Next Action, but not for this week

[abhay]

Agreed with jknecht! Same here. I am uncomfortable when a commitment sits on the someday-maybe list. But I am fine with an action lingering for months on my actions list, since not doing it because I thought I had other higher payoff actions on my lists was my own choice. And then suddenly I get this opportunity to get it done and I get it done because I have it as an option on my list.

Regards,
Abhay

 

[Brent]

Okay. So, some people benefit from one way of managing their Actions, and others benefit from other ways.

 

[Oogiem]

I came to realize that there were a large number of projects that I was committed to doing, but which I was making no progress on. Why? Because they were on my Someday/Maybe list, and I had not identified a Next Action for them.

This really resonates with me. My huge S/M list has hundreds of projects. Most have NAs identified already but some do not. Mine are usually either small projects or else huge multi-decade ones. There are some that I have missed chances to do work on because I did not know about the next actions I could take when conditions were right.

What if I limited Someday/Maybe to ONLY those things that I have not made a firm commitment to do?

Interesting. That sounds more reasonable to me.

Right now I am still trying a paper/palm hybrid and I am not sure I can do what you did until I go back to a full electronic version. But I really like the idea of having all potential next actions on your lists.

I think before I do this though I need to better define my contexts. I probably need to spend the next weekly review time really thinking the limiting factors for every project/NA and see what contexts fall out of that. The issues of weather, season and animal attitude are hard to control but are often what limits me from doing any specific next action. I'm thinking that in most cases my context will be based on tools needed, some on weather and some on season. The weather related ones are the hardest to categorize. I have a NA right now that needs to be done after a rain or snow storm but during dry sunny weather that is not too cold. It is a two person job and will take about 4 hours to complete. Where to put it is a challenge for me right now.

 

[ellobogrande]

I have a NA right now that needs to be done after a rain or snow storm but during dry sunny weather that is not too cold. It is a two person job and will take about 4 hours to complete. Where to put it is a challenge for me right now.

I've seen several of your posts before, and I agree that you have some tougher challenges than many of us (projects that last for years or decades, weather-specific conditions, etc.).

For this example, I would write this next action on an individual piece of paper and rotate it through my tickler file (day-by-day if necessary). On this sheet of paper I would have a description of the action, the conditions required to do the action, and a list of multiple people upon whom you could call to help you do the action. As it appears in the in-basket, it should trigger a reminder for you to check the weather forecast and schedule a time with someone to actually do the action when the conditions are right. At that point you might write "Call Fred re: ???" on your @Calls list or just pick up the phone and start calling.

In this case it seems like the action is not really a next action in and of itself but a sub-project.

I hope that helps. Best of luck.

 

[ArcCaster]

Great thoughts!

A question for you -- how often do you review your entire next action list?

At weekly review time?

At the end of the day? Beginning of the day?

Every time you complete a next action?

Every time you change contexts?

Suppose you spend an entire day in the same context -- how often do you review the entire next action list for that context?

Still refining my system.
Rob

 

[jknecht]

Great thoughts!

A question for you -- how often do you review your entire next action list?

At weekly review time?

At the end of the day? Beginning of the day?

Every time you complete a next action?

Every time you change contexts?

Suppose you spend an entire day in the same context -- how often do you review the entire next action list for that context?

Still refining my system.
Rob

Obviously, the weekly review is when I review everything and ensure that I have at least one Next Action defined for every project. I try to stay on top of the context lists throughout the week so my weekly reviews remain as short as possible -- when I reach a stopping point for a given project, I remove the previous Next Action and immediately identify a new one.

I start every day with a fifteen or twenty minute planning session to review my calendar and projects list, and to decide on a few goals for the day. If there are more than a couple of high-priority items for the day, then I write them in a conspicuous place so it is in my face all day.

When I change contexts, I review all the items on that list. I rarely have more than 30 or 40 items in any given context, so this usually takes no more than a minute or two (unless I catch myself skimming the list, then I have to refocus and start over).

I routinely re-order my lists so that the most critical items are at the top (or at least, what seems critical at the moment). I don't always work top-down, but it does minimize the risk that I will gloss over something truly important.

I review my context lists frequently throughout the day, whether I have changed contexts or not -- not necessarily every time I reach a stopping point on a project, but certainly several times per day.

 

[Oogiem]

I would write this next action on an individual piece of paper and rotate it through my tickler file (day-by-day if necessary). On this sheet of paper I would have a description of the action, the conditions required to do the action, and a list of multiple people upon whom you could call to help you do the action.

Great idea, thanks! That might work for several of those weather dependent NAs.

In this case it seems like the action is not really a next action in and of itself but a sub-project.

