omg you are so right about not using due dates! Those are for people who like to spend the majority of their day feeling bad about what they didn't get done yesterday, and then changing all the due dates so they could feel bad about it again tomorrow! I only use due dates for a handful of things important but not urgent things which I would otherwise forget, such as "set out the garbage on Tuesday", or the once every six month "replace the furnace air filter". These all live in a project I call "Maintenance", which is at the bottom of my list and never otherwise gets my attention.
I used to do the Due Date Shuffle all the time. I know that dance well! Keeping a maintenance project is smart for those annual or semi annual tasks. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the video--helpful info. But the background music makes it really difficult to listen to, especially at a higher speed. I'd bet it's hard for people with hearing problems too, so I hope it can be left off future ones.
I just found your channel and I love your content! I'm guilty of putting ridiculous expectations on myself for no good reason other than I'm a perfectionist. I'm looking forward to revamping my productivity tools into a more relaxed system.
Perfectionism can be so hard because we convince ourselves that anything less than perfect isn't good enough! Be kind to yourself through the process. Thanks for watching!
Tremendous content. There are so many valuable nuggets in here I will have to watch again and take notes. Thank you!! Something I am stuck on is that there is a pool of next action items for projects and a pool of standalone todos that we face. Do we look at both pools to decide what we do next or dedicate time to each separately? If there are 30 projects and thus 30 next actions, plus 30 general standalone todos, there are 60 things that must need routine sequence and priority reevaluation and here is where I find paralysis.
Thanks for watching! Re: next actions lists. You can split them in whichever way works best for you. Best practice is to have as many lists as you need but not more than you need. I split my lists by context to avoid the paralysis you describe. If there are more than about 10 things on one of my lists, I split the list. I usually have an email, internet, internet-research, calls, and computer list. As needed, I'll create other lists to capture other tasks that don't fit into these contexts. Then, when I'm working out of my emails list, I can select which of the emails I want to send. I also make sure that my next actions list is only next actions, not future actions (that are blocked currently) and not project plans (that have no action). Hope this helps!
I just started "getting my things together" and found your fresh video about it. If this isn't a coincidence haha. Well I enjoyed the tip and looking forward for more content! :-) Thanks!
Great video! I made the same mistake with due dates. Mistake I made for myself personally, was representing every GTD project as a Todoist project. I found that tasks with subtasks were a better fit for my short-term projects since they're easier to setup. I still use Todoist projects for long running projects or those that have more unknowns.
1. Not doing a consistent weekly review 2. Not customizing my system, trying to copy what was in the book 3. Not spending time on my higher horizons 4. Trying to review everything in a given horizon at a time; now, instead, on a weekly basis, and especially when I'm short on time I might only limit myself to updating next actions on my 5 hottest/most urgent projects and then look at the other projects to see what needs to go into someday/maybe.
say you absolutely couldn’t decide between 6 primary care providers to choose. what would you do? if it’s to ask other people’s feedback (which I’m stuck on), would you pay ppl on fiverr for feedback? post on reddit? text friends? post to ig story?
If I had a situation like this, I’d try to keep things in perspective and realize that if I “make a mistake” and select a poor provider, it’s not an insurmountable task to choose a new one. At least not with my health insurance provider. I would select a PCP based on who *I* feel best meets my criteria of a great PCP. There could be 6 people who meet this criteria! That means you can’t go wrong with whoever you choose. I wouldn’t outsource personal decisions like this. Internet strangers (myself included) aren’t affected by your personal decisions. Hope this helps.
There isn't necessarily an order of operations when it comes to developing my lists. As I move through the clarifying and organizing workflow, each "thing" needs to be assessed to determine if it is a project or a next action. Most things I do are next actions, but every now and then something will trigger the need for a project. If you're just getting started, it might be helpful to simply allow the clarifying and organizing process to naturally reveal which item goes where (next action vs project list) rather than using a mind sweep try to squeeze all of your next actions and projects out of your brain. Hope this helps!
@@OrganizingHigher thanks that makes sense, after a series of weekly reviews the distinction between the two would begin to show. Do you link your action lists to your projects list with tags, keywords or a numbering system?
omg you are so right about not using due dates! Those are for people who like to spend the majority of their day feeling bad about what they didn't get done yesterday, and then changing all the due dates so they could feel bad about it again tomorrow! I only use due dates for a handful of things important but not urgent things which I would otherwise forget, such as "set out the garbage on Tuesday", or the once every six month "replace the furnace air filter". These all live in a project I call "Maintenance", which is at the bottom of my list and never otherwise gets my attention.
I used to do the Due Date Shuffle all the time. I know that dance well! Keeping a maintenance project is smart for those annual or semi annual tasks. Thanks for sharing!
You do great work. My tendency is to get sloppy and let undefined work pile up.
