So which next actions are next?

J

JMerante

0
Hello,

My GTD implementation is going well and I am certainly getting things done....getting this stuff out of my head into the system has been very beneficial and my stress level and productivity have gone up.

However - I have noticed that with many of the posts on the forum that there is an "however" - I still haven't become the super productivity beast that I was hoping:

--When I look at all my next actions in one place I am overwhelmed! How do I differentiate the next actions that are time-sensitive enough that they need done in the next day or two from those that are merely next actions? I might have a long term project for which I have identified a next action, but frankly I am in no hurry to see that next action get done any time soon. So it is technically a "next action" for it's project, but it isn't a next action in the sense that I want to get it done next.

I know GTD was never about getting all the next actions done each day, but that knowledge isn't helping me feel good about my productivity when I look at the list of 82 next actions and I have only done about 7 of them.

FYI - I have been good about going through all my projects about once or twice a week and update things and and select next actions and make sure the contexts are right and the time required and the calendar is present, etc....(when appropriate).

I have been lurking around these forums for about 4 months and I thank all those who post - your various perspectives on things have been very helpful

BTW, I currently use Nozbe for my GTD implementation if that helps inform the situation.

Thanks!
 
Love the phrase "super productivity beast!" So good.

One way you'll be differentiating actions is due ON vs. due BY. If I have a time-sensitive action that needs to be done ON a day, it goes on my calendar. If the action is still time-sensitive, but just needs to be done BY a date, it goes on one of my Next Actions lists with a due date. If it can be done ANY day, it also goes on a Next Actions list, but with no due date.

I do try to use due dates sparingly, so that when I do see one, I trust it's real. Sometimes my due dates are assigned by an external factor (e.g. someone is waiting on me and I committed to get it done by a date), and many times they are my own date of when I know I'd like to get it done.

I should mention though that even though something has a due date, I could still easily scan down my Next Actions lists and choose something else that has a due date further out or no due date, based on my current context or resources. It's easy for people to get into a backlog mess with the undated masses, so it's really a balance between choosing from the calendar, actions that have due dates, and actions that have no due date. The Weekly Review is what keeps that all current week-to-week, so that I can trust I'm making good decisions moment-to-moment.

Hope that helps!

Kelly
 
I deal with it in the same way as Kelly.

I would like to add, though, that if you have projects that are not urgent then David's recommended method of implementing priority is to move projects off and onto the projects list during the weekly review. I use that method sometimes, and I know that many other people use it all the time.

In the app I use (Doit), I also have a feature that lets me put a colored bar on the left of each task. The three colors I use help me locate next actions that are urgent (red) or need to be reviewed daily (red or blue), or those that can be ignored during the week unless I happen to be in the right context for it (turquoise).
 
For you to feel bad that you're doing only a small percentage of your next actions in any given day seems to reflect a misunderstanding of next actions. I understand that you realize that you're not supposed to do them all, but i don't really understand why it makes you feel bad at all.

However, I completely understand feeling overwhelmed by too many next actions. I resolve this by having a very, very small minimum of current projects; most of my projects, at any given time, are in Someday/Maybe. That happens to work for me; I think that it doesn't work for most people.
 
The common thread in all your answers is that projects are universally not all the same....something that my more rigid, inexperienced, academic approach has missed. I just read the book over the summer so I don't have as much "time-in". It seems that identifying the "hot" projects and "other" projects might help keep my lists a little cleaner.

Or like Gardener implies, I need to get over the emotional (not intellectual) misconception of next actions. Perhaps more time using GTD methodologies will correct that.......I just need to get used to it.

Also, I think my software choice might have something to do with this as far as dating or flagging projects - functionality that my choice doesn't have. However, every software (and I don't want to turn this into a software discussion) has certain flexibility that others don't. I will think of some kind of work around to segregate projects.

I don't consider this topic closed, but I am going to review my projects with eye toward segregating them based on urgency.

Thanks.
 
JMerante said:
When I look at all my next actions in one place I am overwhelmed! How do I differentiate the next actions that are time-sensitive enough that they need done in the next day or two from those that are merely next actions? I might have a long term project for which I have identified a next action, but frankly I am in hurry to see that next action get done any time soon. So it is technically a "next action" for it's project, but it isn't a next action in the sense that I want to get it done next.

I know GTD was never about getting all the next actions done each day, but that knowledge isn't helping me feel good about my productivity when I look at the list of 82 next actions and I have only done about 7 of them.
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If it has to be done at a specific time it's on the calendar. If it has to be done by a specific time it has a due date. Otherwise it has to be done as soon as you can given the limits of time, context etc.

