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How Granular is a Next Action?

Richard Anderson | Feb 12 2007

One thing I'm still trying to wrap my brain around viz-a-viz GTD is how granular a next action is, in terms of a project. Say, for example, I have a paper to write for an English class (which I do). I figure my NAs are:

1. Skim book for passage to analyze
2. Re-read book, and take notes
3. Skim previous class readings to choose comparison piece
4. Re-read chosen piece
5. Write first draft
6. Revise first draft
7. Write final paper

It's 5, 6, and 7 that have me curious as to whether those are really NAs, or if they can be made more granular and subdivided. There's subtasks to the actual writing, I suppose, but do I really need "Write thesis," "Write supporting argument 1," etc.?

‹ tagging files on pc, mac or linux GTD system: help? ›
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pooks's picture

If I have never backed...

Submitted by pooks on February 13, 2007 - 12:05pm.

moises;8119 wrote:

If I have never backed up the server before, I need to write an extremely granular list of actions:

1) find the tape cassette labeled with today's day,
2) push the eject button under the server's tape drive,
. . .

So, my NA would be step one above.

If I have been handling the server backup for some time, my NA would be, "Backup server."

The granularity is dependent on, and relative to, my experience, knowledge, and situation.

(snip-snip)

If you are struggling, "write thesis" might be a subproject. Your NA might be, "reread pages 218-214 in Smith's book." If you are struggling, your best strategy is to make your granularity finer and finer until it is small enough to overcome your resistance. "Turn on computer," "Open xyz.doc file," "read notes on abc book," "free-write for 10 minutes," etc.

It does pay to write down the next thing that needs to be done to help overcome inertia. I try to make my NAs as coarsely-grained as possible and as finely-grained as needed to get me to act.

First of all, the term "granular" is a new one to me in this context. Is it part of the new business jargon?

Okay, that out of the way --

Moises makes excellent points.

If you're having trouble focussing for any reason, breaking "write rough draft" down into smaller pieces is exactly what you'd want to do. Otherwise, you have no reason to bother with it.

Which is to say, at this point in your process, "write rough draft" is probably enough. When you get to that stage if you're having trouble moving forward, that's the time to rethink NAs until you can get started. Otherwise, you're wasting your time even worrying about it.

Good luck!

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