All you need is a placeholder to ensure that you have a next action designated for each project. A simple, handwritten project list will work for this purpose. During the weekly review (or more often if you deem it necessary), you simply run down your lists to make sure you have a next action for each active project. Some people find this tedious and time consuming, especially if they have a long list of active projects, and enjoy the ease of using software programs that connect projects to next actions. The software programs can be great, but you can also easily get trapped into fiddling with the program features, looking for better programs and not getting things done. Sometimes it helps to go back to the basics and many people find that that works best for them.

I like to preface all my next actions with a shortened project name. For work, this often is the name of a client. A typical work project might be: "+Smith: Draft correspondence to opposing counsel." A typical home project might be: "+Maintain Car Insurance: Complete renewal forms." I use a slight variation on the pigpog method. Instead of limiting myself to a single next action for a project, if I want to have additional next actions for a project I use the number 2 in the next action. For example, another next action for the Smith project might be: "Smith: (2) Telephone call to client regarding terms of settlement." I keep my project support information, any future next actions and any completed next actions that I want to keep track of in the note section of the main next action for the project (in the task application of the Palm). Any next action with a (2) in it can be deleted when complete or during the weekly review. I don't delete the main next action for a project, I just write in a new next action when the previous next action is complete. Since I have been using this method, it has not been necessary for me to keep a separate projects list, because my next action lists show all my projects. I use the + symbol to preface the project name so that I can easily find projects using Palm's global find and also scan my lists when I sort them alphabetically. All the project-related next actions will sort to the top, thus giving me a quick project list automatically without the necessity of keeping a separate list. When the project is complete, I can delete or archive the main next action.

I have been using Can Do to sort my tasks alphabetically and to create filtered views. During my weekly review, I can easily view all my next actions under the +Smith project. This has been working well for me. I find that I can complete my weekly review in an hour or less and can even do a good percentage of it when I'm on the run as long as I have my Palm with me.

I prefer to use the Palm because it's very easy to move things around throughout the various programs, to store hundreds of addresses and phone numbers and all kinds of reference information and to carry it with me wherever I go. But I certainly think that working on paper or using a blended system of PDA and paper is a workable solution for many.