[…] Merlin Mann of 43Folders just posted another important GTD hack. Derived from David Allen’s Getting Things Done FAST! booklet, Merlin posted verbs describing next physical actions and how you can tell from the verb whether the verb implies a ‘next action’ or rather belongs to project. Great help and guideline, I must admit. It’ll help me a lot to really decide when a project is a project - which is one of my difficulties in keeping my GTD system clean. […]

Drawing distinctions between projects and next actions has been THE most beneficial thing I’ve learned from GTD. I think this is harder for entrepreneurial personality types who think in terms of the big-picture.

Why do you think “submit” is on the project list?

Great stuff, I appreciate this list of verbs. I’ve put it on a sticky to remind me of those golden verbs.

Thank you for the list.

b

Good stuff. Dugg.

Erik

Oh yeah, nice little magical nugget! That’s why we call you Merlin. The sound bites from The David have been infotaining as well. He is more high-powered and more dorky (in a loveable way) than I get from the writing.

That’s a great catch, Cicero.

I’m thinking that the NA “organize” would be like sorting a drawer and the Project “organize” would be like planning an event.

Organize appears twice. I understand the word can have more than one meaning, like organize a folder and organize a vacation. But I would keep it only on the next-action list.

Organize appears twice. I understand the word can have more than one meaning, like organize a folder and organize a vacation. But I would keep this verb only on the next-action list.

Thanks very much. This is something I’ve struggled with for ages. I’m off to amend my actions lists.

Thanks again.

Organize should appear on both lists because you can “organize” a project, which may require several sub-steps. For instance, “organize a charity event”. In the sense of a Next Action, it could be “organize desk drawer.” It is one of those words that could go either way.

Nice! But…’set-up’ is a noun. ‘Set up’ is a verb.

[…] Another welcome reminder that words are our friends, this time applied to the dogged, never as simple as it ought to be widgetification of stuff. Eighteen months into GTD, and still so much room for improvement. This simple verb chart is now at the top of my actions file, and on a post-it on the wall. By itself it looks useful; as I add my own language it will only get better. Déclic. […]

Golden! Much obliged.

Don’t forget the LucasArts Rule: “If it’s clickable, it’s a Next Action. If you need a walkthrough, it’s a Project.”

If you never heard of it, it’s because I just made it up.

(sorry if this turns out to be a double post)

So the PROJECT VERBS are basically getting into the Mindset

and the NEXT ACTION VERBS are the specific directions

Can’t you lobby D.A. for a re-release of this recording in some form? It’s a tantalyzing “perfect apostrophe” to know it’s only in 1 library in Ojai, under sealed glass in the Sanctum Merlinum and being auctioned off on Ebay to Lex Luthor or something.

Solo, I’m totally with you.

Given the interest — and the diligence with which people are willing to track down the rare copies of this that are out there — I wouldn’t be at all surprised if DavidCo eventually puts something like this out again.

Maybe drop them a line?

Draft, that’s the verb I needed. One of my more frequent action is “write the report” but it has always sounded too big to me, even if writing is a phisical action. The correct action is “draft the report” and then “review the report”. Thanks again Merlin

I have a difficult time understanding where a verb like ‘research’ would find it. At times researching a topic (be it online, in the stacks, etc.) seems so broad that even an NA like research becomes a whole nother project. I suppose using ‘look into’ might tone down anxiety factor associated with the monolithic ‘research.’

Examples, even as small as the parenthetical reference (Web) next to ‘look into,’ would be helpful. I mean, what does one ‘roll out’ besides red carpets & barrels? Ad campaigns I suppose, and that’d be a big Project verb.

Thanks for providing this simple gauge. Next time I get all fancy with my verbs as I document NAs I will keep this post in mind.

This is a great set of verbs. Regarding the two mentions of “organize”—I typically use the word “sort” as a next action, and “organize” for projects. I think “sort” has cleaner edges and sounds more widgety to me.

Project Verb - Organize (Your Thoughts) Next-action Verb - Organize (A Thing)

Excellent post! I printed it in larger fonts and hung it by my monitor.

This is NICE! I am using kGTD and need these. Funny how they give you a nice context for thinking about … everything.

Very nice list, thanks for sharing! I’ve Samurized it onto my desktop for continuous reference.

[…] GTD: Project Verbs vs. Next-Action Verbs | 43 Folders In implementing Getting Things Done, you’re wise to understand that words are powerful things. And the king of words in GTD, as in life, is the verb. (tags: gtd) […]

A simple trick that I have picked up is that in lists… projects are in caps and individual tasks are not.

.. a glance allows you to distinguish…

[…] Ce billet de 43Folders établit la distinction qu’il faut faire entre les verbes liés à la résolution de “projets” et les verbes du type “première chose à faire” (next-action). Voila les deux listes : […]

[…] Productivity, Career & Personal Development 11 Ways to Be A Better Geek and Improve Your Life The Standalone Programmer: Tips from the trenches Podcast: Productive Talk on Implementing GTD Here’s why you hate Mondays GTD: Project Verbs vs. Next-Action Verbs GTD and Google Tools […]

Wonder if someone already developed a printout of those cool verbs?

Hey there! How would you suggect using the project verbs within kGTD? My projects are defined like “Web site redesign” or “Household improvements”. Then I have action items within these projects with it’s appropriate assigned context. Thanks!

Pretty good, dugg.