Typical Count of NA/Projects

F

furashgf

0
Is there a typical count of NA/Projects? Kind of like a rule of thumb (e.g., if you've got 500 projects, that's probably way to many and some need to be someday/maybed).
 
Currently I have less than 40 projects and just under 60 NAs. I'm sure this is not typical of many people's statistics here.

I know that if I were to do a more thorough collection exercise I could multiply both the projects and NAs. However, since I don't feel either consciously or subconsciously burdened by uncaptured projects or actions, I feel fine.

I do plan to carry out a higher level review (above the 10000 feet level) in the next few days. Who knows what that may turn up? :wink:
 
I seem to recall from the book that DA talked about the average executive having 30 to 50 projects at any one time. I don't know if that is only work related or includes personal ones as well.

So if you have 500, I would echo your thought of getting some of them onto a someday/mable list. You may also want to really look at those 500 are they all different projects? or are some sub projects of large projects? Start to group, it may help.

For my self, I'm currently running 25 project. A number of those are large projects which are broken down into sub projects. I roll sub projects up into the main project and don't count them as separate projects ... makes for a easier life.
 
I have about twenty projects going on now. 500 is a bit much. Outsource some of that stuff.
 
How much attention do you plan to give a project in any given week? (If the answer is "none," it's a Someday/Maybe and doesn't belong in your active list.) How much productive time do you have in any given week?

Productive time / average time per project = maximum manageable number of projects.

Alternatively:
Productive time / number of projects = average time per project

If you take on too many projects, the time you can devote to each will be too small. Since some projects will inevitably take more than the average, that means some will fall through the cracks and not get done.

Personally, I have a hard time achieving more than 8-10 productive hours per day. (Work and personal combined.) The rest is taken up with sleep, hygiene, food, inbox processing, and other stuff that doesn't directly move projects forward. That's 70 hours a week, so a maximum of 30-50 projects sounds about right.

Katherine
 
I was just throwing out a number - apologies. I currently have 125 projects (at least half are decent size), and 298 next actions, 33 of which are WaitingFor - delegated.

On may projects, even though they have an N/A, I make no traction because I have so many next actions and only a limited amount of time.

I probably need to prune the 125 back to something under 80 or so. Stuff won't get done, but it isn't getting done anyway ;-).
 
Not Pruning, moving elements to other lists

It sounds like you have a lot of projects that belong on your someday/maybe list. My lists of someday+maybe+projects+NA is around 1200, but after taking the Roadmap seminar, I've realized that a lot of the stuff on my someday/maybe list and my project list really has another manifestation!

It could also be that they're not projects (yet), but instead something higher up in altitude. Like a goal, objective or vision (30-40k). These are on separate lists that get reviewed at a lower level of frequency based on your need to change your focus (see RFA chapters 20 & 21). The Roadmap Seminar does a fantastic job of reviewing the vertical aspect of GTD!

Regards,

Mike
 
Wow...

I "only" have 18 projects and 58 Next Actions.

I guess spending the last two days churning away at doing things has helped.
It'll be double that after the next weekly and brainstorming.
;-)
 
I have 26 projects and 40 next actions, and I'm very busy. If I get much more next actions I usually try to put some on someday/maybe to prioritize on the ones that are left.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top