Project planning when processing

[manynothings]

Hello,

Do you guys do project planning when processing your inboxes?

I find that often times, I spend a lot of time project planning when I'm processing, and that greatly increases the time it takes to process my inboxes. I'm afraid that this isn't a good habit, as when I eventually will get a lot more inputs (this is inevitable, considering the changes in life that will be happening soon), it might take too much time and the process might become unsustainable.

Thanks,

manynothings

 

[lisasparhawk]

Sometimes when processing, I'll quickly jot down the actions I can think of right then or write down the questions that need to be answered in order to move the project forward. But I also have a Brainstorm list for things that I don't want to spend the time on while Clarifying so that I can go back during my best thinking time.

 

[Gardener]

Do you guys do project planning when processing your inboxes?

I do not. Well, that depends on how one defines "processing." And "project planning."

At work, I pre-process my email inbox (which is my primary inbox--when I would scribble on a sticky and put it in a physical inbox, I instead send myself an email) to get all the junk out of it to the folder for the year, and move the "deal with this" stuff to another folder. I'll do a few "do this NOW!" items, and some other items were done as they came in.

(Note: When I read an email but I'm not going to take it to closure now, I'll set it back to Unread. If I don't have to do anything, I'll leave it Read. Everything Read, then, is "junk", because no action. The first step of processing my inbox to empty is dragging all those Read emails to the folder for the year.)

That leaves my email inbox totally empty, increasing the odds that I'll see new things that need immediate attention.

Then that "deal with this" folder is a sort of half-processed inbox. I've extracted the junk, I've done some of the urgent items, I've perhaps moved a few urgent items into my active lists, but most of the rest can then wait for processing, usually, for a weekly review, and that's when the project planning would happen.

 

[ivanjay205]

Hello,

Do you guys do project planning when processing your inboxes?

I find that often times, I spend a lot of time project planning when I'm processing, and that greatly increases the time it takes to process my inboxes. I'm afraid that this isn't a good habit, as when I eventually will get a lot more inputs (this is inevitable, considering the changes in life that will be happening soon), it might take too much time and the process might become unsustainable.

Thanks,

manynothings

I try to be careful to limit it. I will project plan. But after a series of next actions that gets me far enough along I will put my last next action to be "Schedule more next actions to accomplish xxxxx". Basically a place holder to say hey you thought about this a lot but not all the way through. I can pick that up in my weekly review or when I finish the first bunch of next actions.

I do find that when I plan a project all the way through though I do get a lot more accomplished quicker.

 

[John Forrister]

Do you guys do project planning when processing your inboxes?

I find that often times, I spend a lot of time project planning when I'm processing, and that greatly increases the time it takes to process my inboxes. I'm afraid that this isn't a good habit, as when I eventually will get a lot more inputs (this is inevitable, considering the changes in life that will be happening soon), it might take too much time and the process might become unsustainable.

Thanks,
manynothings

In getting your inboxes to zero consistently, the two-minute rule is your friend.

While you are processing, the only non-processing things to do are actions that are less than two minutes. Planning is likely going to take longer than two minutes, so it should be added to your next actions list, or your calendar if it must be done on a specific day.

 

[schmeggahead]

Do you guys do project planning when processing your inboxes?

David has been saying that you have to do enough thinking to get it off of your mind and into your system, but not as much thinking as you might think.

The thinking required, whatever category, to get it out of your head is necessary. That said, what I call meta next actions (planning, brainstorming, etc.) can keep you in the 2 minute rule when processing.

If I had to pull out my Natural Planning Model card to plan a project, it would get a next action of Plan project X and I would write down my current thinking on a project control sheet.

Another bit of thinking that I often miss is: can I take this on? If I actually schedule a time to do the planning, it kind of allocates time and if there isn't room, maybe it shouldn't be a current project.

So as your input ramps up, throttling your work inflow will be a key way to keep up.

On my clarifying card I have 3 small post it notes:
1) What is the risk if I don't do it?
2) Action buckets: Projects, Calendar, Next Action, Waiting For
Non-action buckets: Trash, Incubate, Reference
3) Include actions in project entries to track what is done.

Hope this helps,
Clayton
Doing is contagious, taking that first step now builds momentum for completion, especially if it's less than two minutes.

 

[Jared Caron]

I've seen this show up for me before... Likes many advanced slices of GTD it is often a balance. Sometimes processing an email or a note in my tray will trigger some downstream thinking on a project. Often that takes the form of "this then that" as in "I need to schedule the meeting, then put together an agenda". A good list manager will allow you to add a note to your list item; I'll usually list the true next action and leave breadcrumbs in the notes like "then do x". Other times there's a lot more there, especially with large complex projects. I find having a timer on hand is helpful. I'll set for 2 mins and just free associate for a little bit, park that on project support and schedule some planning time to dive deeper. Basically you have to find a way to balance capturing your associative thinking with staying focused on clarifying your inputs.