Getting Things Done Podcast – Ep. 325: Your Projects – What to Know When

Date: August 26, 2025
Host: John Forester (B), Ana Maria Gonzalez (A), Guest comment by C
Theme: Deep diving into the Projects List in your GTD system—understanding best practices for reviewing, updating, and organizing projects to ensure stress-free productivity and strategic alignment.

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights the crucial role of your Projects List during the Weekly Review, dissecting why and how it sits at the heart of your GTD system. John and Ana Maria explore tactical steps for maintaining, questioning, and customizing your list, helping you harness the Weekly Review to manage ongoing commitments and boost decisiveness in your work and life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. GTD Workflow Overview

(03:42–12:09)
Ana Maria (A) zooms out to explain the five foundational steps in mastering workflow, with a magnifying focus on the Projects List:

• Capture: Get everything out of your head; use trusted tools, not your mind.
• Clarify: Decide what each captured item means, pick next actions or determine if it’s reference/trash/incubate.
• Organize: Group actionable and non-actionable items into lists (Projects, Someday/Maybe, Next Actions, Waiting For, etc.).
• Reflect: Conduct ongoing and weekly reviews of your system for currency and trust (“Reflect is a very strategic step…It’s designed to give you that, that, that trust, that confidence in your decision making…” —A, 09:50).
• Engage: Trust your system to choose right actions daily.

Notable quote:

“Your mind will track it if you don’t… I prefer to err on the side of adding more items to my ‘Waiting For’ list than less, because I’d rather give my mind that peace of mind.” – A, 07:21

2. Reflect and the Weekly Review

(12:09–16:12)
Ana Maria and John narrow the discussion to the Weekly Review—specifically, reviewing your Projects List as a pivotal habit:

• The Weekly Review is a “critical success factor” that keeps your system sustainable.
• Within the Weekly Review, the Projects List is your thinking list: where you re-engage with your commitments.

Notable exchange:

John: “For a moment there, when you said, ‘Am I doing everything I need to do to manifest what I was born to do,’ I had a split second of overwhelm… Now I need to wonder whether I’m manifesting my destiny or not. So I’m happy to step back…” (12:09)

3. Weekly Review Components & Personalization

(12:50–17:41)
Ana Maria highlights the three main Weekly Review components—Get Clear, Get Current, Get Creative—and stresses:

• They’re template guidelines; don’t feel bound to a rigid order.
• Customize the checklist to fit your priorities and workflow.
• You don’t have to be linear: “I actually start with my Projects List when I get to ‘Get Current.’ It works better for me… For others, it works better to start with their next actions list… Do it however it works for you.” – A, 15:09
• John adds why the order is listed as it is—e.g., inbox first for efficiency—but ultimately encourages flexibility: “Once you get into… the later stages, switch to Ana Maria mode and customize and do what works for you.” (16:32)

4. How and Why to Review Your Projects List

(17:41–30:36)

• Purpose: The Projects List is your “driver” for weekly thinking—think of it as a check-in with “larger outcome” goals.

• Key weekly questions for each project:

  • Do I still need to complete this?
  • Am I still the owner?
  • Is it completed, or should it move elsewhere (Someday/Maybe, On Hold, Reference)?
  • Does each project have at least one next action?
  • Are there new projects to add?
  • Can I delete, archive, or re-categorize old projects?
  • Are there new insights or support materials for my projects?

• Customizing the list:

  • Organize by area of focus, business unit, client, etc.—whatever helps you see and maintain the right commitments.
  • Projects On Hold and Someday/Maybe are valid distinctions for context and responsibility.

• Ana Maria’s guidance:

  “This is the place where you need to come to evaluate… You want to evaluate… what’s the status of these projects… Are we moving in the right direction?” (17:41)
  “It’s important that for each one of your projects you kind of consider a couple of questions… What has changed since your last review?” (22:40)

• John adds:

  “Give yourself the slack to allow your life to flow and change and have surprises… that may have happened since the last time you looked at your list.” (23:58)

5. Avoiding List Clutter & Ensuring Alignment

(30:36–31:27)

• Prevent “orphaned” next actions—remove actions from Next Actions if the parent project moves to Someday/Maybe or is otherwise on hold.
• Keep all lists synchronized to avoid confusion or misplaced commitments.

“You don’t want to have an orphan of a next action that belongs to a project that’s no longer active, correct?” – B, 30:36

6. The Value of Vertical vs. Horizontal Thinking

(31:27–35:05)

• Projects generate multiple kinds of next actions; some are independent, some sequential.
• Your daily actions are the “horizontal” output of “vertical” project planning.
• Expect to have more next actions than projects; that’s natural.
• Routine project review gives big-picture awareness, while daily action lists drive progress.

“Day after day, you’re moving projects forward. The weekly review… puts a pause on your daily doing to say, okay, where am I? How far have I gone?” – A, 34:23

7. GTD Practice is Cyclical—Embrace Re-learning

(35:05–end)
C addresses long-time GTD users, normalizing the experience of “falling off” or re-encountering the methodology anew:

• GTD practice is cyclical; it’s normal to plateau, revisit, and discover new insights repeatedly.
• “Connect” (the GTD library/resource) is a goldmine—much like rereading a software manual, you’ll find something new each time.

“Many people have read Getting Things Done more than three or four times, and every time they read it, they get something new out of it.” – C, 36:22

Notable Quotes

• “Reflect is a very strategic step… It’s designed to give you that, that, that trust, that confidence in your decision making…” – A, 09:50
• “Your mind will track it if you don’t… I prefer to err on the side of adding more items to my ‘Waiting For’ list than less, because I’d rather give my mind that peace of mind.” – A, 07:21
• “I actually start with my Projects List when I get to ‘Get Current.’ It works better for me… Do it however it works for you.” – A, 15:09
• “Once you get into… the later stages, switch to Ana Maria mode and customize and do what works for you.” – B, 16:32
• “You don’t want to have an orphan of a next action that belongs to a project that’s no longer active, correct?” – B, 30:36
• “Day after day, you’re moving projects forward. The weekly review… puts a pause on your daily doing to say, okay, where am I? How far have I gone?” – A, 34:23
• “Many people have read Getting Things Done more than three or four times, and every time they read it, they get something new out of it.” – C, 36:22

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 03:42: Introduction to GTD and workflow steps
• 12:09: Weekly Review as cornerstone; narrowing in on Projects List
• 15:09: Customizing the Weekly Review process/order
• 17:41: Why/how to review the Projects List, and key questions per project
• 23:58: Embracing change and flexibility in project ownership and priority
• 30:36: Synchronize Projects and Next Actions, watch for “orphans”
• 34:23: Weekly review vs daily doing; how lists interact
• 35:05: Long-term GTD practice, cycles, and the value of re-learning

Tone & Style

The hosts use a balance of methodology deep-dive and pragmatic, encouraging advice. They dispel the myth of strictly linear process and emphasize self-trust, experimentation, and the importance of reflective habits for sustained productivity.

For Listeners

This episode gives both philosophical permission and practical how-to for rethinking your Weekly Review—especially the Projects List—to better serve your ongoing clarity, focus, and peace of mind. Whether you’re a GTD beginner or seasoned user, regular check-ins and thoughtful list hygiene will make the difference for managing meaningful outcomes.