Next actions predetermined

[badmoon]

Hey all,
I currently work at a professional services firm where lines of responsibility keep blurring (but that's another topic entirely). My company does many similar projects for our clients whereby we use a database that has all the steps that need to be completed for the project to be done. I have had a difficult time listing out next actions for these projects since they have been predetermined for me on this d/b. I find that I don't really use GTD that much at work because of this. But then I find that I completely ignore stuff at work which dwells on my mind. Do any of you run into this and if you do, do you just outline the projects anywyas? If there were 20 steps in a project, I could see that tracking them would be efficient but we are talking about hundreds of steps...with next actions for me, wating for's for colleagues, read and reviews. Just a hotbed of craziness.

 

[Anonymous]

yikes

Sounds like a lot of fun. Seriously, why can't they automate you?

 

[badmoon]

MrM, you have no idea on how close I feel that I might as well be made of tin at work.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Next actions predetermined

If all the steps for your projects are already organized, there's no need to put them redundantly in your GTD list. There is some discussion in GTD book about the level of detail necessary for specifying NAs -- it varies, depending on how much you need. For this situation, the details are already spelled out elsewhere; no need to re-invent the wheel.

However, you did mention

But then I find that I completely ignore stuff at work which dwells on my mind.

Do you ignore existing actions that are listed right in front of you? or do you ignore stuff that needs to be captured as actions? The first problem seems outside the scope of the GTD habits (unless stuff is not actionable). The second problem, though, is what GTD is all about.

-andersons