If you're getting 7 identified next actions done in a day that might be really great. It all depends on the next actions. For example today I managed to check only 2 next actions as completed. I can have next actions that take weeks or moths or even years to be finished. Right now I have 281 available actions in 204 active projects. There is no way I could possible get them all done in a day, or a week and in fact some will likely not get done before I have to put the project they belong to on hold because the season for it has passed and I'll pick it up again next year. The one and only action I got done today was the next action for a project that I started in July 2005. I have worked on it off and on since then. It moves in and out of someday/maybe as my workload permits. I last worked on it in 2012. This time I've been working on it since the first week of February. I made good progress, got to actually check off a whole next action but now I know that my next few months are going to be so busy that I won't be able to do anything on this particular project. So I cleaned up, wrote notes so I know where to start again and put the project back into the someday/maybe pile.

If your next actions and project lists are bothering you you might take a harder look at hwat you really want active. I like to have lots of choices and so I like a full plate of next actiosn to choose from but some people prefer a more limited menu. Try both ways and then do whatever works for you.
 
JMerante said:
BTW, I currently use Nozbe for my GTD implementation if that helps inform the situation.
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Nozbe is a great reliable system that supports GTD methodology but no implementation can replace your judgement. As many of this forum members know I'm pruning my active lists with passion so they are relatively short.

Here's my advice: do a quick daily review and "star" or "color code (Folke's method)" the actions you assess as critical for a given day. 3 to 7 actions. And make sure that you do them.
 
JMerante said:
--When I look at all my next actions in one place I am overwhelmed! How do I differentiate the next actions that are time-sensitive enough that they need done in the next day or two from those that are merely next actions? I might have a long term project for which I have identified a next action, but frankly I am in hurry to see that next action get done any time soon. So it is technically a "next action" for it's project, but it isn't a next action in the sense that I want to get it done next.

I know GTD was never about getting all the next actions done each day, but that knowledge isn't helping me feel good about my productivity when I look at the list of 82 next actions and I have only done about 7 of them.
Click to expand...

Hey there. I am pretty new at GTD myself, closing in on a year. I doubt I have the depth of dexterity that those with years of practice have. However, I can relate to the overwhelmed part. When I initially tried GTD in 2007, my goal was to be a productivity beast like yourself. I think that was part of the problem looking back. I tried to cram all that I had to do into one day, hoping that GTD was a "trick" that would help get on top of the wave, where other philosophies hadn't worked.

As it turns out, I was the one who needed to slow down, and it has caused me to benefit a lot more from GTD this time around. In reading your thoughts, my first reaction is, be patient with yourself and your current circumstances. What I missed and am learning now every day I use the GTD workflow is that I was not giving steps 2-5 in the GTD workflow its proper due. Steps 2-5 actually slow you down. The longer I persist with GTD, the more things I say "no" to, because I understand my Areas of Focus better, and I understand my desired outcomes... The trash or Someday/Maybe have real value to me now.

Speaking of desired outcomes, I rarely asked "What is the desired outcome?" and it ended up frustrating me. I had a bunch of GREAT next actions, without regard to where/if they fit into a holistic part of my day. As Peter Drucker said "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

As I said at the beginning, being new, I am sure my viewpoints reflect my newness to the application of the material. My advice is simply, really work to understand and do all 5 steps of the workflow, especially 2-5 (Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect, Engage) and stick with it.
 
This discussion has reminded me of Personal Kanban and limiting Work in Progress, so I finally posted my thoughts about merging GTD and Personal Kanban, in a new thread. As I see it, GTD organizes your buffet of work. Personal Kanban manages your current plate.
 
JMerante, GTD isn't only about efficiency (although that's an important aspect of it); it's also about helping you feel confident that your choices about what to do are the right ones so you can work on them with a clear head and a sense of relaxed control. Part of that is helping you feel comfortable with what you're not doing. If the seven things you did on a given day were the most appropriate next actions to tackle, then you should feel good about that. Remember: the other 75 actions are clarified and will still be there the next time you have some discretionary time.

Like you, I used to struggle with a feeling of overwhelm and having all of my commitments clarified increased that feeling. It's because I was convinced that however many things I was doing, it wasn't enough.

But recently I've had occasion to reflect on the people I know who spend a lot of time frantically completing tasks throughout the day and on how little they actually accomplish. Busy-ness isn't equivalent to productivity. Hard work and efficiency are important, but so is an ability to make intelligent choices about what *not* to do.

By clarifying your commitments across the various horizons of your life (actions, projects, areas of focus, etc.), you can feel confident that you're doing the right things and be fully present in the moment as you do them. It may take some time to get there; change is always hard. But it's worth it.

Hang in there.
 
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