Jan Ernest

Registered
It is pretty much clear what are Next Action Verbs. These are Physical and Visible Verbs which the doer is responsible to do. Period.

However, if the doer is now the recipient or the Next Action Verb. Very much like "Waiting For".

What Verbs do you typically use, or how would you handle such?

Examples:

Next Action: Waiting For:
1. Call Bob to send the report 1. Waiting for the report from Bob

2. Drive to Barbershop 2. Get haircut???
3. Drive to Tailor to buy suit 3. Get measured by Tailor???

4. Go to Massage 4. Get Massage???
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
I no longer worry about the exact wording of Waiting For (WF) items because I've realized it has no practical effect on my ability to track them. You just need enough to remind you what it is you're waiting for.

In your first example, my next action would likely be "Call Bob re report." If I had to leave Bob a message, I'd add this to my WF list: "Bob - report - [date]".

Your other examples wouldn't need to be tracked on a waiting for list. If you need a haircut, or tailoring, or a massage you'd simply add that to your errands list and then go. Or add it to your calendar if it's the sort of thing that requires an appointment.
 

kelstarrising

Kelly | GTD expert
For Waiting For items, I usually list them like this:

Who/what I'm waiting on - What I'm waiting for - The date I started waiting

like:

Jan - Get back to me about meeting next Fri - 10/7
Amazon - Ready For Anything book - 10/6
 

mcogilvie

Registered
My Waiting For's have WF in front of them, as in “WF IT doc- req. 10-1” or "WF Amazon order" with details in the note field.
 

Jan Ernest

Registered
My Waiting For's have WF in front of them, as in “WF IT doc- req. 10-1” or "WF Amazon order" with details in the note field.
I do the same. But when the next action is about you as the recipient (of the NA), do you also state " Get hair cut", "Get massage" on your lists of errands etc.?
 

Jan Ernest

Registered
For Waiting For items, I usually list them like this:

Who/what I'm waiting on - What I'm waiting for - The date I started waiting

like:

Jan - Get back to me about meeting next Fri - 10/7
Amazon - Ready For Anything book - 10/6

How about if you're the recipient of the next action? Like for example - Barber: Cut/Style Kelstarrising's hair you: Get haircut/hairstyle from Barber?
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
@Jan Ernest, unless you expect your barber to somehow know when you need a haircut, this isn't a "waiting for." You need to take the initiative to go to the barber. Therefore "get haircut" is an errand, and should be sufficient to remind you that you need to get a haircut the next chance you have.

"Waiting for" means someone else owes you something. This requires an agreement between you and that other party. Again, unless your barber is psychic the next action is yours when you need to "get a haircut." Then when you're able, you go to the barber, he or she cuts your hair and you can cross that off your list.

Don't overthink GTD. It's supposed to make things easier, not harder. In my experience, the simplest way to remind me of something that is consistent with getting the job done is best. If I need to run an errand, I put the errand in my list. I don't agonize over wording.

Make things easier on yourself rather than making them unnecessarily hard.
 

mcogilvie

Registered
I do the same. But when the next action is about you as the recipient (of the NA), do you also state " Get hair cut", "Get massage" on your lists of errands etc.?

I would put "Schedule haircut" on my @Anywhere list, then put the appointment on my calendar. Because my lists are directed to me, they do generally start with a verb: email, write, call, search web et cetera. I don’t think of myself as a "recipient" though.
 

kelstarrising

Kelly | GTD expert
How about if you're the recipient of the next action? Like for example - Barber: Cut/Style Kelstarrising's hair you: Get haircut/hairstyle from Barber?

If you thought of waiting for that way, everything in your life that is not right now in this present moment would be a waiting for.

If you need to book the haircut, that's on your next actions list. Once you've made the appointment, it lives on your calendar until the time comes to do it.
 

