Ep. 323: Horizontal and Vertical Control  ## Metadata - Author: [[Getting Things Done]] - Full Title: Ep. 323: Horizontal and Vertical Control - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/61b0a5c1-2e91-4382-87c5-85c0b21bfe68 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **What Horizontal Thinking Is** - Horizontal thinking assesses and manages items across equal levels like projects, calls, or areas of focus. - It gives you an overview so you can shift attention quickly across many commitments. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez You can also think of it as horizontal thinking. I think the webinar is titled Horizontal Control. They're all used interchangeable. So when we refer to your horizontal inventory or thinking, Basically, it's assessing and managing content across a particular equal level. So, for example, overviewing all the projects you have personally and professionally. It can also be overviewing all your call reminders on your calls list. It can also be overviewing your areas of focus. It can also be overviewing your visions. It's basically when you're assessing and managing content across a particular equal level. ([Time 0:01:02](https://share.snipd.com/snip/345b0e1a-af30-4df5-98c2-273ce2d1cc20)) - **Participants Had Project Lists Ready** - Webinar participants reported wide ranges of project counts, showing many people keep active project lists. - John Forrester noted that having a project list already puts attendees ahead of most people. Transcript: John Forrester 33, 32. Yeah, 44, 100, 24 active, two delegated. Good distinction. 53, 90, about 35, 40, 50. Well, one thing I can say is I think it's pretty impressive that you all have these numbers at hand. Ana Maria Gonzalez Well, they probably have the list and they're looking at their list. John Forrester That means they have a project list and they're looking at their list. Very good. Exactly. You're so far ahead of most of the world. Ana Maria Gonzalez That's an interesting distinction, Chuck. Good to know. 29 active and about the same inactive. That works. You may have already customized your projects list, which makes sense. 28 and some I need to add a bunch on hold. Yeah, that's fine too, Pamela. Okay, beautiful. So great. That just gives me an idea. ([Time 0:02:02](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4cc5217b-4cc7-43ae-8117-11cadb25f744)) - **Use Natural Planning When Needed** - Use the Natural Planning Model when you need to think a project through from purpose to next actions. - Reserve formal natural planning for projects that require deeper clarity or collaboration. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez Okay. The second definition here is what we mean by vertical thinking or, again, vertical inventory. And that would be examining and creating multiple levels of content within a particular sphere. So, for example, planning a project from intended purpose through to next actions. So it would be going top to bottom. That's another way of understanding that, right? When you take a project, it first lands on your plate, and now you have to think all the way from why do I have this project down to what's the next action or next actions. ([Time 0:05:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f3bda207-8ed9-4f5a-8205-87b8025efa32)) - **Varied Tools For Vertical Planning** - Many attendees said they use the Natural Planning Model, Evernote, or mind maps for vertical planning. - Some rely on just identifying the next action and skip formal planning unless needed. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez So use the natural planning model. Evernote as a tool. Okay. What else do we have out there? Natural planning model from using paper or obsidian. Excellent, Chris. Thank you. Write it down. Timothy, natural planning model. Wow. So happy. So many of you are using the natural planning. Last time we taught this webinar, folks were mostly telling me the tool, but not really telling how they vertically think. So this is great. Not sure what is meant by how to vertically get it off your mind. Okay, Joseph. Great question. What do you do? Let me ask this question differently. When you have a project and you want to think it through, what do you do? Do you use any kind of model to do that or do you just kind of brainstorm or you use a mind map? See, in GTD, usually, typically, we use the natural planning model to help get this project off our mind, top to bottom. Or do you simply just think of the next actions? You know, many projects move ([Time 0:06:11](https://share.snipd.com/snip/65641989-2707-493a-b63f-c04fcc6b4a88)) - **Next Actions Reveal Implicit Planning** - Even when you don't write it down, your mind runs a rapid version of natural planning to produce a next action. - Identifying a clear next action often implies you've already processed purpose and outcome internally. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez We may not be doing it consciously, but in order for your mind to get you to that very next action is because it knows why you're doing that project, so it's clear on its purpose. It also knows what's your vision on that project. In other words, it knows when you're done. It has very quickly done, you know, perhaps a short version of a brainstorming to come up with all the hows. It has very rapidly organized it in your mind. Otherwise, you would have not been able to nail the next action. So interesting enough, whether we do a conscious effort of putting it down on paper and following the sequence of the five steps of the natural planning model, we're doing it all the Time. We're actually doing it as soon as we think about having dinner tonight. Your mind immediately goes there. Why are we having dinner? What vision do we have for dinner? How are we going to go from here to there? What goes before the other? And then bingo, the next action. ([Time 0:08:23](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c8741c15-9c53-44e8-9cf4-f0af444e4af3)) - **Make Lists Complete And Available** - Keep complete, readily available lists so your system can supply required information on demand. - This lets you shift focus quickly, easily, and confidently between items. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez On any given day, you maintain horizontal control across all activities in which you're involved, right? Because you have all your different lists. That's your horizontal inventory. But your psyche, your mind is constantly scanning your environment like an inner radar. It doesn't stop. It's just doing it all the time. I think even when we're sleeping, it's like a 24-hour period. It doesn't go to rest. And the truth is that it may land on any of a thousand different items that are actually either demanding your attention or inviting your attention. See, you're always scanning your environment and it lands somewhere. So please type on the chat box, what are some examples of these thousands of different items your attention can land on on any given day? So that can be what's for dinner, cat food, strategic plan, vacation. Give me an example or two of what are the many different items that your attention can land on any given day. John Forrester Ana Maria, I like your distinction there. You said inviting ([Time 0:10:51](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5116b375-e452-4ea5-a6b5-e413f32962b9)) - **Mind Scans; System Absorbs The Noise** - Your mind continuously scans thousands of items inviting or demanding attention across contexts. - A trusted external system absorbs those items so you can act without constant mental interruption. