Ep: 368: How Long Should Your Lists Be?  🔗 **Source:** [Ep: 368: How Long Should Your Lists Be?](https://share.snipd.com/episode/ab90bc21-1fde-42d5-961c-81ab00a7efd7) ## Highlights - **Separate Projects From Next Actions** - Do separate projects from next actions to keep lists clear and actionable. - Keep project titles on a projects list and single-step activities on next actions so multi-step outcomes don't bloat your action lists. Transcript: John Forrester We have we have two things it's pretty straightforward two things we consider to be best practices. One is distinct list of projects and next actions, plus you're waiting for and someday maybe the worst practice would be to mix those where you're looking at a list that's got a combination Of projects and actions stuff you're only waiting for, stuff that you're not really committed to, that kind of a mixed list is definitely going to make your lists longer and less effective. And Ana Maria, I think that's something you also teach early in the fundamentals course as well as the idea of not mixing lists. Is that right? Ana Maria Gonzalez Yeah, sure. I mean, the bottom line, and I think everyone on this call probably knows this, but the bottom line, if you're needing like a refresher, if you want to kind of share with someone else best Practices, you want to at the very least separate actionable inventory from non-actionable and never have those mixed up but then within each within the actionable inventory and Within the non-actionable inventory then there are best practices for organizing each one. So under your actionable items, let's say, you will typically have outcomes that will require more than one action step. Or another way of thinking about that would be multi-step outcomes that more or less will take 12 or so to be completed. And that's what we define as projects. And that you want to have on a separate list on its own where you're just keeping, you know, like an index of those project titles. But then you want to have an inventory of also your actionable items that are done in one sitting or what we refer to as your next actions. So those two are not mixed up because they're very distinct one from the other. One is just your index of project titles, your multi-step outcomes that will get done within a year or so. ([Time 0:01:34](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f658fd35-978c-4da8-b1da-e401aa8aa82b)) - **Use A Waiting For List** - Do track Waiting For items separately so you only monitor others' actions without clogging your next actions list. - Use a Waiting For list for things like responses, reimbursements, or ordered products you cannot act on yet. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez And then of course, there's also an inventory of actionable items that need to be kept separately from these two. And those are all the items that you're waiting for one way or the other. Either you're waiting for a decision to be made, you're waiting for an answer to come back to you, you're waiting for products you order online, you're waiting for a reimbursement, You're waiting for theater tickets. Whatever it is that you find yourself, I am on waiting for mode. In other words, I cannot take another action until that one it's done. So that's usually your list where you're tracking others, where you're tracking the actions of others. That's why it belongs to your actionable inventory and non-your non-actionable inventory because you're tracking the actions on others, the actions that you're waiting for others To complete. ([Time 0:04:21](https://share.snipd.com/snip/702c658f-bec0-4c89-acbc-9c2c717e2668)) - **Categorize Next Actions By Context** - Try organizing next actions by context to prevent one long catchall list from becoming unusable. - Create lists like Phone, Home, Office, or Errands based on where the action happens to narrow choices when deciding what to do. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez And then, of course, as we progress today or as you progress in your journey as a GTD user, you will probably want to categorize your next actions by context. Because maybe just one next actions list would just not do it. And particularly today, we're talking about long lists that may very quickly result into a long list if you just have it as one next action. John Forrester Right. Ana Maria Gonzalez And context, just to kind of give it context, basically means where does the action happen? In other words, once you're clear on what your next action is, where does it happen? And then based on that answer, you start creating lists. So we use the word context to pretty much help you understand how to organize the next action in relationship to where does it happen. Does it happen at the phone? Does it happen at home? Does it happen at the office? Does it happen at the train? Does it happen when you're out and about? Does it happen when you're with John? Does it happen when you're with your lawyer? Does it happen anywhere? ([Time 0:06:49](https://share.snipd.com/snip/bf0dea07-7d5d-411f-adb8-a2c015c18690)) - **Put Short Outcomes On Your Projects List** - Do still list small or short-duration outcomes as projects if you need to review them weekly. - Treat outcomes you want to check in your weekly review as projects even if they seem to have only a couple of steps. Transcript: John Forrester One is distinct lists of projects and next actions. One of the comments was what about small projects, things that are going to be done in a month or less that only may have a couple of actions. I highly recommend that you still distinguish those. You put the project outcome on your projects list and the next action or actions on your next actions lists. And don't talk yourself out of that rigor just because you think the project will finish in a month or less. I can only say I strongly recommend that you stick to this discipline for, I'm going to say a couple of months at least to give it a chance, because I think you'll find that it's very stress Relieving psychologically to track all of your projects, not just the ones that you think are larger projects. ([Time 0:08:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/bde72794-3604-4946-b612-4030662c2aa2)) - **Use Weekly Review Needs To Define Projects** - Decide project inclusion by whether you need to see the outcome in your weekly review, not by estimated duration. - Example: 'Get dad at the airport' can be a calendar item only unless prep tasks require regular review as a project. