Think of the actions, not the projects
Posted Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 10:07 pm by Dave Moyer
Yes, I admit it. I’m a Getting Things Done (GTD) maniac. Many people told me about the book by David Allen, I picked it up, and became addicted after a few chapters. I’ve got my next actions lists, a tickler file, the works. However, this tip doesn’t only apply to people with a full GTD system. It’s just a good idea to help you get more done in the time you have!
When you’re organizing your life, deciding what to do next, rather than thinking of the full project as a whole, such as “hire new assistant” or “install new sink”, think of the individual actions associated with them. Nobody can truly say, “After lunch, I’m going to hire a new assistant.” There’s no way it’s humanly possible to do that in the time you have, and even if you DO have time, looking at the full job can be daunting, making it grind to a painful halt.
Breaking things down into the individual actions that you need to do make things much more manageable and easier to do. Keep a list of all the actions you need to do, such as “Post job listing on Craigslist” or “Buy piping at hardware store”. Simply keeping track of the actions involved allow you to keep lots of projects moving right along at once, rather than having to leave things on hold, or drop responsibilities you promised someone (this could be yourself) you’d take care of.
David Allen suggests that you keep a list of all the projects that you have running at once, and anywhere from one to fifty lists of “next actions” to be performed at different places, times, or dates. Examples of lists I keep are @Home, @Calls, @Email, @Homework, and @Errands. Then, David says, periodically check your Projects list to make sure that you’ve got an action on one of your lists to keep every project moving. You’re not required to do things like this, it’s just something that works for me and other users of David’s system.
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