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez I think even when we're sleeping, it's like a 24-hour period. It doesn't go to rest. And the truth is that it may land on any of a thousand different items that are actually either demanding your attention or inviting your attention. See, you're always scanning your environment and it lands somewhere. So please type on the chat box, what are some examples of these thousands of different items your attention can land on on any given day? So that can be what's for dinner, cat food, strategic plan, vacation. Give me an example or two of what are the many different items that your attention can land on any given day. John Forrester Ana Maria, I like your distinction there. You said inviting or demanding. Sometimes it feels like it's just inviting. Sometimes it's more, it's a demand. Ana Maria Gonzalez Yeah. And then we sometimes find ourselves going, oh, I just spent 30 minutes on that and I don't even know why. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. Employee learning plans, renew a prescription. Yes. Retirement goals, paying a bill, upcoming deadlines, unpacking from vacation. Me too. What I need to do for tomorrow upcoming trip family needs shopping list schedule it's it's crazy what what we're able to do slack and emails are constantly demanding yes let's see what Else do we have up clear the surfaces in my house yeah get gas yep a big one for me something that i have not finished clarifying of course it's going to keep on pulling your attention until Until until you until you do the job one trick chris sometimes is not finishing clarifying you still having a next action reminder related to finishing clarifying that can stop the Mind from bugging you just writing yourself a next action you know um finish blah, blah, blah, or whatever the case needs to be. It's a trick that works. Ongoing course, long-term professional planning, email, popping meetings, retirement. Yes. Fighting the urge to look at legates and loudest instead of using higher horizons to guide where my attention should be devoted. Chuck, today you'll see that as we understand how all the T's are crossed and all the I's are dotted, because the GTD system is designed to maintain your horizontal and vertical control Of commitment projects and actions, you'll see how it's actually everything, it's how everything is in alignment in your system. Every next action is in alignment with your higher horizons. Emergency scan of email and master OneNote inbox. Okay, great. Well, thank you. I appreciate your examples were very similar to the examples I had written down. ([Time 0:11:11](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f4048156-3b19-40bb-8fa0-9d33ecd9a33e)) - **Projects Drive The Weekly Review** - Horizontal inventory (next actions, projects) lets you see what can be done day-to-day and drives your weekly review. - The projects list exists mainly to support review and confirm progress from completed actions. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez And obviously it begins with the horizontal line. And then as I continue to click over here, basically here is an example of possibly the same lists or some of the lists that you have on your GTD system for keeping track of your next actions, Right? So these can be agendas, calls, computer errands, home office, waiting for, etc. And I would not obviously go through the definition of them because I know you know them. I just wanted to show you, you know, a handful of examples of lists that can go across the line. These are the ones that show the horizontal control of all the items that you're keeping under that one specific category. Right. And that they can actually be done on any given day. But we also have the projects list. The projects list, it's also keeping inventory of all the number of projects that you have in your life and that you're better reviewing weekly. I hate to say that you have to review weekly because I'm not very ruly, but the weekly review is designed or the projects list, it's the driver of the weekly review. So this list is not necessarily there for you to actually look at to see what you can get done on any given day, because actually you do actions and you have projects. Is there so that you can come to it to review it on a weekly basis to confirm and know that your projects are moving forward as a result of actually getting actions done on any given day. So this will be your horizontal inventory, projects under your projects list and all the different reminders on any one of these other next actions lists. ([Time 0:16:50](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7db3bb28-cfac-4d32-b830-0d013ffc6716)) - **Pull Next Actions Into Your Lists** - Pull the immediate next action from the project plan and place it on the appropriate next-actions list. - Completing that next action moves the project forward across vertical and horizontal control. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez So that's why the vertical line shows up, shows now, and it's basically representing you managing your thinking top to bottom. It's development and coordination of individual topics and projects. Any one given project, you may have already thought it through and organize it by components. Any one given project, you may have already thought it through and organize it by priorities. Or any one given project, you might have already thought it through and just organize it by the number of simultaneous next actions that can take place. So not all projects actually are required to have this many next actions already defined as I'm showing on screen. In other words, I don't pretend to make you think that all your projects now need to have three next actions at least identified. They can actually just have one and that's good. That's all that is to require, one next action. Or they can have as many next actions identified or as many future actions identified as you were able to think about when you were getting the project off your mind. So this is just an example to show you how this works. Please don't think that they have to have this kind of organization. It was just an example. So any one of your projects, for example, let's take the first one here, right? I'm going to move over and say, okay, I have a next action identified for this project. And, or I actually have three next actions identified for this project, right? And the truth is that they cannot move simultaneously until I don't do A, I can actually not do B, et cetera. But I have already done A and I have already done B. So I'm good. Now C, it's my next action that it's ready for me to move it over, let's say, to my computer's list. ([Time 0:18:55](https://share.snipd.com/snip/11968e88-d145-49d3-8b32-5542eb84a81e)) - **Tag Projects And Actions For Cross-Reference** - Use a common keyword or hashtag in both project titles and next actions to cross-reference quickly. - This simplifies searches and confirms whether a next action links to a specific project. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez So one, let's say a little tip, although these days it's probably not as needed given what softwares can do, but one little tip that can help with actually cross-referencing your next Actions with your projects is to have a common denominator or a keyword or a hashtag that you use both in the project title as well as in the next actions list. So by just simply, you know, assigning a common denominator or a keyword or a hashtag, you can very quickly cross reference if you have a next action identified to any one given project. That's a very useful, let's ([Time 0:24:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/70bdbb31-5c7c-49ee-85c1-829085885663))