Newbie Q (sorta): NA list

[Lise46]

I started GTD quite some time ago and then had some dramatic life happen. GTD floated along working adequately during the multi-year crisis, but now I would really like to lock it down. I am aggressively working on capturing everything and have been reading the forum pretty extensively. My question appears to be somewhat common, but I am looking for a simple, in English, sort of answer- which I haven't seen yet.

I use TD and like it a great deal. However my current NA list is over 80 items and growing. I am using Folders (Actions that are Inventory Mgmt items, Marketing items, Financial items, Personal, Kid related, etc) and context (which has not been at all useful for me, but I keep trying). I also have a list of items to delegate to my staff as well as 'someday' items. However I am overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of this list. I look at it and freeze. And as I capture more and/or add more, it is getting progressively worse. I do keep projects & reference info (very effectively) in Onenote.

Much of the advice I have read out here is loaded with jargon. I need some straight forward advice - how to manage all this? These are all things I need to remember to do...but I also know that more important things are getting lost in the shuffle. I am close to giving up on the theory, because trying to capture everything and regularly review is just stressing me out about how much there is to get done! Help!

 

[Oogiem]

You really need to get your mind around contexts. Inventory management or financial are more areas of focus. Contexts are the tools or places where you can deal with those actions.

So what do you need to handle your finances or where do you need to be? Do you use a computer? Is it running Quicken? Do you need your checkbook? Does that mean you need to be at your home desk? Do you use on-line bill paying that requires an Internet connection?

So for example, I have a next action right now to handle my farm sales tax report. For that it needs to be done on-line from my main computer. The critical point is Main computer with Internet so I place that action on my context list of Mac-Internet. So that is a tool that I need to perform that action. If I'm in town sitting the pub which has wifi and so I have an Internet connection and decide I can get a bit of work done I still can't handle the sales tax report because I don't have my main computer. So I don't even want to see that item in that situation. I have a separate context for general Internet questions that I can do on my phone, or laptop or iPad.

I have a next action that requires that I label the yarns for sale. They are all over in the other building where our farm store is. I have the context set for that to be Little House as I can't label yarns when I am in the main house or in one of the barns or the shop because that isn't where the yarns are. So that is a location where I have to be to perform the action. When I am in the shop building I don't want to see label yarns on my list as I can't do anything about it there.

I would take your lsit of next actions and think about the critical tool or location you need to complete them. Use that to create separate next actions lists for each tool or location you identified. This is one of those things that is often easier to do on paper first. If each next action is on a small scrap of paper, you can pile write on them in pencil the critical tool or location you need to do that. Then make a stack of those tools and see how that works. I find that 1/4 of a letter sheet seems about right for me for scrap papers but do what works for you.

Contexts are fluid, you may create a bunch now and in a month not need those anymore. Right now it's winter I do not need to do anything in the far pasture, or the back cedars pasture or the pear orchard so those contexts are empty. BUt when spring comes I'll probably have a bunch of actions for each of those specific locations so I'll start using them. We are doing a major de-clutter and deep cleaning in our house right now. So for now instead of one big Main House context I have My Office, Living Room, Upstairs, Pantry, Bathrooms and so on. That way I can deal with everything in that area when I am there working.

For your someday stuff just put it somewhere else. By definition you've decided that everything in someday can't be dealt with right now. It may be something you want to do next month or next year or a bucket list item but in any case you don't need to see it or any of its actions except when you are reviewing your system. So if you are on paper put all the projects or actiosn that are someday/maybe in a separate folder and then just review it at your next weekly review.

When you see an overwhelming list of stuff you need to keep in mind that you always had that list of stuff but now you see it more visibly because you have externalized it and can really understand how much you have to do. It can be overwhelming at first. So my suggestion is be ruthless in putting things into someday/maybe. That is a temporary place for anything you cannot handle right now. If you need to rename that to not yet or someday soon or whatever you need to to feel comfortable that that list won't become a black hole.

 

[enyonam]

I 100% agree with Oogie - I think contexts is the key for you.
And you've got a great description there on how to go about it.

