture notes but they go into my inbox when I do. I would process it at my next time for processing. I try to get in at least an hour a day processing all the various inputs, my paper notes, email, forums I care about,tickler file things and so on. Sometimes it takes more like hour and a half to get everything to zero once a day. Take a current example. We were vaccinating the pregnant ewes. I thought of something I need to check on related to the slaughter date for some sheep that's coming up in April. So I stopped and wrote a quick note on the little notepad I carry with me everywhere. I came inside and tossed that note into my paper inbox which right now has about 3 inches of stuff in it. I needed a break so I am reading and responding on forums right now. As soon as I am done my plan is to process my paper inbox anf get it to zero. I'll organize that note I took then. I do my weekly review on Friday and I've found that if I get all my inboxes to zero on the Thursday before I can do a muhc better review. I I waited until Friday to process my inputs my weekly review would take all day. I get about 300 email messages a day and usualy a stack pf paper mail about 2 inches thick. My own notes can vary from 10-20 notes per day to as many as 50-60/day depending on what I am doing and how active my mind is.

I try to have several processing periods during the day and focus on one sort of processing at a time. First thing in the morning to process the notes I took at night when I woke up. Sometimes there are none but sometimes I've generated 20+ especially when I'm working on a software problem. If I don't rewrite them into the project plans as soon as I have my morning coffee I can't read my own nighttime scribbles. I also tend to do a batch of paper processing in the mid to late afternoon after the paper mail comes. I try to get my paper inbox empty then. After lunch is a good time for me to process email and again in the evening. Those are general times and not set as any sort of required scheduke but just what has worked for me.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make with starting GTD is to underestimate how much time needs to be spent processing inputs and tossing them, adding them to someday/maybe or to your active projects as appropriate.

That ans not dooing a weekly review at least once a week. When you start it can make a lot of sense to do a review a couple of times a week as you will be uncovering hundreds of htings that you need to process and deal with in one way or another. The initial mind sweep and get going peerod of starting GTD can last several weeks toa month or more before you are finally starting to see some progress.

Liberal use of Someday/Maybe lsits is also a key factor. It's really easy to get bogged down with too many projects if you don't limit it. I like long lists and keep projects I can work on for this 3 month period active so I have lots of current projects at any given time. Right now it's at 184. Other people prefer to only have the top 1-2 active at any given time. Most people are somewhere between those extremes. You need to find out what works for you.
 

commander

Registered
I go in and mark that action done and see if there are other tasks I can do while I am in the same context. Either on that project or on another. And if I don't already have a next action for the project I was working on I'll add one. However, for me 99.9% of the time I have my projects well defined so that the next actions automatically become available as I process them.


I would have a project of the Software engneering course as completed and separate actions for each day's study. The reason I'd avhave it as a project is that there are likely to be tests, papers or presentations to write and other things all realted to compleiting the course so a singel action won't cover them all.

I capture it immediately and it goes into my inbox. Either my paper one (most of my capture is on paper) or perhaps one of my electronic ones. I sometimes use Siri to capture notes but they go into my inbox when I do. I would process it at my next time for processing. I try to get in at least an hour a day processing all the various inputs, my paper notes, email, forums I care about,tickler file things and so on. Sometimes it takes more like hour and a half to get everything to zero once a day. Take a current example. We were vaccinating the pregnant ewes. I thought of something I need to check on related to the slaughter date for some sheep that's coming up in April. So I stopped and wrote a quick note on the little notepad I carry with me everywhere. I came inside and tossed that note into my paper inbox which right now has about 3 inches of stuff in it. I needed a break so I am reading and responding on forums right now. As soon as I am done my plan is to process my paper inbox anf get it to zero. I'll organize that note I took then. I do my weekly review on Friday and I've found that if I get all my inboxes to zero on the Thursday before I can do a muhc better review. I I waited until Friday to process my inputs my weekly review would take all day. I get about 300 email messages a day and usualy a stack pf paper mail about 2 inches thick. My own notes can vary from 10-20 notes per day to as many as 50-60/day depending on what I am doing and how active my mind is.

