someday / maybe

[Tom.9]

I have set up my Outlook according to the Outlook whitepaper and have shifted all my „someday/maybe”-lists from “notes” to “tasks”.

For now there is a mixture between single tasks (e.g. buy Miltons Paradise Lost) and cumulative tasks, using the "note" attached to a single task (like "to do at my parent´s").
I feel that the system should be consistent.
What would you suggest: draw together all items on cumulative (context-driven) tasks (here: someday @book store; someday @parents) or list everything like a single task?

Second question:
For now there are 91 items listed, in reallity they are some more, due to the use of the "notes".
That seems a bit much to me.

Thank you for any suggestions

 

[jrdouce]

For now there is a mixture between single tasks (e.g. buy Miltons Paradise Lost) and cumulative tasks, using the "note" attached to a single task (like "to do at my parent´s").
I feel that the system should be consistent.
What would you suggest: draw together all items on cumulative (context-driven) tasks (here: someday @book store; someday @parents) or list everything like a single task?
s

Are you using Someday May for things you are committed to doing, but are limited by location "(like "to do at my parent´s")"? If so, I would suggest that that isn't Someday maybe, but a legitimate @Errands task.

I've tried two different approaches to things like this:
If you have a lot of "at Parents" tasks, and you're there somewhat regularly, Create an @Errands-Parents list.

If you have few tasks there, or only visit infrequently, try listing your taskserrands in a Note titled "At Parents". Then create an @Agenda context into which you add a task "At Parents". When you complete all the tasks in your note, delete the @Agenda task. If you add more tasks to the note, create a new @Agenda entry.

I have an several running @AgendaNotes for people or places I visit infrequently.

 

[Tom.9]

precisison

Thanks for the hint, maybe that helps for some of the items.

Anyhow, there are a lot of things already decided to be really "someday / maybe", without any concrete commitment, e.g. things I´d like to look up in the web and maybe buy etc.

Are they better listed each as single "task" or grouped as a notice under the label "check out" ?

 

[ellobogrande]

I recommend making each isolated action or outcome its own task

By making each its own task, you can see them all at a glance. Don't embed stuff in the task note fields. Keep it simple.

There's one caveat I'd like to mention. If you move an active project to S/M, you should delete all of the current next actions from your context lists and move only the project to S/M. When you activate the project again, decide the next action and put it on the appropriate list. It will very likely change from the moment when you incubate it.

 

[Oogiem]

When you activate the project again, decide the next action and put it on the appropriate list. It will very likely change from the moment when you incubate it.

How many times has that really happened for you?

I'm asking because I can't even think of a single case of me putting a project into someday/maybe or on hold and then reactivating it where the original next action wasn't still the correct one. And some of my projects get put on hold for years! Im sure I must have had to re-do the next action on something but I just did a quick review of the current someday/maybe, previous projects and current active one and I sure can't find a single example. I'd rather not lose the thinking that went into creating the project initially just because I may have to put it on hold for several months or years so I keep all my pre-defined next actions intact.

What I have noticed is that sometimes a project that gets put on hold gets completely deleted or dropped eventually, but that is something completely different than needing to re-think a next action.

 

[jrdouce]

Thanks for the hint, maybe that helps for some of the items.

Anyhow, there are a lot of things already decided to be really "someday / maybe", without any concrete commitment, e.g. things I´d like to look up in the web and maybe buy etc.

Are they better listed each as single "task" or grouped as a notice under the label "check out" ?

That really depends on you and the granularity of the task. I have many projects listed individually as "SomedayMaybe" tasks, "build patio", "clear deadwood from treeline"; these are specific, distinct projects. I also have several lists in text notes, like "Books I'd like to Read", or "Trails I'd like to Hike" and "Restaurants to Try". When my book stack gets short, or we have a weekend in NH planned or a babysitter scheduled, I'll review those notes and pull a book or trail or restaurant or two out of the list and make them actions.

 

[ellobogrande]

How many times has that really happened for you?

I'm asking because I can't even think of a single case of me putting a project into someday/maybe or on hold and then reactivating it where the original next action wasn't still the correct one. And some of my projects get put on hold for years! Im sure I must have had to re-do the next action on something but I just did a quick review of the current someday/maybe, previous projects and current active one and I sure can't find a single example. I'd rather not lose the thinking that went into creating the project initially just because I may have to put it on hold for several months or years so I keep all my pre-defined next actions intact.

What I have noticed is that sometimes a project that gets put on hold gets completely deleted or dropped eventually, but that is something completely different than needing to re-think a next action.

Perhaps I should have said "the next action might change". Lots of my projects that have gotten incubated were home improvement projects.

Installing new lights in my kitchen was one of those projects. It got put on hold for a year because I encountered so many setbacks that I got fed up with the project and decided to S/M it. It stayed there for a long time without my feeling bad about it, but that sentiment was not shared by my spouse almost a year later. Eventually it became my sentiment as well. So, after my father-in-law gave me the name of an electrician that he had worked with at his job, my next action changed from "Cut hole in ceiling and probe for wiring path" to "Call that electrician to schedule job estimate".

 

[Oogiem]

Perhaps I should have said "the next action might change". ....So, after my father-in-law gave me the name of an electrician that he had worked with at his job, my next action changed from "Cut hole in ceiling and probe for wiring path" to "Call that electrician to schedule job estimate".

That makes sense. A lot of mine are things like Red Barn Fix Inside Door latches and my next action is Change the location of the east chicken door latch to be inside from the middle segment. The thinking went in a long time ago about how we actually use the barn and where you need to be to open the latches so just because I'm not doing it for a while I don't want to lose that. When I do make it active that location won't change.

Same thing for most of our multi year projects. The next action on most of them are things like Call X to get on his schedule for the short fence from Y to Z with 3 gates. For that one the project support includes a drawing of where the gates will go and their sizes.

I've already done so much thinking on most of those projects that the actions don't change.

For the others I almost never have a next action at all. I have someday maybe projects that are Deal with winter sheep water. Nothing more as I've not even thought about all the problems nor figured out a good solution but I wanted to save it as a possible thing to fix someday.