I just wanted to add that the reason I think contexts is the key for you is that with that one (tag?) thing, you are actually create many action lists.
So your 80 items becomes 10 items on 8 lists for example.
Here's the good news ... your lists becomes things like @home, @office, @delegated, @out & about.
So when you're at home, you don't care really what on your @office list. (that's 80-10 = 70 items).
Once you've delegated all those tasks, you don't care what's on your @delegated while folks are working on it. (70-10 = 60).
You don't care what errands you need to run. (60-10 = 50).
So suddenly you list of overwhelmed 80 is getting knocked down to a list of X that you can focus on where you are at this moment.

So I would say focus on getting some contexts in place. It should reduce your overwhelm.

Cheers, Enyo
www.enyonam.com

 

[TMac]

Thanks Oogiem for such clarity in the descriptions of how to use contexts. I abandoned contexts over a year ago because I thought they just did not apply. I have found my lists have grown, like Lise46, and become overwhelming. I have recently been reviewing and trying different methods but seem to always have the same issue. This post has caused me to re-think contexts and this may be a solution to my, and others, challenges. Thanks for such good feedback

 

[Oogiem]

I abandoned contexts over a year ago because I thought they just did not apply.

A common complaint here about the GTD system is that the context originally presented in the book no longer apply. Most folks point out that you may have a smart phone that can get Internet all the time so there is no need to have a context of Internet, or that you can do anything anywhere. But that isn't really the case. For example, I knit. Some knitted objects can be done anywhere at almost anytime, they are simple or I know how to do them and they are small enough to carry with me, socks for example. Some projects are more complex, a lace scarf for instance is not something I can work on while drinking a beer. I can read a novel on my iPad in line at the bank or while waiting at the doctors office but I sure can't read my textbook and take notes then. So even though I have the same tool available, iPad, the context may be different. You need to crate contexts that work for you and the critical item or critical location is a good place to start.

 

[Folke]

I also agree totally with Oogiem's description. I also use contexts. I have only five, which means I have a larger number of actions in each group, but this still means a substantial reduction down from 100% to about 20% on average. There is a tradeoff you have to make between either making each list a bit "too long" or making the total "too fragmented".

Let me add something else - nothing to do with contexts and the number of actions, but maybe it can help you in other respects. You mentioned using folders for what I would call Areas of Focus (i.e "what kind of action"). David Allen also uses the term Area of Responsibility interchangeably, and it is up to you how you use it, but I recommend you to literally interpret this not as a "kind of action" but as a "responsibility", a "role" that you play, i.e. a "who" perspective, even if it is all in your own head. It may perhaps feel a bit schizo at first to be playing "organization" with yourself, but that's essentially what I recommend. The difference may perhaps seem too subtle to be meaningful, but in my opinion makes a world of difference, especially when you review your stuff or if you want to define a purpose and/or targets for each area.

Here is a silly-simple example: Say you have bought a floor mop too many and want to sell one. If you have two areas called Cleaning and Selling (i.e. areas defined by what "kind of action" they are) there is no doubt that this is a Selling kind of action. But if instead you have two areas called Cleaner and Seller (i.e. areas defined by "who" will need to deal with it) there is probably little doubt that it is the Cleaner who will have to correct his own mistake (and who probably bought the mop in the first place in order to be able to carry out his responsibilities as a Cleaner). Conversely, if the Seller is expecting a customer and needs to pick some dirt off the floor, this will typically be the Seller's own responsibility even if it is a Cleaning type of task. (It is up to you, of course, to define the "job description" for each of your roles, but to get it smooth and well balanced you can compare with how you would have split it up if the roles were actually given to two different people.)

 

[Roger]

Very specifically to the point about " I am overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of this list. I look at it and freeze" -- I've found it useful to pull out individual items from the NA folder and look at them all on their own. Not sure why it makes a difference, but I've found it helpful.

 

[bcmyers2112]

Lise46 I've been experiencing something similar but before I offer any suggestions, why do you find the list of next actions overwhelming and why are you having trouble implementing contexts? I'd hesitate to offer my own advice without knowing a bit more about your challenges.

 

[bcmyers2112]

Lise46 I don't know why the other day I felt I couldn't add my two cents without knowing more. I've been experiencing the same challenge you have: my action lists had gotten so long they had become overwhelming and the more important actions were getting hard to pick out in the volume. I'd read my lists in the morning and less than halfway though I'd realize I was going to numb to the lists.

The first thing I did that helped us review the lists and identify anything that really needed to be moved to my Someday Maybe lists. Many of these were things that were actionable but I wasn't fully committed to them.