I try to have several processing periods during the day and focus on one sort of processing at a time. First thing in the morning to process the notes I took at night when I woke up. Sometimes there are none but sometimes I've generated 20+ especially when I'm working on a software problem. If I don't rewrite them into the project plans as soon as I have my morning coffee I can't read my own nighttime scribbles. I also tend to do a batch of paper processing in the mid to late afternoon after the paper mail comes. I try to get my paper inbox empty then. After lunch is a good time for me to process email and again in the evening. Those are general times and not set as any sort of required scheduke but just what has worked for me.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make with starting GTD is to underestimate how much time needs to be spent processing inputs and tossing them, adding them to someday/maybe or to your active projects as appropriate.

That ans not dooing a weekly review at least once a week. When you start it can make a lot of sense to do a review a couple of times a week as you will be uncovering hundreds of htings that you need to process and deal with in one way or another. The initial mind sweep and get going peerod of starting GTD can last several weeks toa month or more before you are finally starting to see some progress.

Liberal use of Someday/Maybe lsits is also a key factor. It's really easy to get bogged down with too many projects if you don't limit it. I like long lists and keep projects I can work on for this 3 month period active so I have lots of current projects at any given time. Right now it's at 184. Other people prefer to only have the top 1-2 active at any given time. Most people are somewhere between those extremes. You need to find out what works for you.
thank you so much for your very detailed reply. Now since you mentioned the projects that are in the future, one of the main confusions also for me was the following. Software engineering course is just one of 4 courses that I plan to take to reach a goal (becoming a fully fledged software engineer rather than being a frontend developer right now)

The course Im currently working on is the software engineering course (general software engineering topics) but then I have 3 more courses in the pipeline to complete within this year. I probably won't start course number 2 until its 3 months from now so does it make more sense to add it as a current project with a single "as soon as I can" action or does it belong to the someday/maybe category?
 

mcogilvie

Registered
GTD aims to keep your mind clear by capturing “stuff” and handling it appropriately. If you understand that basic principle, you can answer many of your questions yourself.

1) If there is a subsequent next action, it’s better to update your lists while your work is fresh in your mind. Many people enjoy the small pleasure of checking something off. The weekly review is a safety net. Updating your lists should be as quick and easy as possible.

2) For your course, there is a goal. Perhaps there are exams, or a certification process. It’s a project.

3) The objective is for you to know that everything is being handled appropriately. If your pants are on fire, you handle it immediately. If you are interrupted, you must make a decision about what to give your attention to. There is almost always time to capture the state of what you were doing before turning attention away from it. There’s no one right way that works every time for everyone. Throughout the day, I am checking my calendar, my lists, my inboxes. This helps me stay engaged, informed and oriented. It’s a fast, natural process: ”Finished that, what’s next? Better capture that next action before I forget, though. How long do I have until the meeting this afternoon? Huh, a lot of stuff has come in today. Better process it now while I have the chance.” Every man is the captain and commander of his own ship. ;)
 

Gardener

Registered
I probably won't start course number 2 until its 3 months from now so does it make more sense to add it as a current project with a single "as soon as I can" action or does it belong to the someday/maybe category?
I would definitely put it in Someday/Maybe, on two grounds: The fact that it won't start for a while, and the fact that the "space" that it occupies (your studying time) is already occupied by something else (another course).

Even if I expect to do something in a week or two, I generally keep it in Someday/Maybe if its "space" is already occupied--unless there's some specific value for having another project active in parallel.

For example, if I have six different garden areas to prep, I'll have only one active at a time. But if one, say, needs an acid soil amendment that I might have to pre-order from the Grange, I may activate that one, too.

This is just how I do things. It's not necessarily how GTD tells you to do things. I like to minimize the length of my active lists.
 

Oogiem

Registered
Fo
I probably won't start course number 2 until its 3 months from now so does it make more sense to add it as a current project with a single "as soon as I can" action or does it belong to the someday/maybe category?
For me a clear someday/maybe item. I might make the last action in the current Software engineering project Start project to complete Next course-see notes in someday/maybe location x
 

Gardener

Registered
For me a clear someday/maybe item. I might make the last action in the current Software engineering project Start project to complete Next course-see notes in someday/maybe location x
I wanted to note that Oogiem is at the very pinnacle of long-list tolerance, while I'm at the very bottom, so if we both say Someday/Maybe, that is IMO a more compelling indication that it's Someday/Maybe.
 

Suelin23

Registered
To me Software Engineering would be an area of focus. I would block time in my calendar for the regular study. Each assignment would be a project. As a general habit I do like to tick tasks off as done once they are completed, well before the weekly review. I also like to process regularly - preferably three times a day - morning, middle and end of the day. If I'm working on something I would capture new ideas, but process them later on in the day, otherwise you get diverted onto the new thing too easily.
 

