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Newbie implementation Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt...lol

Ok, for your reference file, this is the context in which these questions came about.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/personal-effectiveness/14905-30-day-trial-getting-things-done.html

I am attempting to learn and implement as much of GTD in 30 days as I can. I figured I would ask these questions here as this a forum more geared to GTD Geeks and Gurus...I appreciate everything!

The first week of GTD was kind of kind of on the overwhelming side, what with trying to start without reading the book. While I recieved my copy on tuesday and have gotten through it most of the way, the book really breaks it down into things that can get confusing as I am sort of not implementing things in a straight up manner.

For instance, Allen talks about looking at your contexts to do things when you are within a certain set of tools and resources, but is he refering to just Next Actions? If you do next actions out of order, then you are kind of screwing up something, right? So I drill down to contexts of just Next Actions...right? I shouldnt be calling someone just cause I am on the phone if I am supposed to have waited for someone else..right?

On that note, I have a project called errands...should I further define these actions as parts to projects, or only if they need another step. For instance, I need those little plastic rings that go around you keys to color coordinate them...theres really only two steps....go to Office Max and get the key labels...so should I just leave it in there, or should I make a "trip to Office Max" project and see if any other errands need to be done there? Thats what my intuition says.

Is it wrong for me to have quickly processed my inbox (I had over 300 items in my digital inbox and another 100 in my physical) and now be looking at the next actions of individial projects and clearing everything up, defining next actions, rearranging actions to correct projects and correcting contexts?

I feel lighter, so I must be doing something right. Right?

As for a trial, I can really see the appeal of this methodology, I feel like this is defined well. I want to give a nod to Nozbe as well....while my 300+ Inbox slowed it down a little, its a pretty flexible little system. Google calendar rocks and the Hipster PDA coupled with Jott is great. I chose good tools, thats for sure.

I am going to be setting up my general refernce file and my physical filing system this weekend...which seems tough.

unpeufou2's picture

Contexts do = Next Actions

Welcome to the world of the brainwashed GTD fanatics. It's a great system, it's good you're trying it, and it takes a while to get it down pat and make it your own.

You want to things to the point where the system basically disappears, where you spend your time messing with, you know, your actual work, rather than worrying about your system. That takes more than 30 days, I assure you. Keep at it, the rewards do continue to grow the more you implement GTD.

In answer to your question, yes, when David Allen talks about context lists, he is talking about Next Actions lists. He rattles off a number of contexts--at desk, at computer, phone, at home, errands, traveling, etc. Then there are also "agenda" lists, where the "context" is a person, when you speak to that person next.

The key is, as Allen says, to keep your system as simple as possible but no simpler. That is, use only the number of contexts that you need. Since I work at a desk with a computer and phone, and rarely do work away from the office, I only have three context lists: At Desk (I just call this Next Actions list "General"), At Home, and Errands. I then have three agendas: one of each of my two bosses, and one for my wife. If I have to talk to someone else about something, that either goes onto the "General" or the "At Home" next-action list.

Further, you should do your next actions out of order. There is no "right" order in which to do them that applies in all circumstances. For instance, "learn to discuss Theory of General Relativity fluently" may be both high-priority for you (you're going to a astrophysicists' convention in two days) and at the top of one of your Next Action context lists. BUT, you may only have a 20-minute window of time, and maybe you just got out of a long meeting that has you mentally drained. It doesn't matter where that item is on the list, you don't have the energy or the time to do it. It is in reviewing your lists that your intuition/"gut" really comes in. Look at your list and decide what you can do next, then do it. Then pick another item off the list and do that.

Projects are perhaps the trickiest part of the GTD system to feel comfortable with. And the key is, do whatever it takes to get everything out of your head. So if you don't think that "get color-coded key labels" as an item on your errands list will be enough, you can always add it to your projects list. I suspect, however, that "get color-coded key labels at OfficeMax" will be all you need on your actions list.

It may be, however, that this color-coding of keys is part of a larger project, like, "Keys--reorganize for easy tracking and security" for instance. Now that belongs on your projects list. (Btw, I only have to projects lists--professional and personal.)

I think you have started this whole GTD thing the right way and in the right frame of mind. The important thing is to collect everything and process it out into a set of "buckets." You'll definitely find yourself changing and tweaking those "buckets" (i.e., lists, folders, and trays). For instance, one of my initial buckets was "At Phone," but it turns out phone calls work fine on my "General/At Desk" Next Actions list, since I'm rarely away from my desk during business hours, when I can call someone at their office.

So, tweak away at your buckets. Get them working for you. It might take a while to figure out what you like. In particular, the symbiosis between paper (e.g., hipster PDA) and electronic (e.g. Google calendar) buckets is sometimes hard to balance just right.

Good luck.

 
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