How I do it (and it works!)
Hello MK,
I also am relatively new to GTD. I had been reading about it, and listening to anything free I could find online, ever since I heard in interview with Allen on NPR - everything he said made me say "whoah! this is what I need!". So I scoured the internet - and, to be honest, implemented GTD without buying the books (or anything). Of course, that was 2 months ago, I now have Making It All Work and Getting Things Done, and I have to say, both books are necessary in my opinion, to fully grasp each concept, and implement.
So anyways, here is how I do projects with GTD. First of all, Projects as defined by Allen are things with more than one step, and that is fine. For work purposes, there are things that have more than one step that I could call projects, but then there are also REAL projects I do for my company as a business analyst.
Simply put, a project just needs a name. I do ALL (personal, work, every horizon, from oil change to skip/trace projects to meditation to my relationship with my wife and kids) on one, single tab in excel. My columns are: Project List, Sort, Type, Project Status, Desired Outcome, Tickler Date, Next Action, Context, Next Action Status, Date Completed, and Notes.
Here is how I use it, and I am surprised Allen does not mention GTD in this context: I use it not just as a tracking tool...but a REPORTING tool. When my manager asks how "project x" is going, I can sort my giant list to only show me "project x" - then I see ANYTHING that is project x - each task, each "wait for" item, each next action, etc. I can even choose to not show anything marked "Done" so I only see my outstanding stuff - or the opposite = show only what has been done, along with the date completed. This has REVOLUTIONIZED my project management, as I am perpetually involved in multiple long and short term projects, some have teams, some are just me, some start as me, and evolve into giant corporate initiatives. So haveing this big tracking system is extremely helpful.
Here is how I use the columns:
Project List - where I name the project (each project might have 20 rows - I do a new row for each action)
Sort - this is so I show only what I want from these categories: next action, project, waiting for, SDM. ~ SDM = someday maybe
Type - kind of like areas of focus - these are my sub categories, I currently have: home, work, self, finance, car, education, family. I use this kind of like Allen's context, but also as an area of focus...I can select "work" and see only things pertaining to my job. I can select "self" and see only things I want to do in my own mind or for myself (i.e. meditate, workout, buy cool gadget, etc.)
Project Status - this is where I have: deferred ASAP (do as soon as I can), Delegated (Gave to someone else), Waiting for, Deferred Tickler (meaning it is either in my physical tickler file, designated by a due date, or in my outlook tickler file I made (literally just a folder, send myself an email, and the subject line is the due date and a short description...so I can sort by subject and see my tickler in date order). Of course, there is also "Done".
Desired Outcome? - this is the most important part to me, and really helps guide focus - this is the only one I let be fully expanded so it shows the entire column/cell
Tickler Due Date - if tickled for later on, and it is on this list, then the date I want to look at it is in this column
Next Action - literally a description of the next action, here is one of my real next actions: get recorder out of the car, get new batteries, make sure it works
Context - this is the more traditional "David Allen style" context list: phone, internet, office, home, in meeting, yard, people, anywhere, stores, specific to task. "Specific to Task" tells me to look at the next action - example of where I would use this is if the next task is blood mobile, donate blood...I would put specific to task, as this is a special circumstance, and I prefer to keep my context list simple.
Next Action Status - project status has the status of the project itself, this is the status of just this next action...so, while the project itself might be ongoing, one task of the project might be delegated (I gave it to someone else) while another task is mine but I am waiting on data from someone (This would be a wait for task) - this way, I can look at all of my "wait for" next actions for instance, and follow up on them all in under an hour.
Date Completed - normally not a need in GTD, but like I said, I use GTD as a reporting tool. I literally have been copying/pasting my GTD list for all of my projects, big and small, and also for my yearly scorecard, which determines my yearly raise - and I can tell you, it is already paying dividends, I expect to have a great review for 2013, even though only the final months did I start using GTD.
Notes - this is where miscellaneous ancillary data goes about the task - this is part motivator, as I put what "happened" here, but also as a little reference place to store things that dont fit into the previous columns. For instance, I had to call to cancel my freescore subscription...put it off forever, because I hate talking to people on the phone. I did it, and put in my notes: called; got transferred; they cancelled it, and only question was "why" - easy, under 2 min.
Now - I did that because, I am now building a list of "done" calls, and all the notes look good, very successful and easy. So now, when I sort by "phone", I am psychologically like "yeah, I can knock these out, the others were so easy, let's do it!".
I will also use this for things like "contacted Alicia about call data - Alicia seems scattered - will need consistent reminding to get me the data I need" - just little things for myself so when I sort by project, I get all my "peripheral thoughts" too.
I have attached my excel version of GTD, blanked out. You could use it/modify it if you want, or at least, see how someone is doing it, as that may help.
There are 4 tabs in this excel document - this document, my physical reference file, physical tickler file, physical inbox at home, and my outlook - are my "buckets" - basically the only places I need to go to find anything at all. And for the most part, everything in my life is on one tab...the GTD tab.
Here are the four tabs:
Overview - just key GTD things I like to see, to keep me on track, more like an "inspirational/reminder" tab.
GTD - this is what I described above - I do EVERYTHING out of here, seriously everything.
Weekly Review - this is my own guide to my weekly review, kind of like my trigger list of trigger lists!
References - just like it sounds, I find cool stuff, I put it here. I also have a simplified "day planner" - this I use on the fly...example: if tomorrow I will try to do 5 things from my list, I will place them on here, try to figure out when I would do them...realize that I cant, get rid of one or two...then adequately schedule the rest, and this is so I wake up with an idea of what I would be doing and when - I only use this when I know I have a lot of free time, and need to figure out how to run the "Free day" I have.
Well I hope this helps you,