That is probably technically correct but I have a hard time considering it a project when it's so tied together. Once you start the job you have to keep going until you finish. The trigger for doing the action though is weather and then beyond that is hubby avail. to help that day, our combined energy levels and in this particular case, whether the blister on my hand has healed yet ;-) The project is trimming hooves. I have 109 animals left to do, (times 4 feet each, times 2 toes per foot) I can do about 25-30 animals before I get blisters and have to stop for a week until they heal. My NA is trim toes on the next batch of 28 animals. It's the smallest segment I can do as a single action.

 

[abhay]

My ways mostly match with what jknecht describes. Here is what I do:

how often do you review your entire next action list?

My office context list is special, since that's the one which is most dynamic and large. I review it fully in the beginning of the day, and pull up what I think is critical to the top. That does not mean I do it on the same day. And then throughout the day, I keep on going through it for choice of what to do next.

Other lists like errands and home actions receive attention once a day when I process my input. If I find something not done on these lists for long, I find other ways like putting it on calendar. And of course they are (mostly) reviewed when I am in respective contexts.

Every time you complete a next action?

Yes, that's true, but that's not a full review. I just need to choose the next action to complete.

Every time you change contexts?

Almost

Well, this way, I don't have to review my action lists at all during my weekly review, since I know them. Just by looking at a project, for example, I can answer to myself whether there is a next action on this project and what is it.

Still refining my system.

That's perhaps never-ending!

Regards,
Abhay

 

[sdann]

Great thoughts!

A question for you -- how often do you review your entire next action list?

At weekly review time?

At the end of the day? Beginning of the day?

Every time you complete a next action?

Every time you change contexts?

Suppose you spend an entire day in the same context -- how often do you review the entire next action list for that context?

Still refining my system.
Rob

It's funny you brought this up. I found myself getting involved in a project or context, only to realize I forgot to stop and see if there is anything else I really should be doing. Two weeks ago I began automatically texting my phone at 10:30AM and 2:30PM "Check contexts and NAs!" So far it works most of the time. This also allows me to really focus on one thing without worrying I'm forgetting something. I also use the texting to remind me in advance of any calendar items.

 

[Cpu_Modern]

"Check contexts and NAs!" So far it works most of the time. This also allows me to really focus on one thing without worrying I'm forgetting something.

This is the last habit you learn on your way to a mind like water: review.

 

[ArcCaster]

This is the last habit you learn on your way to a mind like water: review.

I think you are right on the money. And the kind of review I hear people talking about is a context-specific or day-specific review that is basically done once a day. That is, once a day, either all next actions or just the next actions for a particular context get looked over -- important items are floated to the top of the lists -- and you focus on those 'floating' items for the rest of the day, to the exclusion of items a little further down the list of priorities for the day.

Regards,
Rob

 

[ChristinaSkaskiw]

Weekly mind-map

Hi all,

As of late, say last couple of months, I've started to create a weekly mind-map as an outcome of my weekly review. It's something I've heard David talk about on some podcast or other. It actually helps me focus on my reviewing. I do it by hand on an A5 size piece of paper (~8 x 5.5) which then sits in my "letter sorter" on my desk within sight. On it I'll have the projects I'm focusing on at the moment, calendar highlights, and any next actions that I want to act on. If I complete everything on my mind-map (well, not necessarily the projects) then I know the important stuff has been handled, even if I didn't look at my other lists. I've found it really helpful.

All the best,
Christina

 

[moises]

Ready For Anything, Chapter 48

An item that you've decided not to address for a given period of time would be on hold for that period, would it not?

Katherine

Totally unrelated to this discussion, I was reviewing the GTD literature this morning. Chapter 48 of Ready For Anything shocked me, though I've read it twice before and had no untoward reaction.

The focus of this chapter is a "long-term project . . . like 'restructure the department,' 'create a strategic task force,' and 'develop a personal-investment strategy.'"

David tells us that there is an important distinction between long-term projects and someday/maybes. And the difference has nothing to do with time horizons. The difference is that we are committing ourselves to seeing a project realized and we are not committing ourselves to someday/maybes. The way we demonstrate our commitment is by creating a Next Action for a project.

So far, so good. Nothing radical there, to those of us who have been practicing GTD for a while. Now comes the mind-blowing part. If we are committed, then we are committed to closing the open loop that is the project as soon as possible. What does that mean? "'As soon as possible' may be seven years, but it is still 'as soon as possible.'"

In plain English, a project is not on hold, according to David Allen, even if we are not going to do the Next Action seven years from now. Once we've put that Next Action in our system, there is an open loop that we are committing ourselves to close. A project with a Next Action is active. It is not a someday/maybe. Its time horizon is as soon as possible. A someday/maybe item in our system does not create an open loop. We are not committed to it. It has no time horizon. Once we've committed ourselves, it's not a someday/maybe.