I also have about 90 some-odd phone calls to make because I'm in sales covering a sizable territory. I realized I could break up those call lists into three categories: calls-personal, calls-work, and calls-work/prospecting. With the lists broken up they seemed less daunting and it became easier to decide when to attack those actions.

Also I realized I had over-planned some projects. I had some project-related actions in my lists that were actionable, but things I could wait on while I was attacking some of the other aspects of these projects. I put those back into my project support (in my case, my projects and support materials live in Evernote).

My lists now seem less daunting and less repelling because they're more fully clarified -- and more real to me.

I don't know why you're struggling with contexts but like others here I suggest you stick with them. It does no good to review actions you can't do in the time and place you are at.

 

[Lise46]

I'm back again - honest statement, I am not sure where/why I fell off this over a year ago, but another symptom of my struggles. I apologize very sincerely. (I also can't get the forum to email me replies, so that doesn't help. )

Some more background and then some expounding on context:
I own my business and work from home. My workbench is 4 feet from my desk. 75% or more of what I am trying to keep track of is desk/computer or workroom stuff - and my desk lives in the workroom. So identifying the context as @Home.... well, I am pretty much ALWAYS at Home. @Workbench - ditto. @desk/computer - ditto. I am good with noting errands for out and about and for identifying those items that need to be addressed when I am at storage, so context works well for me there. But realistically, I am rarely in the situation of determining what to do next and being able to sort it by where I am/what I need to do the job. If I need to do a new design, well I take 3 steps and I am at the bench. I need to do taxes? Sit your tush down. That makes context significantly less relevant. I haven't figured out what context ends up being relevant in this situation - I pretty much am always in the right place/right tool to get something done (unless I am waiting on something that would be non-contextual, like new inventory to arrive).

I think that part of my issue is that my list includes projects that are not broken into single step action items - but I found that if I don't keep the projects listed where I can see them, I lose track of them. (this is true for many things in my world - if it is away, it is gone. I live in a world of visual reminders. I've been told it goes with being a creative). If I itemize that project into action items, I go from 30 projects, to 300 action items....exploding brain. If I have a separate listing, I do the next item - but then need to remember to go pick what the next action item will be...or the current action item isn't doable, but one further down the list is - but that isn't in the main list.

I identify my items by job function - so I have marketing, inventory management, web work, long term, repeating, financial, networking, SH (my volunteer work), household, assistants. But that isn't helping me get stuff DONE. And trying to add to the lists is just exhausting to me.

So I am taking a trip - and found myself making a separate to-do/pack list on a scrap of paper, guaranteed to get lost, because I didn't want to face the full list. Which brought me back here.

 

[Folke]

So I am taking a trip - and found myself making a separate to-do/pack list on a scrap of paper, guaranteed to get lost, because I didn't want to face the full list.

You say you are using TD, what's that? Toodledo? You can use the Star for creating such "pack lists". Many apps have that. I use it a lot.

I identify my items by job function - so I have marketing, inventory management, web work, long term, repeating, financial, networking, SH (my volunteer work), household, assistants. But that isn't helping me get stuff DONE. And trying to add to the lists is just exhausting to me.

No, it does not help you get things DONE, but it may help you make your stuff more easily reviewable, help you make sure that you have everything covered in all areas. This helps you trust your system.

I think that part of my issue is that my list includes projects that are not broken into single step action items - but I found that if I don't keep the projects listed where I can see them, I lose track of them.

I do not think that is a problem. I do the same, and do not have a problem. Most of my actions are in fact projects that I cannot be bothered to break down into actions becuse the next actions are somehow obvious (but I usually shift the context to reflect the anticipated next action).

That makes context significantly less relevant. I haven't figured out what context ends up being relevant in this situation - I pretty much am always in the right place/right tool to get something done

It is like that for many. Still, it can be very useful as it splits the list in more manageable chunks of tasks that are somehow similar in a mental or physical way . I am not sure what would work for you, but you could try to think it through for your own situation; you do not need to use the sample contexts in the book. For example, I have a Computer context for things that require a proper computer with software, big screen etc, and another context for Information, which requires just my brain or iPhone/iPad etc. I also have a Person context for things that I cannot do alone, an Out context for errands etc, and a Sharp context for things that require a lot of focus and clarity.

Another thing I do (a bit unorthodox in GTD circles) is that I classify each task with a color code which reflects how often I need to consider this task, which in turn is a good reflection of the task's urgeny and importance.

