Projects are getting the best of me

F

firehawk212

0
First, I am new to GTD, read the book etc. I am using Outlook 2010 with the new 3.1 Add-In from GTD. Things are going very well except for my understanding projects listed in actions. I bought the new manual 2010 just released and setup my system verbatum. I named .Projects with the period like they suggest. I can see my projects in the Task List at the top. But what do you do with them? I click on them and it creates a Task. I thought it would be a storage spot for all my work.

I see in Project Central that the same projects are listed and all my work is there. I have watched hours of webinars and still find this confusing. Any suggestions?
 
Hi there Firehawk,

It can be a bit confusing, as we are suggesting creating using the "Task" form to create a "Project." It's just a creative way to have flat lists for Projects and Next Actions in one place that serves as a list manager in Outlook.

Think of your Projects list as an index of your current projects in one quick view. The Next Actions for those are sorted on your various Action lists, depending on how you've sorted those (Calls, Computer, etc.) And if you're using the Netcentrics GTD Outlook Add-in, you have added capability to link those Actions to their related Project.

We recommend looking at your Projects list weekly in your Weekly Review (or more often if you wish.) Day-to-day you're likely working off of your Action lists. Weekly you'd want to ensure each current Project has a Next Action identified.

These coaching videos might be really helpful too on basic GTD concepts, but specifically how they apply in the Netcentrics Add-in. https://gtdsupport.netcentrics.com/trainingmaterials/settingUpSuccess.php

Does that help?

Kelly
 
Thanks for the quick reply, Kelly. So am I to assume that the .Project at the top of my Tasks are just a reminder of the projects and there is nothing inside?

Thanks!
Mike
 
Hi Mike,

If by "inside" you mean the notes field that shows up in the Tasks form, you could have project plans parked there. But even with those, you wouldn't really need to review those until you were reviewing project plans (like in your Weekly Review or when you were ready to go back to project plans to grab the next, next action to move the project forward.) Most of the time that Projects list is just an index.

Kelly
 
Hi Kelly, I am still confused down here in SoCal or something isn't working correctly. When I look in Project Central I see all my work actions there. But if I click on any of my projects in the Categories:Project list on My Task list in Outlook 2010 and change the Action I want to perform from let's say Projects to @call, it removes it from my Categories:Project list.

What am I doing wrong in this process?

Thanks again!
 
Hi Mike,

Sorry for the lag in response. I needed to refresh myself on the GTD Outlook Add-in to see how it's doing this.

The Add-in has some smarts built-in to sync your .Projects list with Project Central. So when you are moving a Project out of either place, by marking it done or removing/moving the category, it will change it in the other. So it's doing what it's supposed to do. I just tested it with a sample project called "R&D ROI" that was showing in both places. In Tasks, I unassigned the "Projects" category and moved it to @Calls, which removed it from Project Central. That's how it should work.

Project Central is really just like the .Projects list--which is an index of your current projects. Current Next Actions are tracked on the Action lists (Calls, Computer, Waiting For, etc.) If you're moving something from .Projects to @Calls, that would mean you no longer consider it a Project, but a Next Action instead.

So you're not doing anything wrong. It's the way it's delineating (as GTD does) between a Project and a Next Action.

Make sense?
Kelly
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top