Quote Originally Posted by rachel134
If I understand you correctly, you say don't label the overall project by what you are doing (writing or research, for example), label it by subject matter so when the focus shifts you don't have to shift the project from one folder or area to another. So instead of making obesity a subtopic under writing, I call the project obesity, and then "revise article" or "collect more data" goes under it.
Right, and "revise ms" or "collect more data" stays with other project material, and never goes on the project list or a next action list. I use several tools to store project material, including transparent project folders, mind maps, outlines, whatever seems to be working for that project at that point. Ideally, the next action for "revise ms" would be something like "mark problem areas in section III" or "look up reference on XXX" that are small and will get me going.

Quote Originally Posted by rachel134
The non-linearity of the whole thing would then fit in one place instead of being spread out across several folders. Doing it this way, I could then code for context with symbols in front of each action. When at the office, I could quickly scan the list for the "office" symbol to choose what to do, and if looking for a quick item to handle in the 10 minutes between class and lunch meeting, I could find the "speed" icon. I can envision this on an Excell sheet, because it has columns to keep everything in order.

Or am I complicating the system up again?

Rachel
The choice of a list tool is fundamentally a personal one, but I don't know of too many people who have stuck with Excel. What do you use now to tract appointments and tasks? Is it working for you? Do you like paper? Or digital? Need portability? I have been using a Palm for years, long before I heard of David Allen, and I have switched from PC's to Macs over the last year or so. If you use a computer that has Outlook (PC) or Entourage (Mac), you might consider either of the Davidco white papers on setting those programs up for GTD. Either is $10, and they are very practical.