 

[Gardener]

There's almost nothing related to my job that I don't do at my desk on my computer. But that still supports contexts:

- Design
- Programming
- Debugging
- Documentation
- Email
- Brainless
- Reading

The main resource that I look to when deciding what context to work on is my mental state.

Re your project/action explosion: If I were in your position, I would move the vast, vast majority of projects to Someday/Maybe, and in the active lists, only keep the projects that you're extremely likely to work on this week. I'm not saying that's the solution for you, and it's the wrong solution for many people, but it would certainly be the one for me. Remember, if it turns out that you run out of work on Wednesday, you can always go to Someday/Maybe and pull out more work.

You mention that 30 projects go to 300 action items. That adds up to ten items per project. Do you need to plan ten items ahead? Are those items so non-obvious that you're at serious risk of forgetting them? I used to have a lot of planning and lists and extra items, and I finally accepted that what I can figure out today, I can figure out next month. When I got to the next item, it was very often stale, and in fact often the whole sequence was stale. Often, I had to insert a next action in a project of "Clean up next actions". So now I just enter one, maybe two, actions per project.

If you really fear that you'll forget the added items, you still don't have to add them to your next action lists. You could instead put them in project support material--for example, maybe have a binder with one piece of paper per project, where you can scribble thoughts--and have only one or two next actions per project in your main lists.

I realize that sounds like a waste--why enter actions in project support material only to move them to your action lists? But for me, it turned out that it worked well as a way of weaning myself off of too many next actions--I added them to project support material, and then when I went to the project support material later, I learned that the items were either stale, or obvious. So that gave me the trust in myself to be confident that, as I said above, what I can figure out now, I can figure out a month from now.

There are always still a small number of "don't forget" items, but for me this process would take me from 300 actions to maybe 40 actions and a list with a dozen "don't forgets".

Re not even having next actions for a project, I would suggest that you have a separate list of "un-analyzed projects". It could be electronic, you could print it out and post it on the wall, or you could have a whiteboard--or multiple whiteboards.

Re the packing list, I don't put things like individual items to pack in my GTD lists. I would create a separate list, and GTD would just have "Work through packing list" or something like that. And, in fact, that could be a way to cut down on your total NAs. If you have six dozen "things to read", you could move them out to a separate list and have a repeating weekly NA of "read one thing from Things to Read list". If you keep making projects for recipes to try at home, you could have a Recipes to Try list and, similarly, point to it with one NA in a "repeaters" project, rather than creating a project for each recipe.

 

[TesTeq]

I think that part of my issue is that my list includes projects that are not broken into single step action items - but I found that if I don't keep the projects listed where I can see them, I lose track of them. (this is true for many things in my world - if it is away, it is gone. I live in a world of visual reminders. I've been told it goes with being a creative).

There's a very special tool in GTD to avoid losing track of Projects. It is even described as the Critical Success Factor. It's called the Weekly Review. If you are not doing the Weekly Review weekly you are not doing GTD.

I've been told it goes with being a creative.

I don't think it is an indisputable rule. But it is certainly an easy excuse. If you trust your GTD system you don't have to rely on visual reminders.

 

[mommoe436]

Gardener, great comments. Thank you!

Sent from my Lenovo B8080-F using Tapatalk

 

[Oogiem]

So identifying the context as @Home.... well, I am pretty much ALWAYS at Home. @Workbench - ditto. @desk/computer - ditto. I am good with noting errands for out and about and for identifying those items that need to be addressed when I am at storage, so context works well for me there. But realistically, I am rarely in the situation of determining what to do next and being able to sort it by where I am/what I need to do the job.
.....

If I itemize that project into action items, I go from 30 projects, to 300 action items....exploding brain. If I have a separate listing, I do the next item - but then need to remember to go pick what the next action item will be...or the current action item isn't doable, but one further down the list is - but that isn't in the main list.

I identify my items by job function - so I have marketing, inventory management, web work, long term, repeating, financial, networking, SH (my volunteer work), household, assistants. But that isn't helping me get stuff DONE. And trying to add to the lists is just exhausting to me.

So I am taking a trip - and found myself making a separate to-do/pack list on a scrap of paper, guaranteed to get lost, because I didn't want to face the full list. Which brought me back here.

