Ep. 375: Project Planning  🔗 **Source:** [Ep. 375: Project Planning](https://share.snipd.com/episode/1920d46c-fe88-469e-bad8-523aeb9e048d) ## Highlights - **Project Planning Is About Getting It Off Your Mind** - Project planning's purpose is to get sufficient perspective and control so projects are off your mind. - Ana Maria frames planning as whatever you need to externalize ideas and not lose useful thoughts. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez Do I need to project plan? How much do I need to do that? When do I do it? What is project planning? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So I think that's the spirit where we're coming from. We're really coming from a place of understanding, do I need to plan a project to begin with? And if so, how do I plan it? When do I plan it? What does planning means within the GTD framework? Because I'm sure there are lots of definitions out there and even solutions. So how I want to approach today's session along with John is, you know, up until now, we've been looking a lot at getting the horizontal inventory in our lives under control, as in all The things that happen at any given location or throughout our day, etc. I need to get my vertical inventory under control. How can I do that? Or what are some of the GTD best practices for getting, in this case, a project under control? Or the same applies to a situation under control. Or even the same applies to my mind under control if I need to do vertical thinking, which means kind of going from the top to the bottom, not necessarily across. So that's in a bit the purpose for today. So at the end of the day, if you were to ask me how much planning do I need to do or how much planning Ana Maria does for any given project or situation or whatever the case may be, I would say As much as I need to, to get it off my mind. So we will be taking that approach. What do you need to do to get that project or that situation or that whatever off your mind? ([Time 0:03:17](https://share.snipd.com/snip/600a1832-91e3-4baa-88fa-c0486e740b9d)) - **Perspective And Control Are Separate Planning Needs** - Perspective and control are distinct needs: sometimes you only need one to clear your mind. - Complex projects often require both higher-level thinking and detailed operational control to externalize them fully. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez Sometimes what you need to get off your mind, it's just more perspective on a project or situation as in like, you know, why am I doing this to begin with, right? That may be enough to get it off your mind and you're done with it. Or what you may need is more control. You may need to kind of drill a little more into the operational aspect of that project or situation and kind of, you know, get just a bit of an organization around that project, kind of Identify what are those, you know, milestones that are going to happen if and when, if you know that and then come up with, you know, whatever next actions you need to come up with and you're Good. And sometimes you need both. You know, it's a very complex project. You've never done it before. You're brand new at it. And you really, in order to get, you know, the perspective and control to get it off your mind, you have to go as much as not only going higher, but also going lower in terms of understanding And having it off your mind. ([Time 0:11:44](https://share.snipd.com/snip/28803453-7a25-43fa-ab3a-9e2f68b62f7d)) - **Define A Project As A Multi Action Outcome** - Treat a project as any outcome needing more than one action or sitting. - Use that definition to decide how much planning is required based on the project's complexity and unknowns. Transcript: John Forrester A project is any outcome that needs more than one action to achieve it or more than one sitting to achieve it. So you may have many, many projects, and some of them are quite simple. They may have only two actions to achieve them and you already know what the two actions are. Other projects could be complex and you don't know yet how many things will need to be done and what those actions are because they'll reveal themselves as it goes along. ([Time 0:13:12](https://share.snipd.com/snip/53b9ee4d-b54b-4558-9830-de92e758ebc6)) - **Fix Stalled Projects By Checking True Next Actions** - If a project sits despite confirmed next actions, ask what you're prioritizing instead and whether that next action is truly the very next physical step. - Make next actions concrete and visible so you can complete them. Transcript: John Forrester I have projects planned, but they're still, they still sit there for a long time. Every weekly review, I confirm the next action, but it still doesn't move forward. And we've got a couple of me toos and somebody saying, yeah, we could all raise our hand on that. What do you have to say about when projects are clearly defined, you do your weekly review, and yet the projects aren't making progress? Ana Maria Gonzalez Well, I would have to say... Why are they? I'm going to ask back. Do you have any idea why are you not checking off the next action on your list that, let's say, belong to that