One thing I am really not sure about is the following: assumed that you are working on one particular important project (eg. organizing the next event). You write "Organizing Event XYZ" to the project list, but what do you write to the Next Actions list? Only the one very next action or all those actions you have to get done before you work on the next/other project.

Also imagine having multiple projects at the same time but of course some group of actions has to be done in the very next time.

If you only write the very next action to the list, then you only get one action done before getting to the next action of the next project..?

Kelly:

This is one of the most succinct and easily understood pieces I've seen written so far on the distinction between Projects and Next Actions (To Do's).

In reading up on the GTD process over these past two years, my biggest lightbulb moment was finally seeing the difference between Projects and Next Actions. Now when I see my own lists and notice an item is languishing I can see what the "problem" with it is...I've most likely named it with a Project label and haven't isolated the Next Action required.

Thanks for this clever and clearly written post.

Another great post. Thank you. For some reason this came through in my RSS reader without the 'click her for the full article' link. In the past that occasionally stopped me from reading the whole post. I hope you'll continue to leave it out. Regards, Andrew

Thanks to all for posting. Here are my responses.

Cycloon - only the very next action(s) go on the Next Action lists. Anything that's a dependency or future action would be stored somewhere else (like wherever I'm keeping the project plans) until I can take those actions. Then I would either just take the action from the project plans directly and do it, or copy it over to the appropriate action list to get to as soon as I can. My Next Action lists might have several next actions for the same project listed, but only as long as they are not dependent on each other. If "Buy suitcase" needs to happen before "Pack suitcase" then only "Buy suitcase" will go on my Next Action list. "Pack suitcase" would be stored in my project plans waiting for its time to come up in the queue to be done.

Michelle - Thanks! I was fresh out of presenting a GTD class and the question came up quite a bit, so I thought it was worth a post.

Andrew - I try to put the full post in the body for the reason you describe. The only one recently that required a link to read the full article was my one on GTD & BlackBerry since the full article was posted on the RIM/BlackBerry web site. Thanks for letting me know that's an important feature for you though.

Kelly, how do you deal with the Successful Outcome aspect of any given Project? Should you write the Successful Outcome in the notes of your Treo Task and then start listing the very Next action below it or is this overkill.

Great post!

Hi Dean,

For most of my projects, I define the successful outcome within the project name in the subject line of my project. Usually a simple verb describing the end state scenario is enough for me on that, such as:

Complete
Finalize
Submit
Roll-out

If I want to get more descriptive, I'll write a paragraph about the end state and put that in the note field of the Project listing. When I teach the Natural Planning Model in GTD seminars, I'll have the participants write a paragraph about the desired outcome, as if the project is complete. I'll have them envision "Wild Success" and be as descriptive as possible about what happened, how it happened and who else was involved. That's always a fun exercise.

Regarding next actions, sure, the notes field of the Project can work to capture future actions, project plans, etc. It's not overkill unless you think it's overkill. Your own intuition will probably tell you when you're spending more time capturing & defining all that than is necessary.

Cheers, Kelly

Thanks, Kelly. Great post!

I use a tool called Life balance - on desktop and my Treo. On this tool I can outline a project - it allows you to create hierarchical list of actions.

So I can plan as much detail at one go as I have time for - usually several steps broken in physical steps. The plan outline remains on the outline view while next actions appear on the to-do list.

I found this very useful - and when you review the project you get the sense of how far it is done and what needs to be speeded up !

-mm

Yes, projects and actions are hard to keep apart for novices like me!

As for Kelly's suitcase scenario, my action list would read:

Buy suitcase, pack suitcase, get on the plane, sleep.

In this case I can delete the first part when appropriate, and have a way of capturing the other dependencies that are already planned without having to take things in and out of the different list categories.

Michael

Very helpful distinction. A question about Project lists - is it worth having separate lists for different areas of responsibility? With a project being defined as anything that takes more than one action step, nearly everything I do at work is a 'project', and my role spans 6 distinct functions and teams in the organisation. My struggle has been that when I put it all on one list, it is enormous, but when I have separate lists it starts to get fiddly....

Hi Anita,

I know what you mean. A long list can seem daunting, but too many lists can too. I prefer looking at fewer lists, so I keep all of my projects on one list no matter what job or personal area it relates to. You might try keeping it on one list, but starting each project with a key word about the role it relates to, such as:

FINANCE - Submit 2008 budget
HR - Complete performance reviews

The benefit of the keyword is that visually, scanning down the list will at least give you some delineation about the area it relates to, but everything is still on one list (if you want that.)

Kelly