Question about the Getting Things Done System...

[jasont]

I use mostly electronic (reminders on the iPhone/iPad). In my @projects list is where I keep my project goals. In fact I try to word my projects on my lists as goals. If there is more to the goal or project description I'll use the notes section. Looks something like this:
@projects (this is the list header)
**Complete business analysis for xyz market event (the ** indicates I have notes attached)
NOTES SECTION: review market declines, sales force reallocation opportunities, budget reallocation

Hope that helps!

Jason

[gtdnubcake]

OK, to answer TesTeq, the forum's "hero"
Here's the part where David tell other people to use full size paper to capture thought:

Page 92 GTD:

Plain Paper
You'll use plain paper for the initial collection process. Believe it or not, putting one thought on one full-size sheet of paper can have enormous value...

Also, stop trolling the thread.
If you don't have anything to say that's relevant to the question, don't post

[CJSullivan]

OK, to answer TesTeq, the forum's "hero"
Here's the part where David tell other people to use full size paper to capture thought:

Page 92 GTD:


Also, stop trolling the thread.
If you don't have anything to say that's relevant to the question, don't post

The collection process is different than your eventual Projects List. You've gotten a lot of useful information in this thread, but I would just say - don't get confused between the collection phase and the organization phase. Your "trusted buckets" will be your Projects List(s), your Someday Maybe list(s), and your context-based Next Action lists.

In the quote you include here, David suggests the one item per piece of paper strategy - especially for your initial mindsweep - so that it is easier for you to focus on PROCESSING one thing at a time. and by processing, I mean asking "What is my desired outcome? What is my next action?"

(There is also a case whereby you may want to work with folders instead of lists (either paper lists or electronic lists), in which case you would keep actions, projects, etc. on separate pieces of paper in a folder.

Hope that helps...

[mcogilvie]

Also, stop trolling the thread.
If you don't have anything to say that's relevant to the question, don't post

Notice that David Allen's recommendation is for an initial collection process.

Also, please be more polite and let our personalities grow on you.

[jesig]

gtdnubcake, you have discovered the strange paradox of the GTD forums--despite the fact that we're all here precisely to discuss how our implementations differ, a lot of people insist that there's a "right" way to do things.

Here's a comment I find relevant...

(There is also a case whereby you may want to work with folders instead of lists (either paper lists or electronic lists), in which case you would keep actions, projects, etc. on separate pieces of paper in a folder.

to back that up from the book:

When I refer to a "list," keep in mind that I mean nothing more than a grouping of items with some similar characteristic. A list could look like one of three things: (1) a file folder with separate paper notes for the items within the category; (2) an actual list on a titled piece of paper (often within a loose-leaf organizer or planner); or (3) an inventory in a software program or on a digital assistant, such as Microsoft Outlook task categories or a category on a handheld PDA."

So yes, one possible way that David suggests to organize NA and project lists is simply to continue the one-sheet per item method but group them into folders. For most people, however, this is going to be too cumbersome and require too much fiddling.

In my experience with these forums, it is often best to ask, "How do each of you implement this aspect of the system" or "Where do each of you put this kind of reminder for yourself" rather than "Where should I put this" or "How should I do this"

There really are no "shoulds" beyond "Get it off your mind and review it appropriately so that it stays off your mind until it's the right time to get done."

The implementation of GTD is intensely personal and highly situation specific. When you ask with the understanding that you're going to get multiple options, you'll get multiple options and you can pick and choose which ones to try. No two of us are implementing GTD in exactly the same way.

That said-- to give you an answer about where *I* put my projects: I use Google Tasks for my NA lists, and my project list is simply a list in Google Tasks. Since my contexts lists are all preceded with the @symbol, that means that my lists "Projects" and "Projects--Writing" and "Someday/Maybe" appear at the bottom of my system, which is perfect since I don't review those as often.

[cwoodgold]

Thanks, jesig!

TesTeq is also right: other methods of keeping lists, which don't put one action
on each page, are also perfectly good ways of organizing things and are also
among the alternatives suggested by David Allen.

About three paragraphs earlier, also on page 141, he says:

Your lists (which, as I've indicated, could also be items in folders) will keep track of projects and someday/maybes, as well as the actions you'll need to take on your active open loops."

So I think it's pretty clear that the explanation of what he means by lists applies to lists of actions as well as other lists.