Basic question re: hobbies

[Anonymous]

Please share with me what file/list is to be put hobby projects - with the qualification that one is not currently working on the specific hobby, but has no intentions of getting rid of the in-progress hobby project.

What is the correct "process" for all those un-done projects, that one might return to in the future, but that one has NO interest in reviewing - not even on a by-monthly basis, but feels quite comfortable having them stowed away in storage boxes for some potential time, perhaps, in the future?

Is this a "Someday/maybe"?

Or is there a better way to deal with this type of issue?

I have scads of projects which are along this lines, and I do not intend to be working on any of them at any point in the near future.


Thanks if you care to share, in the hopes of enlightening me. :)

[Anonymous]

Since it is a good idea to periodically check your Someday/Maybe list, and you do not necessarily want to look at all of your hobbies often, I would not list them there. Why not make an inventory list of your projects, file it, and whenever you want to do/resume a project, check your list? If you are planning some "hobby" time, for the future, put that planned event on your NA list. I would advise you to make a note (attached to your inventory list, maybe?) of what status your project was in when you left it. If a project has not been started (you've purchased materials for something), I would note what the intended project is (somtimes items are not looked at for quite some time, and the intention can be forgotten).

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Susan.

Any advice what file I should put something like that into? As they are all definitely ON HOLD, so they require no Next Actions, and yet I've no intention of tossing them out.

Or should I simply start a NEW folder, perhaps entitled "ON HOLD" (which in truth actually stands for my firm decision that, "I'm *not* starting any new hobby projects in order to fully engage my attention so I can take a little time & space out of my life to comfortably & fully IGNORE the reality of all the numerous unfinished projects I already have and the infinite number of Open Loops my life currently exists of.")


So, is it okay in GTD system to simply carve out a block of items which you've identified thusly, that you know you will NOT be giving any time/attention to for a long time --- and so simply make a list, and file under: IGNORE.

I don't want to make a major mistake with the basic foundation of GTD.

I 'spose I could reasonable file them under, "2007." :)

[Anonymous]

I categorize things of this nature as "Interests" and file them in the "Reference" sector. They require no action in and of themselves. If I decide to do a project related to any of them, it's defined as a project, and it'll probably reference the file I've been building.

Projects, by their nature, require action--now or deferred, but action of some sort. Same w/someday/maybe. Least that's how I see it, but I am new to this, too.

[Anonymous]

I think I've got a solution.

I will entitle the initial folder: ESCAPISM

Later on, when I've familiarized myself enough with GTD to have made some clear headway in the mundane areas of my life, I'll take a look at the ESCAPISM FILE, and it may be at that time that I find it worthwhile to break it down further along the lines of other numerical Escapism 1, 2, 3, and so on.

Who knows, perhaps then, there might even be something I wish to 'activate' and thus move to a current projects area, and maybe there will even be some that I toss/donate - in some way get rid of, as maybe they will no longer be enjoyable or absorbing forms of Escapism.

Thanks for your assistance, Susan.

[Anonymous]

I categorize things of this nature as "Interests" and file them in the "Reference" sector. They require no action in and of themselves. If I decide to do a project related to any of them, it's defined as a project, and it'll probably reference the file I've been building.

Projects, by their nature, require action--now or deferred, but action of some sort. Same w/someday/maybe. Least that's how I see it, but I am new to this, too.


Thanks for the input, and yeah, I was pretty sure, maybe even hoping that they did NOT belong in the "Projects" area.

I think that for the meantime, I'll not put them into "REFERENCE" - as I'd like to give that folder a real chance to work, without it becoming the repository of what I now have realized are some "Hot Button" issues, lol -- I think I'd like them in that "ESCAPISM" folder where they are more hoestly entitled and altogether in one place where I can easily find them and reexamine in the future.

In his GTD book, Allen said that already-overwhelmed people are the most likely to take on even more & more new things --- and I want to explore this a bit more, but not anytime in the foreseeable future - way too many projects that must be done. I'll be preoccupied for many months.

[Anonymous]

Keeping things out of Reference unless they really are reference makes a lot of sense, Grateful. But I quibble with "ESCAPISM." It seems so judgmental! (What are you "escaping," after all, but all those "shoulds"?)

You have a lot of interests, and even though it can seem a negative when you're feeling overwhelmed, it's something to celebrate.

How about "MY DA VINCI FILES" instead?

[Anonymous]

How about a tickler file for these?

Maybe file it all 12 months from now. Who knows what your life will look like then. You can still glance at the files a year from now and defer them another year - in just a few seconds.

Or file all the project support material in appropriately named reference files, and tickle a reminder to review them every so often.

-andersons

[Anonymous]

I would make a list called "Hobby projects."

For each hobby, list:
If you were going to do this hobby - what would be the outcome? what would be the next step?

I would then put a repeating calendar entry for each quarter: "Review hobby projects list and decide if I want to do any of them now."

Now you have a place to write down anything related to prospective hobbies - keeping your mind clear of this stuff - and a trusted reminder system to go back to that information, when it might be useful.

If you want to do a hobby, move it from the Hobby list to the Current Projects list.