TesTeq

Registered
I tried putting "someone gives me a billion dollars" in my WF list and it hasn't happened yet. :(
It makes me think. My thesis is:
In GTD you cannot define @WaitingFor item without any NextAction that precedes it.
You cannot reasonably expect reaction without any action.
So in your case you should send emails to Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Richard Branson before putting "Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or Richard Branson gives me a billion dollars" in your @WaitingFor list. ;-)
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
It makes me think. My thesis is:
In GTD you cannot define @WaitingFor item without any NextAction that precedes it.
You cannot reasonably expect reaction without any action.
So in your case you should send emails to Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Richard Branson before putting "Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or Richard Branson gives me a billion dollars" in your @WaitingFor list. ;-)

There is the matter of the restraining orders.

Seriously, though, I agree that something has to happen before you can reasonably be "waiting for" something. It may not be a next action you have to record, though. If you and I have a talk and we both realize there's something we should be working on together -- something we hadn't identified prior to this conversation -- and you have the next action, I now have a "waiting for" item to track.

But yes, something has to happen to create the agreement between two people, or one person and an organization (in the case of Kelly's Amazon example) that one party owes something to the other.

The agreement may be implicit. If someone with authority over me directs me to do something, or someone asks me for something that's clearly my responsibility to provide, they don't need to ask for my permission to expect that deliverable.

In the last three examples @Jan Ernest provided, it would be his responsibility to either go to the providers of these services (an errand) or contact them (by phone, email or their web site) to set an appointment. That the services are provided by someone else doesn't make a difference -- the action is his and there's nothing to "wait for."

Whereas if Bob owes Jan a report, that's something Jan really is waiting for.

@Jan Ernest, hope this helps.
 

severance1970

Registered
I was doing GTD for years before I realized that everyone else preceded their next action phrases with the category verb. It never occurred to me to put "Call Fred: clarify specs on WX231" on my @Calls list; I just write, "Fred: clarify specs on WX231". "Call" is implicit in the context.
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
I was doing GTD for years before I realized that everyone else preceded their next action phrases with the category verb. It never occurred to me to put "Call Fred: clarify specs on WX231" on my @Calls list; I just write, "Fred: clarify specs on WX231". "Call" is implicit in the context.

I don't know that "everyone" does it. At one time I didn't include the word "call." Like you said, the calls context means... calls. And as you've surely realized, if what you're doing works for you it doesn't matter what everyone else is doing.
 

Jan Ernest

Registered
There is the matter of the restraining orders.

Seriously, though, I agree that something has to happen before you can reasonably be "waiting for" something. It may not be a next action you have to record, though. If you and I have a talk and we both realize there's something we should be working on together -- something we hadn't identified prior to this conversation -- and you have the next action, I now have a "waiting for" item to track.

But yes, something has to happen to create the agreement between two people, or one person and an organization (in the case of Kelly's Amazon example) that one party owes something to the other.

The agreement may be implicit. If someone with authority over me directs me to do something, or someone asks me for something that's clearly my responsibility to provide, they don't need to ask for my permission to expect that deliverable.

In the last three examples @Jan Ernest provided, it would be his responsibility to either go to the providers of these services (an errand) or contact them (by phone, email or their web site) to set an appointment. That the services are provided by someone else doesn't make a difference -- the action is his and there's nothing to "wait for."

Whereas if Bob owes Jan a report, that's something Jan really is waiting for.

@Jan Ernest, hope this helps.

Thanks @bcmyers2112!!! I understand where everyone is coming from. In the system that I made, I did configure everything to be a next action. Even the errands are converted to next actions. So I was trying to understand how the system I use is same with the perspective of errands being different with next actions. In most of you guys, errands are errands and you just simply put in on the calendar and do it. No more tracking for next actions, in my system, I try to track those same as the Next Action List. I also put in on my calendar so i have reminder when the time comes of these things being done. All NAs are in my calendar, this is how I structure my daily routing. Hence I was really keen on converting those errands to NAs but all your insights are very helpful. I now know.
 
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