From bfb56ad43fb63f46dc247e6d5382fdeb1e4772cd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Lars Wirzenius Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2023 19:40:35 +0200 Subject: rewrite the whole site Signed-off-by: Lars Wirzenius Sponsored-by: author --- projects-next-actions.mdwn | 180 --------------------------------------------- 1 file changed, 180 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 projects-next-actions.mdwn (limited to 'projects-next-actions.mdwn') diff --git a/projects-next-actions.mdwn b/projects-next-actions.mdwn deleted file mode 100644 index 39cd6e3..0000000 --- a/projects-next-actions.mdwn +++ /dev/null @@ -1,180 +0,0 @@ -Projects and next actions -========================= - -In the GTD system, a "next action" is a physical action you can take, -preferably something that lasts a fairly short time. Examples of -next actions would be "write e-mail to project mailing list explaining -your plan to implement a new test driven development approach", or -"buy apples and bananas for home". - -A **bad** next action would be "start a side business". It's bad for -two very important reasons: - -* it's not short; indeed, it might be of indefinite length -* it's unclear when it's finished - -When you actually start doing things, it's much easier if you know what -you need to do, and when you're finished. A **good next action** would -fulfill the following criteria: - -* a _physical_ action ("write", not "think about") - * thinking is part of planning! and that should happen during a review phase - * planning can be broken down into next actions, however -* it's clear what I need to do (a widget to crank) -* duration at most 15 minutes, preferably -* I'm committed to doing it -* does not depend on anything, can be done immediately -* it's clear when it's done - -Obviously, some things you want to get done are going to take a lot of -time. That's OK: they just should not be next actions. Next actions need -to be things that you just do. No more thinking or planning should be -required. - -Anything that takes more than one step (more than one next action), -is called a project in GTD. Like next actions, projects should have -a clearly defined goal so that you know when you're finished. For -example, "form a corporation for side business" might be a good -project: - -* it's clearly defined (it's done when the corporation is formally and - legally founded, and has a bank account, accountant, e-mail address, - and other such things) -* it takes several steps: decide on name, register, open bank account, etc. - -Also like next actions, projects should be finished within a limited -time, though the time will be much longer. Next actions should typically -be doable within half a day (but shorter is better), whereas projects -might last up to a year. - -It's a good idea to write down the goal of a project in a sentence or -a paragraph. This concentrates your thinking to be directed at achieving -that goal and makes it easier to avoid spending time on things that are -related to the goal, but don't help you achieve it. - -Update: Finishing things is an important motivator, at least for me. -It's probably a good idea to prioritise finishing existing projects, -and to scope and plan projects so they're easy and quick to finish, to -gain from the motivational boost. - -Update: Getting started in the morning can be difficult. Sometimes it -helps to have really simple, tiny next actions to choose from that you -can do and get started. I tag such actions with a "zombie" label, to -find them easily. - -Keeping track of projects and next actions: the art of lists ------------------------------------------------------------- - -You'll likely have more than a handful of projects or next actions. -Even if you only have a few of each, it's best to write them down. -The human brain is not good at remembering things without triggers, -whereas even the cheapest pen and piece of paper will do lists with -excellence. (In fact, my memory seems to work better the more I write -things down.) - -You should keep one list of projects, and another list of next actions. -You can keep them in any way or form that you like: - -* a single plain text file for each -* a web page for next actions (so you can read it on your phone), and a - folder on your computer's desktop for every project -* using an outliner: one tree for next actions, one for projects -* using a specialized GTD application -* a sheet of paper for next actions, and a project folder for each project - -If you choose to have one folder per project, whether digital or physical, -that provides a convenient place to store files related to that project. -However, this requires all files to be arranged according to project, -which can be inconvenient: if you have two projects related to the same -software, do you check out the source code twice, once per project folder? -You might instead keep a simple list of projects, and then store the -supporting files in a way that is more natural than per project. Or you -might decide that per-project is the natural way. Your choice. - -There is one right way to do this: anything that you do that helps you -keep track of things is fine. Anything that is a hassle or gets in your -way is wrong. - -Next action contexts and categories ------------------------------------ - -The list of next actions is what you will be dealing with most with GTD. -It is important that it's easy and fast to use. However, as soon as it -grows longer than two or three dozen entries, it will become hard to -pick something from it quickly: you need to read through a lot of it -to find something suitable to do. - -Say you're waiting for the bus, and you have maybe ten or fifteen minutes. -You have your laptop, and there's a place for you to sit. This would be -a perfect time to knock off an item from your next actions list, but -what should you do? If it takes five minutes to scan the list and find -something to do, you've wasted maybe half of your available time. Not good. - -You should break down the list by context or other suitable category. -A context is the things that are required for you to do the action: -"at phone" would be the context for anything that requires you to use -your phone; "online" would be all the things you need Internet access -to do; "at home" for things you must be at home to do, etc. - -Productivity geeks have spent inordinate amounts of times figuring out -the ideal contexts and categories -for them. This is an easy thing to obsess over. However, it's -also clear that nobody else can decide what contexts suit you than yourself. -Still, for inspiration, here's the list of contexts I use: - -* **In progress**: for anything that has been started, but is currently - waiting for something, typically a long computation being performed by - a computer -* **Unfun**: anything that is unpleasant, and is therefore easily postponed; - having this as its own category helps avoiding that (also, I have a rule - that every workday at least one unfun thing needs to be done) -* **At phone, able to call**: for phone calls one needs to make (a special - category of unfun, for me) -* **Errands**: things that require you to go somewhere, such as a shop, or - office, or meet someone outside your normal locations -* **With person X**: things that need to be discussed with a specific - person, either in person or perhaps over the phone -* **At home, not using a computer**: cleaning, dishes, etc. -* **At home, using computer**: typically involves a desktop computer, or - external hard disks, or a printer/scanner, or other hardware that is - hard to carry -* **At laptop, offline**: the laptop being my primary computer, this is all - the things I need to do at a computer, which don't require Internet access; - I travel a bit, and I often go sit in a cafe to work a bit, and so I can't - take the Internet for granted; there's a lot of things that fall into this - context, so this is often quite a long list -* **At laptop, online**: like the previous one, but these require both the - laptop and Internet access - - -"My lists are too long" ------------------------ - -Inevitably, life dumps more on you than you can handle, at least in -the short term. I feel like that every Monday morning. One sign of -this is that my next actions list keeps growing, and doesn't ever -seem to get shorter. - -Sometimes this becomes so overwhelming I can't stand it, and I need to -do something about it. My main strategy is to drop commitments until -I have the situation under control again. For example, if I've got -five ideas for blog posts to write, I'll delete those, or move them -to someday/maybe. Or I find other things I can wriggle out of doing, -though sometimes that requires careful diplomacy (also known as -throwing a tantrum). - -The feeling of being overwhelmed is an important indicator to me -that my level of stress is rising too high. In principle, it doesn't -matter if your next actions list is very long, as long as you keep -doing each thing before it's too late. However, if I'm under too -much stress, the mere length of the list starts causing stress, and -I start avoiding even looking at it, and then everything starts -falling apart. - -And that's why I try to keep my lists at manageable lengths. - -Before dropping commitments, I try to do things like doing as many -quick tasks as possible, or avoiding new commitments while I deal with -the old ones. Those strategies tend to work only if I'm not already -overstressed. - -- cgit v1.2.1