Projects with Waiting-Fors

S

sdann

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Not that I want to complicate things, but I was wondering if on my straight project list I should be marking those projects for which I am waiting for something, or does that not matter? What do others do? I have about 4 projects on that list that I cannot do anything with until I get what I'm waiting for (information from a supplier, some documents, etc.)
 
I don't mark Projects for which I'm Waiting For. Why would I? I spend most of my time with my Next Actions list; I only check Projects a couple of times a week.

You certainly could mark them, if you wanted to. Whatever works.
 
sdann;56511 said:
Not that I want to complicate things, but I was wondering if on my straight project list I should be marking those projects for which I am waiting for something, or does that not matter? What do others do? I have about 4 projects on that list that I cannot do anything with until I get what I'm waiting for (information from a supplier, some documents, etc.)
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I keep those kinds of projects on my list. My next action is "Receive [something] from [someone]"; the context is "@Waiting". Once I have finished "receiving the [something]", then I can record the subsequent Next Action.
 
P.S. 99.9% of the time, if I bothered to record a waiting-for, it is because I intend to DO something with the thing I am waiting for; so almost all of my waiting-fors (with the exception of things I loaned out) are associated with projects.
 
Personally I do not mark my projects list, as I know that I am waiting on something by my @Waiting context list. As Brent mentioned, I also only look at my projects list a couple of time a week, so marking it would not be very productive for me.

On the other hand, the principles of GTD are so great due to the fact that you can implement them the way you see fit. If marking your projects list tickles your fancy, then sure, go ahead.

Good GTDing,
Scott STEPHEN
O&A Coaching
http://www.oeta.fr
Efficacité et productivité sans stress
 
Follow-Up

As a different angle to this, I keep said projects on my project list, and as someone else mentioned, I put a "Waiting For blah from Blah" as the Next Action on it. However, (being that I'm electronic) I put a due date on that task as a follow-up. This does two things for me:

  • Since there is nothing more I can do on the project, it keeps it out of site (and out of mind) until....
  • It will pop up on its due date so I can follow-up. I feel that follow-up is critically important to make sure the other person (who might not be as GTD as me) actually gets the task done so I can resume the project I'm probably responsible for.
 
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