jenkins said:
DenaDahilig I see what you're saying, but I'm not sure I entirely agree. If you have a project that's not a Someday/Maybe project, and that project could be moved forward with a bunch of non-dependent (i.e., "Next") actions, why would you so limit your options? How would you discriminate? To me, you either want to move the project forward or you don't. I guess I can see thinking, "Well, I don't WANT to start that set of actions until X is done first" -- but what if you change your mind? That'd be like saying, "I don't want to add these calls to my @Calls list because I don't think I'll feel like making calls for the next week or two."
Excellent question! Because I have a small brain that is easily overwhelmed.
I have a current project "Membership Booklet Revised". There are literally fifty - oh, God, more! - next actions I could do
right now without waiting for anything or anyone else. If I put all of those on my list I will see it as clutter, I will start getting that gnawing, overwhelmed feeling in my gut, and I will simultaneously lose track of any one particular action. See, what I'm really doing is tricking my small brain into the
doing part of the system and not the deer-in-the-headlights part of the system... not that there is such a thing, but if there were, I could be its poster child.
So, how would I discriminate? In the same way I discriminate when deciding which next actions will get done in the next few hours. I know my lists intimately and trust that I make good choices most of the time. And my lists are extremely fluid which means things don't stay on them too long.
Don't you find, too, that once you start on a next action for a project it inevitably leads into another next action simply because you're in the mindset the project needs? So things don't stop getting done simply because I limit my lists.
Thank you, thank you for asking!
Dena