one project on that given week? Because what makes the project obviously move forward is the next action completion. Because we do next actions, as you all know, and we have projects. So then my question is, what are you making more important? Which is fine. It's not a judgmental question. It's more like, let me become conscious question, right? What am I making more important? What am I prioritizing as more important than that action on my list, which then brings me to this question, which is, just because it's on your list and just because you review it and Just because you have a next action, that doesn't equal getting the action done, as you know. So my question is by, my answer is by asking you back a question. What are you aware of? Right. John Forrester Because just because it's on your list doesn't mean it's the highest priority thing for you to work on this week. Ana Maria Gonzalez It doesn't have to be something of a higher priority. It just could have shown up spontaneously. See, things go on your list so that they are off your mind. Things don't go on your list so that they get done. You may be getting done so many more other things or valuable things in comparison to what's on your list. That's fine if you come to the next weekly review and you go, oh my God, what's going wrong here? I have the project, I have the natural planning model, I have the next action, this thing is not moving. Probably nothing's wrong. You would have to answer that question. John Forrester Yeah, you're not doing anything wrong just because you see a project show up more than once on your weekly review. It could be that life is happening in ways and things that are more important are showing up for you. The key thing is that you've got it off your mind. It's externalized. It's on a list somewhere outside your mind so that when life happens, you can pay attention to that. ([Time 0:17:24](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9bae074c-c29b-4790-8559-ff397d3557e7)) - **Write Project Titles That Describe The Finish Line** - Make your project title describe the clear end result so it motivates action. - Ana Maria warns an unclear finish line lets your mind ignore the project and undermines next-action follow-through. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez And if the question is, let's say, about around the GTD mechanics, and I was coaching you, potentially as an exercise of probing, not necessarily because I think it's wrong, because Who am I to say that to begin with? But as an exercise of probing, I may be checking with you. Is that next action that you have on your list, the very next physical visible activity, which is the definition of next action, right? So we're looking at GTD mechanics right now. If the answer is, then it isn't, right? You have to be absolute, that's a trick to moving the project forward, to be absolutely sure that what you have identified is the next action, not the next and a half action. Because for that even small difference, there's a part of you that knows that and would just, it knows it's not possible. So of course you're going to find yourself again in the next weekly review maybe frustrated, but it's because you're looking at a list of next actions that are not next actions yet. That's one possibility, right? So that's a GTD mechanic. The other question I would be asking you is, is that your desired outcome? Is that when you get to check this project done? Meaning that whatever project title you've identified. Because sometimes, again, we don't even pause long enough or we're not thoughtful enough and we just want to keep on moving and we end up writing a project title that isn't in terms of The the think about it as the carrot at the end of the race right you are like those dogs whatever I think people understand what I'm trying to say, right? So think about that, Kara, at the end of the race. That's how you want to use your project titles. They have to be that clear, that strong, that descriptive of that end result that you keep on running. I mean, it's your motivator to keep on getting perhaps even past that finish line. Otherwise, the mind is very bright and very sensitive and very quick. And if it knows it isn't, it's just going to look over it. And that's going to affect, of course, your next action doing. So in terms of GTD mechanics, I will be checking with you. Is that your very, very, you know, is that your end result? Is that your desired outcome? You get to check this project done when what's true. ([Time 0:20:17](https://share.snipd.com/snip/27200e83-4cff-4019-93db-e13b629a9f81)) - **Use Specific Verbs To Clarify Done And Next Actions** - Use specific verbs for projects and actions to make 'what done looks like' clearer and next actions more attractive. - John points listeners to the tools PDF with precise verbs for this purpose. Transcript: John Forrester That's a link to the tools and templates section in the document library. If you scroll down in that section, you'll find a couple of PDFs that give you very specific verbs for your projects and actions that will help you get those very much more narrowly defined So that what done looks like and what the next action of doing looks like are more attractive to you on your lists. ([Time 0:24:08](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5919f7c2-10f4-4c5a-88cf-2d8a1b0002aa)) - **Treat Long Goals As Visions And Create Year Projects** - Long outcomes like a PhD may be goals or visions; break them into year-sized projects that give weekly carrots. - Choose weekly-visible project outcomes that motivate you during the weekly review. