Pending and @Waiting

M

mmurray

0
I have 3 project lists, Projects, Pending and Someday/Maybe. Pending holds
Projects I don't want to do this week so sorting between these three lists occurs at each weekly review.

If someone tells me that a response I need to move forward with a project will not happen for a few months I can put that info in @Waiting. But what do I do with the project. Does it go back into Pending because I am not going to look at it this week or for quite a few weeks ? Or does it stay in Projects ?

Michael
 
Presumably in your system it should go into Pending. When you receive that reply it will generate a Next Action, which will trigger the shift from Pending to Projects. If you don't make the re-categorisation immediately then you will pick it up at the next weekly review. This is of course on the assumptions that a) you really do know that it will be a while in waiting, otherwise I would leave on the Projects list and b) the purpose of your separate Pending list is to maintain focus on the items that really are do-able at the present time.
 
Clarkey;46955 said:
Presumably in your system it should go into Pending. When you receive that reply it will generate a Next Action, which will trigger the shift from Pending to Projects. If you don't make the re-categorisation immediately then you will pick it up at the next weekly review. This is of course on the assumptions that a) you really do know that it will be a while in waiting, otherwise I would leave on the Projects list and b) the purpose of your separate Pending list is to maintain focus on the items that really are do-able at the present time.
Click to expand...

That's sort of what I was thinking. I guess it is a question of whether I only define Pending as Projects not yet started but starting soon or allow it to include projects on hold for more than a week. The latter seems sensible. I hadn't thought it through like this -- thanks for prompting this clarification!

Regards - Michael
 
For a different perspective, I think you could leave it in Projects. It does have an item on your NA lists, even though it's in your @Waiting. Unless you have a large number of projects with long term @Waiting items, it shouldn't take much time for you to run your eyes over the project name on your list during each weekly review. Your pending list could stay clean as a list of unstarted projects. And if you get your response early, you 've already got your project active.
 
Hi Michael. I tend to avoid "pending" files because a) many other time management systems use the idea in non-standard ways, and b) I find that "waiting for" and "someday/maybe" cover it all. Is it active and you're waiting for it? Put it in W/F. If it's a project that you're not ready to take action on, put it in S/M. If you have a corresponding folder, then file it and (if necessary) make a note of that in your S/M entry. (I just drop a piece of paper into S/M saying something like "project x".)

Not sure if that helps...
 
I have a similar Projects system which includes "Current" "Later" and "Someday". Due to the large number of projects (large and small) that I can have on in a 2 week period, I only put the Projects that are active for the next 2 weeks in the current list. Those projects that are definitely going ahead but cannot physically (or mentally) be dealt with in the next 2 weeks go in the later projects list. The Someday list is for those projects that I would like to get to but there is nothing definitive about them at this time.

In my weekly review, which I undertake a mini version of daily I scan each of these lists and move as appropriate. Generally, if a project has made it to "current", it does not go back into "later" as I have committed to myself and the client to deal with that issue in the next 2 weeks, if the project stalls it is usually because I am waiting on something/someone, so what ever I am waiting for sits in my "waiting" list until it is done.

I am only VERY new to GTD but I find that this works for me. Although I can understand the comments made by cornell I think if you discipline yourself to review your lists daily or weekly it all gets caught.

Love this forum, am learning heaps.

Kim
 
cornell;47011 said:
I tend to avoid "pending" files because a) many other time management systems use the idea in non-standard ways, and b) I find that "waiting for" and "someday/maybe" cover it all.
Click to expand...

I'm with Michael on this one (and not just because we're in the same city ;)). I can't speak for other time management systems, but I find Pending to be a great category which helps me to get really clean lines between my Stuff.

For instance, my Current tray contains everything that I'm actively working on this week, and only this week. My Pending contains things that I'm not working on this week, but may start, or get back to, next week, or within the next month. So it's things that I'm definitely committed to, and soon, but not right now. My S/M then holds things that I'm not committed to, or that are too far down the track for me to even begin thinking of them.

So I have things shuttling in and out of my Current tray and my Pending tray, and I know that everything in my Current tray is stuff I'm working on now. I find that easier to deal with than having to remind myself that something has been started, but I'm not working on it this week, or whatever. Current is current, Pending is not current.

If I started putting Pending things into my S/M I think I'd go numb to that: I don't check it often enough to pick up 'not current but soon' things, and if I did, I'd soon get tired of going through so many things I'm not committed to every week. And if I left those Pending things in my Current tray, I'd begin to feel overwhelmed by having too many things on my plate, while not being able to move on some of them.

Hope that helps.

Alison,
Getting UnStuffed DownUnder
 
Thanks everybody.

I guess I like the Pending list for two reasons.

First I do my GTD on a Palm TX so screen space is limited and I would like to keep it for what I am hoping to get to this week. Of course I could change the GRD hardware implementation but I find the portability of the TX really useful.

Secondly something feels wrong about putting a project that I am committed to doing (but not for a few months) in the Someday/Maybe list with all the things I might never do!

Regards - Michael
 
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