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July 19, 2006
Can "think about" be the next action?
Here's a question to consider: Can think about be a next action? In my experience, sometimes yes, sometimes no. It's tempting to put something on my To Do list with an action step of "think about" or "decide". And, usually what happens when I do that is that although I get quick gratification of the item getting processed, think about or decide are usually not my next action, and the item stays stuck on my lists. It's a rare item where truly my next action is to put my feet up, stare at the sky and think about what I might do. Not discounting the value of creative thinking and brainstorming, I'm talking next action level here and why stuff can get stuck.
More often than not, think about or decide means I need more information (talk to someone, get clarification on something, gather more data, etc.) Or, I am waiting until it's time to make a decision (in which case I would use my calendar as a tickler/reminder for me of that at a date in the future rather than keeping it in To Do's to see over and over again when I'm not ready to make that decision yet.)
Posted by Kelly at July 19, 2006 11:12 PM
Comments
Hi Kelly,
I've had a similar experience with the temptation to put "Decide" items on my To-Do list. You raise a great point which is that often times we just need more information, and then the decision will be based on that.
Once in a while though, there is something really worth a good navel-gazing. I find it helps me keep myself in line if I use action verbs such as "Meditate on..." or "Mindmap ideas about..." to make the next action more concrete. Those next actions are well worth adding to my lists, in fact brainstorming and meditating are some of the things I most need to carve out time to do.
Posted by: Lisa at July 20, 2006 10:16 AM
