Working On A Single Project vs. Next Actions

[kwes]

Hello David Co. and Others,

I seem to be having a disconnect with the GTD system, and I am hoping you can help...

So, I have my project list and I have my list of next actions organized into contexts.

This works for getting more tasks done across the board, but I am not getting projects done in time now.

I like to take a designated time and work on one project for a long time. This helps me get in the flow and stay focused and sometimes I want to work on one project until completion.

The disconnect that I am having is that when I am working off of my next actions list, I am working on stuff by context not by project. So, by the end of the week I've done a lot of the little steps towards a lot of projects but I have not focused on one project.

Since I like to focus on one project at a time--how do I work my Next Actions list into this?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Kyle

[kewms]

Put the very Next Action for a project on your NA list. After you do that action, continue working on the project for as long as desired. When you stop, "bookmark" the project by, again, putting the very Next Action on your list. Repeat.

Katherine

[Trish]

I say put the next action on your Project list and put it like this: Get out Project Z File and work on Project Z for 4 hours, or until I am totally burned out or it's done. How's that?

[GTDWorks]

I simply determine which project I'm going to work on and just stay at it until time requires me to shift to another or leave the office. This Project/Next Action system really is ingenius and can help me move forward on a lot of projects in a relatively short period of time. But good old-fashioned focus on a single Project is still a great way to move that Project forward.

[kwes]

Hey, Thanks for the responses!

I see the idea of using the NA list like a reminder or bookmark to then work on that project, but I am still feeling resistance while staring at this huge list of NAs.

The thing that doesn't seem to be working for me is the lack of prioritizing.

I like to see all the projects that I have in my scope and then pick the most important ones for the week. Then I can focus on finishing these projects.

More stuff falls through the cracks when I work this way as opposed to working off a list of all my Next Actions, but I've found that the stuff that falls through the cracks was the less important stuff anyway.

Any project that I am working on, I have always backward planned it down to the next action--I just didn't work off a Next Action list. The idea of contexts seems brilliant, however I still seem to get more done when I just pick a project no matter what the context and blast right through it with laser sharp focus.

I feel like the odd man out here with so many people having such great results with the GTD system. What do you think?

How do you deal with focus and prioritizing?

[Trish]

I may be the odd man out with you but I get to feeling pretty fragmented doing pure GTD and miss doing my most imp things--to me, the most imp things anyway. I do think that between your big pushes, you will have time here and there and then it's great to rip of a few na's in the kitchen or make the dentist appts etc. Call your mother. But I think you are bringing up a great point and I for one appreciate it. I was too scared to bring it up, but with you ahead of me, I'm with you.

[ChrisF]

Personally, more complicated multi-step projects get a different treatment. I generally map them out and work back on a timeline with good fudge room for the usual messes and delays. I also review them frequently or at least weekly in a weekly review to see where I am. I do use a next action list, I think it's pretty logical to incorporate some kind of priority scheme which is basically the spirit of the calendar although it doesn't have to be exactly that. I really think this is about integrating a smooth catch-all system that you can have faith in. Not everyone's work is the same nor are their strengths and weaknesses the same. If I didn't keep some sense of priority I'd spend a whole lot of time fiddling with minutia. Certain actions are more timely, have higher value, and hold large consequences for not getting them done.

Hopefully something in there helps you.

[sdann]

I too had the same problem. The way I get around this, and I see many others on the forum do as well, is by creating a daily list. My daily list consists of about 5 to 6 items. Some of the items are NAs, others are projects. On several occasions one of the items on my daily list have even been a context, if, for example, I have only been doing pc work and not any calls. I prefer to do it this way rather than scheduling a make-shift calendar of tasks, which works for many, but definitely not for me. Although working down the NA list can sometimes be very gratifying, I mostly find that once I'm in a project I will work further into that, then record my NA and move on to another NA. Like you, I will also list the tasks in most projects in advance.

I don't think there is a problem with a daily list. I chuck mine at the end of the day and start a new one based on my next day's NA, project lists, and any deadlines and calendar items. Some on the forum have talked about a closed daily list, but I worry I will only go back to uncompleted closed task lists. Many seem to work well with those.

Another thing that helped, and I didn't understand it really at the start, was other members saying to me "trust your system." Once I started doing the weekly review and "working" from my NA lists daily, did I really begin to trust my system. A big part of that system though is in seeing in what framework you work best.

[CLallo4444]

"having trouble getting projects done in time". Problem is in the question. Time sensitive Projects go on the calendar or in the tickler. Project and NA list are for discretionary time. If you have a project on your calendar, you ignore project and NA's until it is done.

eh....It's a theory.

[Brent]

The thing that doesn't seem to be working for me is the lack of prioritizing.

Huh? What lack of prioritizing?

I like to see all the projects that I have in my scope and then pick the most important ones for the week. Then I can focus on finishing these projects.

Ah-ha.

Are you doing the Weekly Review? Every week? That's where the prioritization is supposed to happen.