Change color of baseline in merlin project

Change color of baseline in merlin project series#

Projects: Multi-task commitments to a desirable outcome Knowing that 20 minutes is my maximum allowable time for an action also provides a handy baseline for planning what I can accomplish over a given day or week.ДЇor me, the next action has been the linchpin for making Getting Things Done work. So, for example, while вЂњWrite an article on GTDвЂќ is practically useless (thatвЂ™s a project!), and вЂњDraft ideas for GTD articleвЂќ is a minor improvement, вЂњBrainstorm six ideas for a 1000 word GTD articleвЂќ is right in the sweet spot for me. I try to ensure that any action I identify as a next action can be finished, front to back, in less than 20 minutes time-preferably in fewer than 10 minutes. I have one modest addition to the next action idea that might go without saying for most people.

The rest takes care of itself when you need it to (which is, of course, вЂњwhen you get to itвЂќ). One step at a time, one foot in front of the other.

Any time I start to feel swept away by work, I try to see whether IвЂ™ve accurately identified the things I can do right now (as well as everything else I donвЂ™t need to do right now). Unwinding a tangled skein of вЂњto-dosвЂќ into a list of atomic activities has benefits that go beyond gains in productivity and вЂњeffectiveness.вЂќ You can also lower stress and start to reclaim control of runaway projects just by looking in front of your nose. It also helps beat back one of my worst work habits: letting planning and fiddling with вЂњmy systemsвЂќ become a backdoor procrastination (but more on that tomorrow). When things get hectic, itвЂ™s affirming to know that all I need to do is one, single thing- the next thing-to get closer to completion. Leaning to identify the absolute next physical action that will keep a project moving has been a godsend to the way I think about, plan, and execute my work. ItвЂ™s so all about the next action.ДЇar and away, my best takeaway has been the idea of the next action.

Change color of baseline in merlin project series#

(This is part one of three in a series that runs through Friday.) The Good Stuff The next action. With the calendar year closing, it seems like an apt time to look back at whatвЂ™s worked, what hasnвЂ™t, and where IвЂ™d like to see GTD heading in the future. I recently realized that this month marks one year since I started using Getting Things Done in earnest.