Someday/Maybe - need clarity

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I'm a homemaker and I have a lot of projects that I definitely plan to get to, but not necessarily for awhile. For example, add sprinklers to the front yard, redecorate bedroom, etc. Do these go into the "SomeDay/Maybe" even though they are not "maybe" -- they are definite projects- but due to time and financial constraints it may be some time before they are tackled?

Thanks!
 
Re: Someday/Maybe - need clarity

Anonymous said:
Do these go into the "SomeDay/Maybe" even though they are not "maybe" -- they are definite projects- but due to time and financial constraints it may be some time before they are tackled?
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Yep! They aren't "maybe", but they are "someday", where "someday" hasn't been nailed down. You'll review that list weekly, in your weekly review, and when you're ready to act on one of the projects, you'll just slide it to your Project list, and put the Next Action on the appropriate context list.
 
Re: Someday/Maybe - need clarity

Maybe start a Project for putting aside the money for these Home Improvements.

Coz

Anonymous said:
I'm a homemaker and I have a lot of projects that I definitely plan to get to, but not necessarily for awhile. For example, add sprinklers to the front yard, redecorate bedroom, etc. Do these go into the "SomeDay/Maybe" even though they are not "maybe" -- they are definite projects- but due to time and financial constraints it may be some time before they are tackled?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
Re: Someday/Maybe - need clarity

Do these go into the "SomeDay/Maybe" even though they are not "maybe" -- they are definite projects- but due to time and financial constraints it may be some time before they are tackled?
Click to expand...

When I do my "weekly review," I always pre-view my calendar for the next 4 weeks. That's how I decide which projects I'm going to keep on the Active Projects list.

For example, a weekly review in mid-March showed me that in April I was only going be at my house 9 nights (mostly weekends...). So, I went through my Projects list with that information, and asked myself: "What projects do I not even want to THINK about (no, not even a next action as simple as a phone call or errand) for the next month?"

I moved things like:

Split wood from pine tree
Install lighting in office
Reorganize closet
Update library

They are Projects, probably going to show back up on the Projects list this summer, when/if travel comes down a bit...
 
This is more a matter of semantics than practice, but instead of "@Someday/Maybe" I use the term "@Possibilities". It conveys to me the idea that it's possible I will do it or possible I won't, while at the same time recognizing that the item holds some unique possibilities for improvement in my life at some level.
 
@ and contexts

Anonymous said:
This is more a matter of semantics than practice, but instead of "@Someday/Maybe" I use the term "@Possibilities".
Click to expand...

Just a small comment. About 2/3 of my TODO categories (I use a Palm) have an "@" sign in front ot it. @city for things I need to buy when I'm near shops. @uni for things I can do only at the university. Etc.

Those @ things are really contexts. My someday/maybe list is called "someday/maybe", not "@someday/maybe". Perhaps it is a small difference, but it actually makes quite a big difference to me.

In my case, I store my projects on a "projects" TODO list. But by not having an "@" in front of it it distinguishes itself from the rest. Likewise the someday/maybe list.

Reinout
 
Re: @ and contexts

[quote="reinout
Just a small comment. About 2/3 of my TODO categories (I use a Palm) have an "@" sign in front ot it. @city for things I need to buy when I'm near shops. @uni for things I can do only at the university. Etc.

Those @ things are really contexts. My someday/maybe list is called "someday/maybe", not "@someday/maybe". Perhaps it is a small difference, but it actually makes quite a big difference to me.
[/quote]

I had this realization about one week ago. I changed the way I prefix things.

Using Outlook 2003 and a PPC...

Contexts/Locations/Modes get the "@" such as my categories @Errands, @Computer, @Phone/Email

Items that I would otherwise like sorted to the top or otherwise noted as special get a "#" prefix. I use this for the "#Processed" subfolder of my inbox as well as computer folders like #Projects, #In, etc.

Getting a bit off the original topic, but I've had these on my mind for a while....

As a project manager, I have multiple ongoing projects that need to be tracked. Rather than write the project name in every task/schedule title, I use "PRJ: " as a prefix (PRJ: Web Redesign 2004, PRJ: NRXL, etc.)

I've also been toying with using another prefix - "." For the smaller projects that reqire only several actions, I assign a ".project" category. Waiting For's get a ".wf" category. These always get assigned to tasks. The ".project" task items always contain a list of between 4 to 10 tasks (not necessarily next actions). The name I've assigned the project gets put in the task title after the actual Next Action.

This ".project" category also helps me get view of all my smaller projects (my gut tells me what is "smaller"). It also immediately tells me what Next Actions are one-offs and which ones are to be followed by another Next Action.

If I sort these tasks by title, I have a list of my next actions. If I group them by category, I have a list of my projects.
 
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