It's amazing how much simpler this all was when I was younger. ;)
Thanks for the video--helpful info. But the background music makes it really difficult to listen to, especially at a higher speed. I'd bet it's hard for people with hearing problems too, so I hope it can be left off future ones.
Thanks for this feedback!
Music without drums works best for talking videos. I edited videos all day long for the City of Los Angeles. Google: "Medgar Parrish".
@@medgarjerome Thanks for the tip. I've just left music off at this point. Saves me a step in editing.
@@OrganizingHigher good move. Not everyone understand rhythmic learning through vibrational frequencies. Especially, 432hz
I love your content, so I hope this will be well received-the background sound track made me think I had two apps playing at the same time, lol!
Yea, I've stopped putting music in my videos. It saves me a step in editing and doesn't take away from the content. Thanks for watching!
This next actions thing is very interesting... thank you
Thanks for watching!
I just found your channel and I love your content! I'm guilty of putting ridiculous expectations on myself for no good reason other than I'm a perfectionist. I'm looking forward to revamping my productivity tools into a more relaxed system.
Perfectionism can be so hard because we convince ourselves that anything less than perfect isn't good enough! Be kind to yourself through the process. Thanks for watching!
Tremendous content. There are so many valuable nuggets in here I will have to watch again and take notes. Thank you!! Something I am stuck on is that there is a pool of next action items for projects and a pool of standalone todos that we face. Do we look at both pools to decide what we do next or dedicate time to each separately? If there are 30 projects and thus 30 next actions, plus 30 general standalone todos, there are 60 things that must need routine sequence and priority reevaluation and here is where I find paralysis.
Thanks for watching!
Re: next actions lists. You can split them in whichever way works best for you. Best practice is to have as many lists as you need but not more than you need.
I split my lists by context to avoid the paralysis you describe. If there are more than about 10 things on one of my lists, I split the list. I usually have an email, internet, internet-research, calls, and computer list. As needed, I'll create other lists to capture other tasks that don't fit into these contexts. Then, when I'm working out of my emails list, I can select which of the emails I want to send.
I also make sure that my next actions list is only next actions, not future actions (that are blocked currently) and not project plans (that have no action).
Hope this helps!
I just started "getting my things together"
and found your fresh video about it. If this isn't a coincidence haha. Well I enjoyed the tip and looking forward for more content! :-) Thanks!
Perfect timing! Glad you found this helpful. Let me know if there are other specific topics you’d like to see.
Something I need to do, re-read GTD.
I re-read it at least once a year and every time I do I see something in a new light or understand it better/differently.
Great video! I made the same mistake with due dates.
Mistake I made for myself personally, was representing every GTD project as a Todoist project. I found that tasks with subtasks were a better fit for my short-term projects since they're easier to setup. I still use Todoist projects for long running projects or those that have more unknowns.
Thanks for sharing your insights on how to handle short-term vs long-term projects! That sounds like a good process.
This was very helpful! Thanks so much
So glad!
1. Not doing a consistent weekly review 2. Not customizing my system, trying to copy what was in the book 3. Not spending time on my higher horizons 4. Trying to review everything in a given horizon at a time; now, instead, on a weekly basis, and especially when I'm short on time I might only limit myself to updating next actions on my 5 hottest/most urgent projects and then look at the other projects to see what needs to go into someday/maybe.
Thanks for sharing!
Good information. But the background music (noise?) is quite distracting and gets in the way of following what you're saying.
Yea, I stopped adding music to videos a while ago. Saves me time in editing. Thanks for watching!
Amazing content!
Thanks for watching!
say you absolutely couldn’t decide between 6 primary care providers to choose. what would you do? if it’s to ask other people’s feedback (which I’m stuck on), would you pay ppl on fiverr for feedback? post on reddit? text friends? post to ig story?
If I had a situation like this, I’d try to keep things in perspective and realize that if I “make a mistake” and select a poor provider, it’s not an insurmountable task to choose a new one. At least not with my health insurance provider. I would select a PCP based on who *I* feel best meets my criteria of a great PCP. There could be 6 people who meet this criteria! That means you can’t go wrong with whoever you choose. I wouldn’t outsource personal decisions like this. Internet strangers (myself included) aren’t affected by your personal decisions.
Hope this helps.
I am still struggling with the action list and project list. Which one is developed first and which follows?
There isn't necessarily an order of operations when it comes to developing my lists. As I move through the clarifying and organizing workflow, each "thing" needs to be assessed to determine if it is a project or a next action. Most things I do are next actions, but every now and then something will trigger the need for a project. If you're just getting started, it might be helpful to simply allow the clarifying and organizing process to naturally reveal which item goes where (next action vs project list) rather than using a mind sweep try to squeeze all of your next actions and projects out of your brain. Hope this helps!
@@OrganizingHigher thanks that makes sense, after a series of weekly reviews the distinction between the two would begin to show. Do you link your action lists to your projects list with tags, keywords or a numbering system?