Del DeVries : Gt D Project List

In the organization mode and realizing that my project list exists in bits and pieces in several different places. Consolidation time.

Possible names and concepts/implementations:

A list on a piece of paper
Master project list
Active projects
Subprojects
Categorize projects / establish hierarchy
Post-it notes rather than a list (linked to Matt's Idea Blog)
Outlook, Excel, Word, and numerous other technology solutions all the way up to project management software

Project list as defined by Jason Womack at GtD

The "Projects List" is an inventory of the agreements you've made, about what you're going to DO, that will take you more than one step. You review that list at least once a week (sometimes more than that!) to ensure you have "Next Actions" (current moving parts) on all of your commitments. Because the volume of what people say they're going to do (50-150 projects is average), this list works best as a flat list (ie: No next actions under each project definition). So, once you have that list, then, the Weekly Review (or, whenever you review the projects list) is time spent going through, line by line, asking yourself this question: "If I were going to continue on with this project, What's my next action?"

The answers to these questions are next actions that you have chosen to accomplish. Again quoting Jason, In coaching thousands of individuals, we've seen that, in fact, most people only need about 9 lists. That is, once a next action is defined, when organized by CONTEXT these next actions naturally land in one of just a few buckets / lists. For instance, righ now I have these categories: (8 in total!)

Projects (a list of outcomes that take more than action
@Agendas (items to talk to people or groups about, face to face)
@Calls
@Computer (e-mails to write, articles to edit, etc)
@Errands (anything I need to do between home and work, or inbetween)
@Internet (tasks that require an Internet connection, preferably a fast one)
@Home/Office (one in the same, any action that happens in this space)
Someday/Maybe

Googling "gtd project list" yielded the following that are useful from GTDWannabe:

http://gtdwannabe.com/2007/02/the-hunt-for-the-projects-list-part-1/ excellent summary by GTD Wannabe
http://gtdwannabe.com/2007/02/the-hunt-for-the-projects-list-part-2/ (interesting use of EverNote - similar but different than Microsoft OneNote)

My Project List Solution ... conclusion

blank piece of paper
columns
- project name
- short description
- date added
sub-projects, categorization, and hierarchy will evolve if necessary. Paper is pretty flexible for scribbling and adding.
time to prepare: estimate at 1 hour to consolidate by current pieces in paper and digital form.
objective = comprehensive list

Tags: GtD - project

_3-5-2007

Back to Blog Notes-March 2007

People with goals succeed because they know where they are going. It's as simple as that.

Earl Nightingale

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