For example, I have @Errands, @Work – Computer, @Home – Computer, @Call. Using contexts limits the amount of “rethinking” you have to do with your list. There’s no need to think when you sit down to tackle your next actions. By using contexts, you know that everything on that @Work – Computer list can be done when you’re at work in front of a computer.

As an aside, thank you so much for the great information, Trent. I’ve been a fervent (if mostly silent) viewer of your blog for several years now. You’ve been a tremendous inspiration, and we’re now completely credit card debt free! Thanks again!

I think where you are getting hung up is thinking of next actions as those little tasks you can complete in 2 minutes or less, but you can have next actions that are complete this one task. the task may take 30 minutes or an hour, what is important is complete focus on that task.

I break my project down into chapters, sections and subsections. I have tasks like write section III.7.b, or read state parking code.

I think my project is easier to fit into GTD than, say my wife, who has several small daily tasks that all have to be finished by days end, but can not be planned for from day to day.

I’m having a hard time picturing this process in the work flow.

Maybe this:
- After processing my inbox, I check each project to be sure it has a next action listed on my next actions list. This adds a step to the Processing part of the workflow and I’ll have my actions listed in two different buckets.
- Or, after checking a project action off of my next actions list, I have to spend two minutes and identify the next action for that project and add it to the list in that moment.
I think the first method would slow down the project process. If I only process my inbox twice a day, then I might finish all the project actions on my list and move on to other actions that are less important than the project.
The second method seems to break with the concept of building a system you trust. I would finish a project action, define the next action, finish that, define the next action, all the while I’ll have other tasks and projects that are being ignored.

Am I overcomplicating this? Anybody here with project-type work that has already implemented this system?

But in general, I feel that above all – prioritize. Just like when you were in school…if you have 3 homework projects or lessons to complete attack the most difficult first.

Blog Comments (comments from others I find useful)
Blog Ideas (for my own blogs)
Blogs (list of blogs I follow)
Books (want to read)
Curiosity (what I want to research)
Dreams and Ideas
DVDs (list of my movies)
Facts (random interesting bits of info)
Flowers and Plants
Good Search Terms (when I find search terms that provide better than usual results)
Just Random Notes (when they lack classification)
Links Not To Lose (finally put them in one place!)
Magazines (publications I like)
Motels (I freelance on the road)
New Beetle (extensive research on my next car)
Sayings (quotes)
Town Names (quirky town names I may want to visit)
Wish List

These are all electronic.

Prioiritization and organization are key.

I always feels that I can be more organized and prioritze more.

I don’t think you can ever get “completely” organized.

The more time you can shave off doing the things you don’t want to do, well, fill in the rest…

This list largely reflects how I do things, actually. I need to get better about throwing things away (by which I mean the recycle box–a box which gets emptied into the recycling bin) as soon as I decide they’re not relevant, and putting the papers I want to keep into the right bins the first time around, but for the most part it’s pretty effective. It really does help to get things done.

About the “Someday/Maybe” list, I have viewed it quite differently than a collection of lists. I have things like “run a marathon,” “travel to Asia,” etc., on the list. I actually scratched the Marathon off of my list this past March :) It’s almost like a “bucket list” of sorts for me, but it does make sense to add in a list of books I want to read to this section.

Right now, I put the due date in my calendar and have multiple reminders pop up in the days or weeks beforehand. The problem is, if the reminder pops up while I’m in the middle of something else, I tend to either dismiss it (and then it doesn’t remind me anymore) or click the “snooze alarm,” in which case it pops up again and eventually annoys me enough that I dismiss it.

In 20+ years of work life, this is the thing that I find the most challenging!

We should all try to make sure that our buckets are set up to be as environmentally efficient as possible.

For the same reason, I don’t print out all my brainstorming lists and other things. How about keeping more of our files electronic?

Save the environment a little while organizing our lives.

* Maybe/someday – I have paper file folders for things like media recommendations and fun things to do.

I also have a wish list of stuff I’m looking for that I keep in my purse in case I’m at a library or store. I love adding things to this along with notes about prices or sizes or who recommended it.

I also have a big list of things to do this year (more than I could actually get done, even if I didn’t add to it, which I do). I come up with 100 things at the beginning of the year and add to it. As I do the things, I not only check them off but write notes about things I’ll want to remember. This has kind of morphed into a place where I keep track of what I’ve already done each year in various categories. I was thinking of just starting with a blank slate next year and adding things as I do them, thus turning it more into an archive and removing the whole maybe/someday function.

So this is a good time for me to think about a separate way to keep track of things I might want to do in the future without pressuring myself necessarily to do them this year.

* Reference – I also have files for recipes, craft instructions, job and career info, etc. I might not be separating this category from the maybe/someday category in my mind.

* Projects and project support material – I have folders for some of this stuff. But some projects have notebooks. And some have boxes or bags (like knitting supplies). And sometimes the information is with the other supplies—like the guitar songs I’m working on are in my guitar case. I think mostly I treat this stuff like reference material and am not good at deciding that certain ideas are parts of current projects I am working on right now while admitting that I am not, in fact, working on certain other projects right now and that this is okay and doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to give up forever just because I file away the stuff.

* Waiting – I actually despise having to wait on others. Mostly, I’ve set up my life to not have to deal much with this sort of thing. When I do have to wait on someone, I’ve learned to add a tickler message in my calendar to remind them of things.

* Calendar – I like the distinction between the calendar and a prioritized list of next actions. I like to have both a paper calendar and an electronic calendar that sends me reminders. If I start carrying around an electronic device again, I’ll be able to dispense with the paper calendar. (But the new ones don’t have real keyboards like my old Psion Revo, and I cannot be trusted not to drop them or let them get wet.)

* Next actions – I get paper calendars with extra space outside the days so I can make lists of next actions there. When I do remember to do that for the week, I’m generally more pleased with what I accomplish. I like just picking off a few nonroutine things to focus on for the week.

And a lot of stuff just means a fire hazard and a tough time looking for things, so I prefer to be simple.

I had a to-do list and a calendar on my iPhone but I find it pointless to be used now because it isn’t unlock and I rather not waste the phone battery if it cannot act as a phone so far. I miss it so much :( The phone is just too pricey to be wasted. But, hopefully, the unlock and phone will be released sometime this week :)!

Thank you for the article!