Unsure of Whether Something Goes in Someday/Maybe

S

Stuart Rudner

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Hi,

I am still setting up my system, and I am unsure how to handle some actions that I want to be sure I get to, but do not have a specific deadline. For example, at some point in the second half of 2024, I would like to review the fee I charge for a specific item and assess if it should be increased. I could do it in July or September or December - as long as I do it at some point.

Where would you put that?

Thanks in advance.
 
Classic 43 folder tickler

Suggestion is to place a sticky note saying “Check on July, September, December” as you’ve already completed that thinking and timing.

Then, place for July.
 
It depends on the tools you are using. For the simplest solution, if you're on a digital system, I would put a reminder on your calendar for the first of the month of the time period you want to start considering it. Typically, I'd make these an all-day event.

During weekly reviews, you'll begin to see it a few weeks ahead of time. Either during a review or when the day comes, you can decide "Yes, I want to handle this in the foreseeable future. The next physical visible action to do this is ..." or "No, it's still not time. I will push this back until the 1st of next month.".

This is how I would handle items that I must do or make a decision about doing at some distant point in the future.

A great tip I picked up over my time is to put it on my calendar in the earliest possible slot (i.e. schedule it for the 1st of the month of the quarter (e.g. July 1 2024 in your case)). This avoids the last minute "scramble" or forgetting about it.
 
Matt_M said:
It depends on the tools you are using. For the simplest solution, if you're on a digital system, I would put a reminder on your calendar for the first of the month of the time period you want to start considering it. Typically, I'd make these an all-day event.

During weekly reviews, you'll begin to see it a few weeks ahead of time. Either during a review or when the day comes, you can decide "Yes, I want to handle this in the foreseeable future. The next physical visible action to do this is ..." or "No, it's still not time. I will push this back until the 1st of next month.".

This is how I would handle items that I must do or make a decision about doing at some distant point in the future.

A great tip I picked up over my time is to put it on my calendar in the earliest possible slot (i.e. schedule it for the 1st of the month of the quarter (e.g. July 1 2024 in your case)). This avoids the last minute "scramble" or forgetting about it.
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Thanks! Forgive what may be a silly question, but do you review every single action item during your weekly reviews, or just projects?
 
Stuart Rudner said:
Thanks! Forgive what may be a silly question, but do you review every single action item during your weekly reviews, or just projects?
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@Stuart Rudner,

With all due respect, since the Weekly Review is a crucial Next Action for GTD system maintenance, as such, doing a 'partial' Weekly Review could undermine one's trust one would have in their GTD system and likely resulting in their GTD system becoming less and less trust worthy over time until a complete and comprehensive Next Action Weekly Review is completed

Perhaps seemingly as one of the harshest of GTD realities?

As you see GTD fit
 
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Stuart Rudner said:
Thanks! Forgive what may be a silly question, but do you review every single action item during your weekly reviews, or just projects?
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If you're starting out, you probably want to review EVERYTHING for the first few weeks / months. When you feel more in the groove, you can maybe shift some things to less frequent reviews. DA's advice is to review as often as you need to keep it off your mind, so for long-term / someday type stuff that might only be once every few months. Personally (2 years of GTD) I usually end up with a mini daily review - what's on the calendar, any must-do's, what would I like to work on this week, that sort of thing. For a weekly I look at all my next actions, make sure my inboxes are empty, have a nosey at my projects list and generally mull over the week.
 
Stuart Rudner said:
Thanks! Forgive what may be a silly question, but do you review every single action item during your weekly reviews, or just projects?
Click to expand...

Not a silly question at all, I should have been a little bit clearer. Personally, I do NOT review all of my actions weekly. For each week, I only review the actions on certain lists that I know are active / need to be reviewed. For other types of reviews, I do more thorough reviews.

For your case, in my reply, I was specifically talking about reviewing the prior week or so of calendar events and then the next 2 or 3 weeks worth to prepare for any upcoming events. Around mid June, during a weekly review, you would see that item surface and potentially shift it forward.

Hope that helps! :)
 
Stuart Rudner said:
Hi,

I am still setting up my system, and I am unsure how to handle some actions that I want to be sure I get to, but do not have a specific deadline. For example, at some point in the second half of 2024, I would like to review the fee I charge for a specific item and assess if it should be increased. I could do it in July or September or December - as long as I do it at some point.

Where would you put that?

Thanks in advance.
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1. understand the difference between DO date (WHEN) and DUE date (BY WHEN).
2. the given example of reconsidering somewhere in the second half o 2024 is an excellent case for putting a calendar reminder on lets say last Friday of H1 as a question to yourself: "ready do reconsider the fee for XXX?".
If not yet, you will be smarter to push it to a more suitable date.
 
For the original question, if you put the reminder in your Someday/Maybe, then you should be reminded of it every week in your weekly review. If you put it in your tickler file, then you will be reminded of it only on the date you chose. One way of choosing between Someday/Maybe and Tickler is the way you wish to be reminded.

For the second question, yes I review my Next Actions in the weekly review. No matter how diligent I am during the week, I always find something something out of place in the weekly review. It might be ticking off an action that has actually been completed, making sure my projects all have actions, changing an action that is now out of date because the world has changed, or even just reflecting why I am resisting a specific action.
 
@Stuart Rudner: you have received some useful, specific advice, but the ultimate criterion is what works for you. In that regard, I note that with some digital list managers, you can have ticklers inside of someday/maybe projects, so the line between tickler and someday/maybe is not sharp unless you choose it to be. You can do essentially the same thing with paper, of course.
 
cfoley said:
For the original question, if you put the reminder in your Someday/Maybe, then you should be reminded of it every week in your weekly review. If you put it in your tickler file, then you will be reminded of it only on the date you chose. One way of choosing between Someday/Maybe and Tickler is the way you wish to be reminded.

For the second question, yes I review my Next Actions in the weekly review. No matter how diligent I am during the week, I always find something something out of place in the weekly review. It might be ticking off an action that has actually been completed, making sure my projects all have actions, changing an action that is now out of date because the world has changed, or even just reflecting why I am resisting a specific action.
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@cfoley, @mcogilvie, et al.

Never realized how the Someday/Maybe list can appropriately be a different version of the Tickler file and visa-versa and now I do thanks to you . . . and also appreciate how the Someday/Maybe can have a minimum Weekly Review while the Tickler file can offer less 'intrusiveness' by designating a particular Month, Date [Day] Reflection

Very GTD elegant

Thank you very much GTD gentlemen
 
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Stuart Rudner said:
Hi,

I am still setting up my system, and I am unsure how to handle some actions that I want to be sure I get to, but do not have a specific deadline. For example, at some point in the second half of 2024, I would like to review the fee I charge for a specific item and assess if it should be increased. I could do it in July or September or December - as long as I do it at some point.

Where would you put that?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Depends on your software. In OmniFocus, I have a Someday/Maybe project at the top level and set the review interval to quarterly.
 
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