What’s the Next Step?

So, you’re feeling pretty good, eh? You’ve cleared your email inbox and your desk, and you have a great list of all the projects that have your attention. Let me guess: you’re very relieved to finally have it down on paper, but now you’re also overwhelmed when you see it on paper. That’s ok. Keep going.

The next step is to think through the Next Actions Needed for each of your projects, and then to organize them in a simple, but meaningful way. (This concept comes from David Allen’s Getting Things Done, the undisputed gospel on personal organization. If you haven’t read it yet, get a copy. The book is life-changing.) This step is crucial. Otherwise, you have to re-think about where each project is each time you scan your list – and that’s exhausting and not productive.

The steps are below. Simply repeat as necessary.

• Stop.
• Think thoroughly enough to plan the Next Action.
• Record the Next Action in the appropriate context.
• Move on to the next project on your list.

Do this for every project on your list – every single one – even if the Next Action is to think about what your goals are for the particular project. There are no exceptions.

At this point, you’ll need to decide upon a system to manage your Next Actions List. GTD’ers have debated endlessly about which is the perfect system. For me, the hands-down choice is Remember The Milk. It is simple, flexible, and completely accessible. And here’s a peek at my personal setup if you’re interested.

This is an actual screenshot from my RTM account as it sits right now. (I’m headed out of town, so I’ve planned very little for the next few days. But I always try to be realistic about what my priorities are for a given day. 3 to 5 major projects is about my limit.) Here are a few of my key settings:

• The tabs across the top are my “contexts.” I can see each list separately (all the phone calls I need to make, for example) or everything together, sorted by date and priority, on the Next Actions tab. (The only exception is the Read/Review tab, and I’ll cover that in next week’s post.)
• Everything is in one place – personal, business, volunteer, homeschool, everything. I have one life and one list.
• The color-coding along the left indicates prioritization and controls which items are shown first for a given day.
• The circular arrows indicate a recurring task that repeats on my list at established frequencies.
• The notepad icon on the right indicates that I’ve saved notes about that particular task, and they are attached.
• Obviously, it is very easy to plan and adjust Next Actions as life happens. I have tasks planned through 2010, but I only have to think about the ones that are scheduled for the next week or so. I can trust that I’ll address future Next Actions when they’re needed.

After much experimentation, I’ve decided that this system works best for me. Give it a try, or use your own favorite. I’ve seen folks use spiral notebooks, spreadsheets, Outlook, and any number of other planning systems successfully. The important thing is to ensure that you have a system for maintaining and tracking the Next Actions needed on each of your projects in a way that works for you.

If you thought making the Active Projects List was stress-relieving, you’ll really enjoy completing this step. And you’re also very close to finishing your Imagine More Plan. We’ll introduce a few smaller, specialized lists on Monday and conclude this section on Thursday.