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Projects and GTD
appelq | Jun 8 2006
There seems to be a lot of discussion about GTD and Projects. Especially projects larger than a few simple steps, and Projects with task dependancies, firm due dates, etc. First off, I don't see any conflict as I have heard others mention here and elsewhere between GTD and Projects. The question GTD answers in my mind is "What should I be working on, right now, where I'm at, in order to be most productive, given my areas of responsibility and current projects?" Different types of projects require different tracking methods/tools. Medium projects may add the complexity of having some tasks not dependant on other tasks, Other people may have some tasks that you must wait for completion before you can do your thing, some tasks may be date/time sensitive, etc. Large Projects add more complexity. Management status reports, team coordination, etc. Here's what I do: All of this, along with any backup materials goes in a Project Folder. Now, to my GTD system: Once I've called Dave and discussed the team, I mark that "Done" on my Next Action list and in the Project plan. I immediately look for the NEXT "Next Action" mark it "NA" and bring it to which ever "Next Action" list that is appropriate. This does not wait for a "Weekly review" this is just part of working my lists. On SMALL Projects, I tend to differ from David Allen a little, but mainly in the level of detail where I break up a Task into sub-tasks. First, I would never write "Go to work" in my system to begin with. By the way, I use OneNote for all of this and it is working well for me. Itegrates nicely with Outlook (I love Outlook and don't know why some people hate it). I only use Outlook for what it's good at - Email / Calendar. I use my Calendar for Tickler file things and don't use the "43 folders". I also manage a staff, and for that, instead of one @Waiting for list I have a separate @ list for each direct report @Teri , @Nick, etc. These also serve as "Agenda" lists. I would love to hear any suggestions you have. Next Action: Look up the word "Brevity" and find out what that's all about:rolleyes: 1 Comment
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Thank, very clear. I am...Submitted by basovink on September 11, 2007 - 3:23pm.
Thank, very clear. I am using Bonsai for gtd and it can automatically show the next action. So when you have defined a sequence and you check of your first incomplete action it will show the next action from the list. I know there are more tools that have this functionality and I would suggest it is a requirement for any automated gtd system. Checking your project list manually is kind of 'stupid' and computers are very good at 'stupid' actions :cool: . » POSTED IN:
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