Quote Originally Posted by tomguy View Post
I find that often while processing my inbox that a bit of "stuff" needs to be turned into a project. I then spend the next 20-30 minutes nutting out a project plan for that project and creating a list of next actions. If there are two or three of these that can kill a good hour of my morning (I know they need to be planned at some point) and I still have the rest of my inbox to process.

For these projects should I just create a next action "plan X project" or spend the time and create a series of next actions then and there?
If you are have everything else under control, there's nothing wrong with spending an hour on a random project. But processing your inbox is processing your inbox. If you stop in the middle to spend an hour on something, how do you know you're not neglecting something more important? Dump it on the project list, but all means. If you know the next action, put that on a list too. If not, you have two choices: put "figure out next action for project x" on the right list, or wait to determine a next action when you review your project list (that can be more frequent than weekly- it just has be at least weekly).

Another point: a rule of thumb is that for most people, 80% of projects just need a next action, 15% just need a very simple plan, and 5% need something more elaborate. Elaborate planning is a waste of time for the vast majority of projects, because in most cases the next action is pretty obvious, and the next one after that may change with no notice.