Jared Caron

Nursing leader; GTD enthusiast
Great responses here already, so I'll *try* to be brief (GTD has a lot of... nuance to it, so it's tricky sometimes)
1- Lets say I am working on a task and I just finished it. Do I need to go to the system and mark it as completed or do I have to wait for the weekly review?
Depends. Often it's situational
Ideal - complete as you go.
Reality - Sometimes you're literally moving so fast you realize during your WR, (or some other reflective moment) - "hey - I finished that!"
As long as the system stays up to date you are doing fine. Just don't intentionally wait to mark everything off once a week; Recipe for overwhelm there.
2- I have a rather long ongoing process of studying a Software Engineering course but it requires one recurring next action that happens daily (study for 2 hours). Do I still keep this in a project or separate as a one-off task?
This sounds like something that belongs on your calendar or in a checklist. It's not stated super obviously in the book, but scheduling time to do specific tasks is consistent with GTD, if you do it intentionally and carefully. Generally, I find if I need more than an hour for something, If I don't schedule it, someone else takes the time I need.
As another said, your Software engineering course is probably a project, maybe multiple sub-projects too. I am in grad school so I feel the pain; but I also can attest to GTD being extremely useful in managing the workload.
3- If I was working on a task, and in the middle of it, I got something else on mind. I understand that I should capture it immediately and write it down. But what I don't understand is when should I process it? In other words, when do I organize it and see where it fits?
Should I do this immediately after I capture it?
Or should I wait till I finish the task at hand and do it?
Or do I wait till I am done with the tasks of the day and organize all the ideas/tasks that came in the middle of something?
Again, Depends (nuance...).
This is actually 2 things - capturing and clarifying/organizing. Remember that they are two separate steps.
Sometimes, things show up in a really obvious format, like - "hey, I have to email Deb about the doohicky..." I would generally drop that straight onto my @computer list. However, I find there's a pitfall here that often your first idea as to what the next action is isn't always the next action.
So instead I've gotten in the habit of just jotting it down and tossing it in my in-tray.

Then there's the act of clarifying. You'll want to make sure you dedicate some time to this each day. The actual amount/frequency will vary but most find a cumulative 60-90 minutes each day. Try not to go more than 48 hours without emptying your email, phone, and physical inboxes.

I find I'm snacking on this throughout the day, during "in between moments" such as returning to my office from a meeting; just hung up the phone; just finished a more focused task and need a change of pace, etc. I'll additionally do 1 or 2 longer, more focused clarifying sessions each day; not scheduled, just as I have the time. Everyone gets their own cadence on this.

As long as you're clarifying to zero at least once every 24-48 hours, you will be just fine. It just may take you some time to develop trust in the system that it will actually work.


So... I guess I failed at being brief. Nuance....

TL;DR version - "Depends"
 

Jared Caron

Nursing leader; GTD enthusiast
thank you so much for your very detailed reply. Now since you mentioned the projects that are in the future, one of the main confusions also for me was the following. Software engineering course is just one of 4 courses that I plan to take to reach a goal (becoming a fully fledged software engineer rather than being a frontend developer right now)

The course Im currently working on is the software engineering course (general software engineering topics) but then I have 3 more courses in the pipeline to complete within this year. I probably won't start course number 2 until its 3 months from now so does it make more sense to add it as a current project with a single "as soon as I can" action or does it belong to the someday/maybe category?
This is more likely a horizon 4 goal. Its still an outcome, so it could be on your project list, but the timeline means you'll want to review it less oftne.

Typically the timeline for horizon 4/goals list is 1 to 2 years.

For now, probably fine to leave it on your project list, but as you uncover more of these longer-term goals, you'll find they clutter the list, and you'll want to separate them, which is why the horizons are helpful *Second half of the book.
 

Jared Caron

Nursing leader; GTD enthusiast
I probably won't start course number 2 until its 3 months from now so does it make more sense to add it as a current project with a single "as soon as I can" action or does it belong to the someday/maybe category?
Another thing to consider:
Do you even need a reminder for this? Often I find life reminds me of things when they become relevant.
When I finish my current course I naturally start thinking - "what's next?" Then I capture it.

Or I have an academic advisor pestering me to enroll in the next course.

Either way, the important stuff tends to show up again...
 
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