First off take a deep breath, GTD won't get things done for you it will allow you to make the choices in a more intelligent way to get the things done that are important to you.

If @home, @workbench etc don't work for you have you tried things like sorting contexts by application you use if it's computer based? For example @LibreOffice for all my spreadsheet work or @Scrivener for my writing tasks or @LambTracker for the sheep management system. I also sort by physical location @Red barn, @hay barn, @Farm Shop. Another way might be to sort by energy level @braindead and Deep thinking. I have a friend who is a woodworker, he sorts his actions by the major tool needed to do the work @router, @bandsaw, @glue-up. A production weaver I know sorts contexts by process @design weaving draft, @select yarns, @measure warp, and then by which loom @big loom, @table loom, @rug loom. Another person I know who does a variety of art sorts by media @acrylic, @oil paint, @etchings, @beading, @knitting, @scrapbook. Contexts are personal, fluid and need tohelp you so start playing until you find the set that works for you and don't be afraid to create, use and delete contexts when their usefulness expires.

On the projects: First off have you really truly done the natural planning model on all 30 projects? If not then start there. From my POV 30 is a really small number of active projects, you can fit the titles of 30 projects on a single sheet of paper, you could have 30 post-it notes on a board with the titles of the 30 projects easily, most software to do lists can see 30 project titles on a single screen so the issue is not the numbers of projects. Doing the natural planning model will allow you to really define those projects. The fact that you find actions further down the lists that are really first or that can't be done on top of ones you can says you haven't really planned the projects. So I'd look at the whole planning model first and get those projects pinned down.

Once you do that then you can focus on putting the next actions (ONLY those that are not dependent on each other and can really be done and are real true next actions as in small enough not to be projects in and of themselves) onto your new context lists. ALL the rest of the stuff you've thought about and developed goes into project support material. All those actions you can't do, all those half baked thoughts, all the notes, sketches and other items. Whether that material is electronic or paper is irrelevant. You need a place to corral it into a system that you can identify by project and get it out of your way. When you start on a project or in a context you can pull the relevant files/materials out and have them available. So for example I have a project right now that is re-design the sheep handling system. I have some pictures of the old system, some ntes from several books and a bunch of possible drawings in a file folder of paper in my desk drawer I save for current projects. I also have an electronic folder, labeled the same that has links to various you tube videos of different handling systems with sheep moving through them. The next action in that project right now is See how sheep handle the new design at shearing with a context of waiting for because we are not shearing yet. Once we shear I will take notes as we move the sheep through the system on any issues or problems. I don't even have a next, next action yet as I don't know what I need to do until I see how the sheep react. It might be as simple as plan move of handling system to final location, which is going to be waiting on some other stuff to get done, like moving a bunch of dirt and building a rock wall, or it might be Do complete re-design of system because nothingn worked.

Packing lists are checklists. In my GTD system I'd have an action of Pack for trip to Y using list in folder Y Trip and a context of @Inside by myself because I don't need any help to pack. My list of actual items to take is a separate list sitting in the trip folder that I pull out and check off as I put each item into my bag.

I don't knwo whether you are trying to use paper or an electronic system but one key thing is have your entire GTD system in a format you enjoy using and have it with you at all times. For me that meant going to something I can keep on my phone so I use Omnifocus but pick what works for you.

Hang in there. GTD is a process and a methodology and it takes time to get good at it.

 

[DenaDahilig]

This might sound really trite, but when I get overwhelmed with projects and actions I have to simplify.

An example would be with my monthly bank statements... they were endless! Pages and pages of expenses (which means lots of receipts that I kept for various reasons). Reconciling took way too long! So the first thing I did was identify what type of purchases I could make with cash and not keep a receipt; fast food, mostly! So now, if I buy a soda or coffee, I pay cash. Boom, a dozen transactions disappear. I also looked at vendors who charge multiple times for one transaction (e.g. one Amazon Fresh order can generate 3-5 separate transactions on my statement!). So I eliminated them where I could.

For me, when it looks like too much, it is... and I have to make changes in some way to keep my sanity.

So look for the little time-savers and consolidations where you can. Hope that helps.

Dena

 

[TesTeq]

So now, if I buy a soda or coffee, I pay cash. Boom, a dozen transactions disappear.

And you disappear from THEIR radar. So THEY can't trace you. But THEY are trying to eliminate cash from our lives. We must fight back! ;-)