Projects and Next Actions

[hwalterk]

Folks,

I’ve gotten acquainted with GTD about a year ago having applied David’s principles the best I knew how. No question, I have had some major setbacks and my struggles seem to always come back to one item:
Where am I with all my projects? Let me state this in other words. If my boss calls me and wants to have an update about an issue/task and or given project, I am finding myself searching in my GTD world…way too long. What am I missing, I wonder?
Has anyone expereinced the same sort of confusion?
Also, is there an easy way to input NA’s in Outlook when the action does not originate as an email? Say, you receive a call prompting you to create a NA. I do not favor creating a task using the inherent outlook form, but that is all I know to date.
Thanks

Herb

[Longstreet]

Hi there,

This is a continuing issue that many, including me, have dealt with. Here are some tricks that I use to follow next actions within projects in Outlook. First, one can use the Kratz method for using contacts as projects and follow next actions associated in this manner. Here is the link to this description.

http://home.comcast.net/~whkratz/id3.htm

This works really well with me. Another approach I use is to list your next actions in the notes section of your project. I have an asterisk before next actions that are in my GTD system; ones that are not yet entered in its particular context do not have the asterisk. When completed, I change the asterisk to an "X" in front of the next action. In this manner, one can quickly open up the project and see what is planned, but not yet in the system, what are currently active next actions, and what has been completed.

I hope this helps some...

Best regards,
Longstreet

[andersons]

Are you saying that at a random time your boss asks, you don't remember where you are (have done, are doing, will do) in completing a project?

[hwalterk]

Not exactly! Not sure how many Projects you are dealing with, but in my case, I have an abundant amount. Truly, I did not count all of my various multitasks (projects), but I assure you it is more than one item, hence projects, for completion.
It certainly would be easier for me to run an example, but I do not wish to waste your time.
I think I came across an issue, meaning that I kept all my projects on-line, instead of establishing a separate file system.

Your answer, by the way, could have been a bit more taktful.

Thanks

Herb

[andersons]

Not exactly! Not sure how many Projects you are dealing with, but in my case, I have an abundant amount. Truly, I did not count all of my various multitasks (projects), but I assure you it is more than one item, hence projects, for completion.
It certainly would be easier for me to run an example, but I do not wish to waste your time.
I think I came across an issue, meaning that I kept all my projects on-line, instead of establishing a separate file system.

Your answer, by the way, could have been a bit more taktful.

Thanks

Herb

Herb, I'm sorry my question came across that way, and I can see how it did. It was not meant to be an answer but just an attempt to better understand the nature of the problem.

[ChuckR]

In my professional practice, I keep track of projects with MindManager/Results Manager. They are organized by client name, and I can quickly pull it up on my computer and see the status of a project.

Further, weekly review keeps me up on the overall status of each project.