10K, 20K, 30K, 40K, 50K . . . What does it mean?!

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding how to fit these into the GTD system. I've read through the pages in the book, but it just hasn't "clicked" for me yet.

What extra information do I need to define for these areas? It seems like if I define NA's and Projects, I've also defined 10K and 30K?

It seems like they translate into 1) "Now" items 2) Short term goals and projects and 3) long term goals and projects. If that's true, then why did we complicate it with all the other stuff, and if not true, what am I missing?

Thanks!

The horizons of focus are taking a step back from the specifics of actions and projects, to ask the increasingly big 'why' questions. They are important to do periodically - certainly not weekly, but between quarterly and annually - to make sure you don't just 'do' indefinitely without any greater purpose.

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Originally Posted by innovyse

It seems like if I define NA's and Projects, I've also defined 10K and 30K?

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Projects = 10K.

Defining NAs & Projects does not imply that you've defined your Goals & Objectives (30K). For example you may pay your bills just for fun or as part of your goal to get out of debt during next 12 months.

The book does seem to be vague about how to integrate horizons of focus above 10K ( projects ) into the daily workflow and weekly and monthly review cycles in a way that can be described as a systematic approach.

In my own case, I have decided that the purpose of documents above 10K is to generate Next Projects and hold support materials at a level that crosses multiple such projects, in the same way that a project generates Next Actions and holds support materials that cross multiple actions.

This gives me something concrete to do at review time which is to check that each document has a Next Project. I run through these at monthly review, so now I have a concrete action plan for monthly reviews too.

This still leaves the question of how each level from 20K to 50K behaves differently and I have issues there. For example, the longevity and scope of my Areas of Focus is greater than those of my goals and visions and so they seem to belong above visions and below purpose ! ( And why should I care anyway ? ).

If you're new to GTD, don't put a lot of focus into the 20-50,000 ft focus areas. Be aware of them, but don't try to get clear on them at first or you'll blow all of your fuses. You need to get control of the current runway and 10,000 ft in your life. Once you've gotten control over those things then you will be able to graduate your thinking into the higher altitudes.

D.A.'s book "Making it All Work" goes into greater level of detail on how and when to engage with these other altitudes.

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Originally Posted by pxt

The book does seem to be vague about how to integrate horizons of focus above 10K ( projects ) into the daily workflow and weekly and monthly review cycles in a way that can be described as a systematic approach.

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My understanding is that high-level Horizons of Focus (above 10K) are linked with Runway and 10K via Weekly Reviews only. Weekly Review is primarily the time to check if Runway (Next Actions) is aligned with Projects level. You do the extended Weekly Review monthly/quarterly/yearly to check if the higher levels are aligned too.

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Originally Posted by TesTeq

My understanding is that high-level Horizons of Focus (above 10K) are linked with Runway and 10K via Weekly Reviews only. Weekly Review is primarily the time to check if Runway (Next Actions) is aligned with Projects level. You do the extended Weekly Review monthly/quarterly/yearly to check if the higher levels are aligned too.

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Quoted for truth. This is also pretty much how I have understood it.

E.G. in weekly review you review some of your horizons of focus, asking yourself, does this altitude contain something that needs new projects to advance. Review frequency is defined by the question how often you need to review altitude to stay up to date and stress free. So it may be weekly or may be yearly. As a rule of thumb, higher the altitude, less frequently you need to review it. (E.g. 50k thinking: is this job part of life I want to live?)

As a rough simplification, I say that altitudes above 10K generate projects and projects generate next actions.

runway: Next actions
10k: projects
20k: Areas of responsibility
30k: Vision and goal for 1-2 years
40k: Vision and goal for 3-5 years
50k: life

If you think I have have got something wrong, please tell me about it.

kkuja,

I think you are on the right track in attempting to define the mechanics of how to keep your 20K+ materials aligned. I.e., what is it that you do, consistently, during your reviews and your workflow that makes that alignment happen?

The GTD books describe in detail how to align projects (10K) and Next Actions, but they leave it open for 20K+. In your description above, you have decided that the link is that 20K+ materials generate projects. This works for me but I think it's worth keeping in mind that this is an implementation decision for something that was not covered in the book.

My reasons for liking the Next Project approach is that it gives me concrete ways of maintaining that alignment. During monthly review I check from top down that every 20K+ material has a Next Project. Every project I create names its parent and, at project completion, I create a weekly review action to track back to the parent and see what needs to be done to move this 20K+ material to the next Next Project.

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Originally Posted by pxt

I think you are on the right track in attempting to define the mechanics of how to keep your 20K+ materials aligned. I.e., what is it that you do, consistently, during your reviews and your workflow that makes that alignment happen?

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I think "Making It All Work" by David Allen gives more thorough description of the connection between Control and Perspective (workflow management and horizons of focus). Highly recommended!

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Originally Posted by TesTeq

I think "Making It All Work" by David Allen gives more thorough description of the connection between Control and Perspective (workflow management and horizons of focus). Highly recommended!

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Make your mind up. Does it have the answers or are you not sure?