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez See, you want to use a criteria where you go, will this be an outcome that I need to review as part of my weekly review? Even if it only qualifies for one review, or two reviews, or three, or four, or 12 reviews. The question is, is this outcome one that I need to review as part of my weekly review so that I can make sure I'm moving this situation forward or I'm bringing it to the end, whether it's Because it has two actions, three, four, or 150. So that's, to me, a more reliable criteria that I can then teach anyone because then we're all going to be under the same understanding. Oh, yeah, this is something that I will want to look at as part of my weekly review. Because there are some outcomes. And as part of level two projects and priority, we talk about this difference. There are some outcomes that even though they're multi-step, they still don't, they don't qualify for your projects list. And you may go, what? Now you're really confusing me. Because many times these are things that life will remind you. I mean, they're second nature to you. There is no kind of risk of you forgetting about the next action because you didn't review it as part of your weekly review. For example, get dad at the airport. He's arriving in a month. So you may go, well a month, that kind of qualifies in terms of timeframe. We'll get dad at the airport, it's more than one action step. Why is that not on my projects list? Well, how much do you need to be reminded so that you identify the next action as part of your weekly review when you look at a project called get that at the airport? And you may go, nothing. All I need to be reminded is the day that he arrived to get to the airport. So then that's an example of something that just goes on your calendar. Tuesday at 3 p.m. On, you know, whatever, March 2nd, get that at the airport, flight number, blah, blah, blah. There is nothing I need to do to get to mark that outcome done other than show up at the airport. ([Time 0:10:16](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2d07cb14-d526-4253-9622-f698791b0564)) - **Design Projects To Support Your Weekly Review** - Do design your projects list to make the weekly review easy and pleasant so you sustain the habit. - Back up from how you want weekly review to feel and include only outcomes that support that experience. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez Got it. John Forrester And just to back that up a little bit, one of the things I've heard in between the lines of you saying just then, Ana Maria, is this is about your weekly review and being kind to yourself When it comes time to do your weekly review. Review is, as David calls it, the critical success factor for implementing GTD. If that's the case, and we find that it is, what can you do to take care of yourself so that you can make the weekly review a habit? One of the things you can do is consider what you want to review about projects during your weekly review, and then back up from that going, I want to make my weekly review pleasurable And easy every week. What do I need to see on my projects list to contribute to that? Back that up and help that inform your decision about what you put on your projects list. ([Time 0:13:55](https://share.snipd.com/snip/eae31b89-4eb3-497a-ba65-797a8827e983)) - **Incubate Items Until You're Ready** - Incubation sits between actionable and non-actionable: it's for items you might pursue later but won't act on now. - Use Someday/Maybe or a tickler/calendar date to reassess items like 'learn guitar' at a future chosen time. Transcript: John Forrester The other one that comes to mind for me is the tickler file where you, you could do this either with a physical tickler file or a digital one on your calendar where you move something out To a future date to reconsider. You're not deciding about it now. You're putting it out in the future when you may know more about what you'd like to do and be ready to commit to it or not. Those are both forms of incubation, someday maybe and tickler. Ana Maria, anything else to say about the distinction there? Ana Maria Gonzalez Yeah, no, that's, you know, incubate, it's a very interesting bucket, let's say, to describe because since it's not exactly black or white, incubate probably fits in the middle because It's not a non-actionable 100% bucket, neither it's an actionable 100% bucket because its nature is that it will transform in the future. So today, as I'm emptying my in, I may come across something that today I decide to not do anything about it. However, I may still want to consider in the future. So is that in between that it's often a bit like, oh my God, what is it? Is it this or is it that? Well, it's neither. But it kind of fits both based on your agreement with yourself in this moment so in this moment I'm not going to do anything about learning to play the guitar I'm not but I may want to in the Future so I will add that learn to play the guitar as a someday maybe item on my list so that's basically me deciding as I'm emptying my in this idea that I had of learning to play the guitar That I wrote myself a note about now that I'm emptying my in I'm going to go I'm going to incubate this and a place where I can incubate it on my Sunday maybe list because my Sunday maybe list Is something that I look at every week so every week I'm going to ask myself hey is it time now to learn to play the guitar yes or no or I could say I'm going to incubate this and I don't want To see it until a year from now I don't even want to be bothered weekly to asking myself hey do you want to play the guitar now or not I want to put this thing out there a year from today. I'm just going to kind of make that wild guess. And then you can put it on your calendar, as John was saying, and kind of tickle yourself in one year with the thought of, hey, do you want to learn to play the guitar this year? Kind of thing. So eventually it will become actionable or not. Because in one year you may say, you know what, I don't want to play the guitar now or next year or never. I'm deleting this thought. And, you know, as a thought, it may be an easier way of kind of describing it, but it applies even to this work-related decisions. It can apply in relationship to acquiring a company, to a merger and acquisition. It can apply to responding to be a guest speaker at a conference. It's just where are you at in the moment that you're emptying your end in terms of the agreement with yourself in relationship to that item. And then every week you decide to change your mind or not. John Forrester It's all about the commitment you have. If it's on your someday, maybe, or you have incubated it in some way, you're not committing to take any action on it. That's the difference with projects and next actions. There is a project is an outcome you're committing to complete. Next action is the next action that you're committing to do to move something forward. Yeah. Ana Maria Gonzalez And here in the book, because I just like to be, you know, try to be as thorough with what GTD is about based on what the book says, right? Because at the end, this is what we all have and what we can all go by. So incubate to allow something to remain within a system without a commitment to take action yet, but to be reassessed at a later time. Reminders are usually held within someday maybe lists, tickler files, or triggered for later calendar items. ([Time 0:15:10](https://share.snipd.com/snip/66f1d4c1-aa37-4101-a509-fd5025a650fa))