Ordering NA's under each Project

[inkster218]

Hi all, new GTD'er here,

I am a chronic brainstormer and have multiple project going and mutiple someday's going.

I have created projects in tasks and then added all of the potential actions associated with that project, in hopes of seeing the bigger picture, which then makes me more "like water", which make me more content.

I know that I can create a NA when I complete the first, but I really like having a list of all of the possible next actions, it obviouisly creates a big picture sense of the project.

My question is: How can I order all of those next actions. It seems like when you view "Active Tasks By Project" that you can't rearrange the order of the actions under each project.

I'm also aware I might be missing something about the GTD methodology, so I am open to any and all coaching.

Thanks everyone,
Curt

 

[Hugh Griffiths]

Perhaps using numeric prefix in Outlook?

Brainstorming is a great tool - I wish I did it more consistently since it seems to be one of the only ways of getting a clear mind and gathering NAs or possible NAs.

I'm not sure what detail of organisation you need, but once you have all the separate tasks listed, adding numeric or alphanumeric prefixes should allow Outlook to put them in sequence. I'm using the Kratz method of 'projects as contacts' and adding prefixes 1, 2, 3a, 3b 4 etc to the start of each task description seems to be sufficient for most of my needs.

 

[inkster218]

more?

Good point, question about your Krantz method.

Do you use the GTD add-in while using the contacts as project method?

 

[Brent]

I am a chronic brainstormer and have multiple project going and mutiple someday's going.

According to "classic" GTD, you should not have any Someday's going. Someday/Maybe projects go on your Someday/Maybe list, and that only gets reviewed once a week. If you are working on a project that's on your Someday/Maybe list, why not move it to your Projects list?

Of course, sometimes Someday/Maybe activities get done "by accident" (unconsciously as part of other projects, or the goal becomes unnecessary based on other events); is this what you're referring to?

I have created projects in tasks and then added all of the potential actions associated with that project

Note that you only need one Next Action per Project. You can create more, but for many people that simply muddies your vision as you try to correlate hundreds of Actions.

I know that I can create a NA when I complete the first, but I really like having a list of all of the possible next actions, it obviouisly creates a big picture sense of the project.

The hawk soaring above the meadow can't see into the burrows of the mice he hunts. A big-picture view can miss very important details that are more readily apparent when one focuses on just the next action.

At least, that's my opinion.

 

[inkster218]

According to "classic" GTD, you should not have any Someday's going. Someday/Maybe projects go on your Someday/Maybe list, and that only gets reviewed once a week. If you are working on a project that's on your Someday/Maybe list, why not move it to your Projects list?

I get that and probably misspoke. I have those things in a project called Someday, so I can just open it and move ideas from there to a new project, but definately get that they are just a list of potential ideas not to be treated as projects.

Note that you only need one Next Action per Project. You can create more, but for many people that simply muddies your vision as you try to correlate hundreds of Actions.?

I think this is sound advice. I like the idea of keeping only one or two next actions under each project. It definately will keep me from getting overwhelmed at the size of each project and help me to see that there is only one thing to do RIGHT NOW, then there will be only one more thing to do RIGHT NOW, and so on. Thanks, excellent advice from both of you!

 

[CosmoGTD]

You can also keep a brainstormed and bullet-point list of NA's in the Note field inside each project. Its from that list you select the very Next Actions, to put on the context lists.

You could also use MS word to brainstorm out the project with a list, or if its real complex, you could use a project manglement software to plan and brainstorm the project, and then just select the very NA's for the lists.

What I have found is...the more simpler = more easier = more better.

 

[inkster218]

Nice

Cosmo GT...excellent! I love this idea. Right now I have the whole list of my projects broken down into NA's in a Word Doc. It's nice, but I want to have them somewhere within Outlook for more accessability.

Thanks!

 

[CosmoGTD]

also, if you use the Outlook Add-in, you will see it gives you a Category for Projects, at the bottom of the context lists.

For me, right now, that is my "list" of GTD projects, and one can write ideas/brainstorms/plans into the body of the task.
If its a fancy project, you could just put a word doc inside the Project task, to allow for more formatting.
But the formatting inside the task, with bullets, indenting, should really be enough in most cases.

You can even drag bullet points around, to put the planned NA's into somewhat of a sequence.

I used to TRY to use MS Project for my project manglement, but what I got out of it was lots of techie fooling around and non-productivity.

 

[wordsofwonder]

Note that you only need one Next Action per Project. You can create more, but for many people that simply muddies your vision as you try to correlate hundreds of Actions.

Just to add to this, I've found that a maximum of one Next Action per project per context works well for me. I might have NAs in @Call, @Office and @Out_and_About, all associated with a single project, so that I can move the project forward in any applicable context. But as a rule, I never have more than one NA for a given project in each context. This limits the maximum number of NAs I have to track per project to 9 (the number of contexts I have defined.)

Tammy

 

[CosmoGTD]

When you view Active Tasks By Project, there is also a view for Ordered Tasks By Project.
You can add this field to the other view as well, and then order the tasks by number.

The field they created is called 'GTDOrder'.
Its just a way to number the Tasks any way you want.