GettingThings Done. The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

A Caution About Dispersing Reminders of Your Actions

There's an obvious danger in putting reminders of things you need to do somewhere out of sight. The function of an organization system is primarily to supply the reminders you need to see when you need to see them, so you can trust your choices about what you're doing (and what you're not doing). Before you leave the office for the day, the actionable e-mails that you still have pending must be reviewed individually, just like your 'Calls' or 'At Computer' lists. In essence, '@ACTION' is an extension of your 'At Computer' list and should be handled in exactly the same fashion. Your paper-based 'Pending' workflow must likewise be assessed like a list if the paper materials are being used as your only reminders.

'Out of sight, out of mind' is not really out of mind.

Distributing action triggers in a folder, on lists, and/or in an e-mail system is perfectly OK, as long as you review all of the categories to which you've entrusted your triggers equally, as required. You don't want things lurking in the recesses of your systems and not being used for their intended purpose: reminding you.

In order to hang out with friends or take a long, aimless walk and truly have nothing on your mind, you've got to know where all your actionable items are located, what they are, and that they will wait. And you need to be able to do that in a few seconds, not days.

Organizing Project Reminders

Creating and maintaining one list of all your projects (that is, again, every commitment or desired outcome that may require more than one action step to complete) can be a profound experience! You probably have more of them than you think. If you haven't done so already, I recommend that initially you make a 'Projects' list in a very simple format, similar to the ones you've used for your lists of actions: it can be a category in a digital organizer, a page in a loose-leaf planner, or even a single file folder labeled 'PROJECTS,' with either a master list or separate sheets of paper for each one.

The 'Projects' List(s)

The 'Projects' list is not meant to hold plans or details about your projects themselves, nor should you try to keep it arranged by priority or size or urgency—it's just a comprehensive index of your open loops. You actually won't be working off of the 'Projects' list during your day-to-day activities; for the most part, your action lists and any ad hoc tasks that come up will constitute your tactical in-the-moment focus. Remember, you can't do a project, you can only do the action steps it requires.

A complete and current 'Projects' list is the major operational tool for moving from tree-hugging to forest management.

The real value of the 'Projects' list lies in the complete review it can provide (at least once a week), allowing you to ensure that you have action steps defined for all of your projects, and that nothing is slipping through the cracks. A quick glance at this list from time to time will enhance your underlying sense of control. You'll also know that you have an inventory available to you (and to others) whenever it seems advisable to evaluate workload (s).

One List, or Subdivided?

Most people find that one list is the best way to go because it serves as a master inventory rather than as a daily prioritizing guideline. The organizing system merely provides placeholders for all your open loops and options so your mind can more easily make the necessary intuitive, moment-to-moment strategic decisions.

Frankly, it doesn't matter how many different lists of projects you have, so long as you look at the contents of all of them as often as you need to, since for the most part you'll do that in one fell swoop during your Weekly Review.

Some Common Ways to Subsort Projects

There are some situations in which it makes good sense to sub-sort a 'Projects' list. Let's look at these one by one.

Personal/Professional Many people feel more comfortable seeing their lists divided up between personal and professional projects. If you're among them, be advised that your 'Personal' list will need to be reviewed as judiciously as your 'Professional' one, and not just saved for weekends. Many actions on personal things will need to be handled on weekdays, exactly like every-thing else. And often some of the greatest pressures on professionals stem from the personal aspects of their lives that they are letting slip.

Delegated Projects If you're a senior manager or executive, you probably have several projects that you are directly responsible for but have handed off to people who report to you. While you could, of course, put them on your 'Waiting For' list, it might make better sense to create a 'Projects—Delegated' list to track them: your task will be simply to review the list regularly enough to ensure that everything on it is moving along appropriately.

Specific Types of Projects Some professionals have as part of their work several different projects of the same type, which in some instances it maybe valuable to group together as a sublist of 'Projects.' For example, I maintain a separate category called 'Projects to Deliver,' a chronological listing of all the upcoming seminars, coaching, and consulting assignments I've committed to. These events are 'projects' like the rest, in that I need to keep noting whether things are moving along on and in place for them until they're completed. But I find it helpful to see them all organized on one list, in the order in which they are coming up on my calendar, apart from my other projects.

If you are a real estate agent, sell consulting services, or develop proposals for a relatively small number of prospective clients in any profession, you will likely find it useful to see all of your outstanding 'sales relationships in progress' in one view. This could be a separate list in your planner called 'Client Projects in Development,' or if you already have file folders for each in-progress project, it may suffice to group them all in one file stand on your credenza. Just realize that this approach will work only if it represents a complete set of all of those situations that require action, and only if you review them regularly along with the rest of your projects, keeping them current and conscious.

What About Subprojects?

Some of your projects will likely have major subprojects, each of which could in theory be seen as a whole project. If you're moving into a new house, for instance, and are upgrading and changing much of the property, you may have a list of actionable items like'Finalize landscaping,' 'Renovate kitchen,' 'Rewire basement,'and so on, all of which could in themselves be considered separate projects. Do you make all of this one entry on your 'Projects' list—say, 'Finish new home renovations'—or do you write up each of the subprojects as an individual line item?

Actually, it won't matter, as long as you review all the components of the project as frequently as you need to to stay productive. No external tool or organizing format is going to be perfect for sorting both horizontally across and vertically down through all your projects; you'll still have to be aware of the whole in some cohesive way (such as via your Weekly Review). If you make the large project your one listing on your 'Projects' list, you'll want to keep a list of the subprojects and/or the project plan itself as 'project support material' to be reviewed when you come to that major item. I would recommend doing it this way if big pieces of the project are dependent on other pieces getting done first. In that scenario you might have subprojects with no next actions attached to them because they are in a sense 'waiting for' other things to happen before they can move forward. For instance, you might not be able to start on 'Renovate kitchen' until you finish 'Rewire basement.' However, you might be able to proceed on 'Finalize landscaping' independent of either of the other subprojects. You would therefore want a next action to be continually current on 'Rewire basement' and 'Finalize landscaping.'

Don't be too concerned about which way is best. If you're not sure, I'd vote for putting your Big Projects on the 'Projects' list and holding the subpieces in your project support material, making sure to include them in your Weekly Review, If that arrangement doesn't feel quite right, try including the active and independent subprojects as separate entries on your master list.

How you list projects and subprojects is up to you; just be sure you know where to find all the moving