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez Well, that's going to become very personalized and often there's not one answer. If we go again by just the pure definition of a project, it's any multi-step outcome that you will finish within a year, more or less, so within 12 months. So how long would it take you to get the PhD? That would be one question. John Forrester That's a good point because something like a degree that takes two or three years to get is more of a goal or a vision, not necessarily a project, but there could be projects that you can Do in a year to get toward that. Right. Ana Maria Gonzalez And not because you put getting PhD on your list, it means that it's an incorrect project title because here's another variable that you want to take into account. When you're doing your weekly review, what do you want to be looking at? What's going to be that carrot that would keep on pulling you? What is that outcome that will continue to inspire you? What is that outcome that will continue to want you to move forward, right? Because sometimes it could perfectly be getting the PhD, but sometimes that might be so far out, as John is saying, in terms of the time horizon, that it becomes a bit frustrated that Every week I don't see much progress because it takes time. So if you go, no, I love seeing getting my PhD because I love seeing myself every week as a PhD graduate, right? That's kind of like fills me up with energy and really it's a mental trick. It really helps my mind think of what's next. Then I'm not the one to say that's wrong just because it's within a three-year time frame and the project definition is within 12 months, more or less, I always like to say. But if on the other hand, you all know, you know, that's just, it's tormenting me. It's frustrating. It's actually not, it's adding tensions into my life. It's not relaxing me. However you identify with that outcome, right? Then what is the outcome you want to be looking at monthly or I'm sorry, weekly? So you keep on moving forward or you keep on moving towards that goal or vision of getting my PhD. And that may be successfully complete year one of my PhD. I'm not going to put words in your mouth or kind of pretend I know what your project is, but that's the approach I typically take, number one, to identify the project. ([Time 0:25:18](https://share.snipd.com/snip/db858659-63d9-4a0b-ae1c-b7f9ce758847)) - **Avoid Listing Every Subproject As A Separate Project** - Avoid turning every subtask into a listed project; include subprojects in the plan instead to prevent inflated project lists. - Keep your projects list readable so it attracts you rather than repels you during review. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez As many as you need to get it off your mind. What I wouldn't do, and that's a personal preference, and it's often a GTD also best practice, is what we won't recommend or what I wouldn't recommend is adding all the subprojects as Projects for many reasons. One, because they're not, you know, those are like the little carrots on your way to the big carrot. They're not really your end result, right? So you're kind of demanding of yourself unnecessary effort, because for every one of those little ones, you're going to have to have next actions to begin with. It may be appropriate, it may be not, they may not, because some of them may move on parallel, some of them may not. You're just adding a layer of complexity that is unnecessary in my judgment but also you are creating false inventories because now you may end up with a project list of i don't know 75 Projects because out of those 75 20 are sub projects one. So it could well be a list of 55 projects instead of 75. And again, the mind is very quick. So you want to keep your system in such way that it's attracting you, not repelling you. I think we've used these terms in other sessions, right? You want to make sure your system is current, complete, and consistent. It has the right number of items that you've agreed to, not stuff that you've made up or added unnecessarily in your intention of feeling in control. It's easy to do that, to over structure, just to kind of feel in control. Because you can perfectly keep all these sub projects as part of your project plan. And then within your weekly review, of course, that's the appropriate time to look at your project plan and think through whatever the next action or next actions, because there are Sub projects in parallel that belong to this project that you need to now put into your next actions list. ([Time 0:27:58](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5742f875-732d-4b28-aa95-e9f729c1e219))