43 Folders

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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Linked next actions?

Say I have a small project like replacing the tires of my car which could look like this in a mission statement...

Mission (should you choose to accept it) : replace tires

Steps :
* Check what type of tires I need
* Call friend about contact he knows
* Call dealers to get some comparision prices
* Call handyman to do the job

Breaking this down to actions:
* Check what type of tires I need
- Check manual (@Home)
* Call friend about contact he knows
- Get number (@Work)
- Call friend (@ToCall)
- Call contact (@ToCall)
* Call dealers to get some comparision prices
- Get numbers (@Work)
- Call dealers (@ToCall)
* Call handyman to do the job
- Get number (@Home)
- Call handyman (@ToCall)

Several of these I can begin with at once, the collecting information parts as get number, get tire type etc. But I can't call anyone until I got their numbers. But still all this work can be done in a day if I just pass the diffrent containers during the day.

So should I add all these things to my contextlists even if they are not do-able right now? Or should I keep the undo-able things and add them at the daily review for the next day? Such a thing can drag a little project like this for days.

How do you keep track of these things? I mainly use paperbased contextlists but any idea is welcome :)

 
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