Getting Things Done

Episode 326: Complete Projects Inventory

Host: John Forester (GTD®)
Guest/Presenter: Ana Maria Gonzalez, Senior Master Trainer
Date: September 3, 2025

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode is a hands-on GTD Connect workshop led by Ana Maria Gonzalez, focusing on creating and maintaining a complete projects inventory. The session walks listeners through practical exercises to clarify, capture, and organize every commitment that deserves a spot on their projects list. The aim: move participants closer to stress-free productivity by demystifying what belongs on their projects list, ensuring clarity on desired outcomes, and establishing the habits needed for ongoing control.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Workshop Structure & Tools

[01:21] Ana Maria Gonzalez:

• Encourages an interactive, virtual "lab" experience where participants should have their capture tool (digital or paper), projects list, next actions list, waiting fors, agenda, and, if available, higher horizon maps ready.
• Emphasizes the session is hands-on: “You're definitely going to be able to walk out of today's class with … a complete projects inventory… at least to that second” (01:51).

2. The Mind Sweep: Clearing Mental Clutter

[04:20-08:00]

• The session begins by asking participants to do a mind sweep—jotting down everything on their minds that could be pulling at their attention.
• Principle: “Your mind is for having ideas, not for holding them.” (08:13, Ana Maria)
• Emphasis on immediacy: If something comes to mind, capture it right away.

3. Project Definition & the Someday/Maybe Distinction

[10:00-18:00]

• What is a Project in GTD?

  • Any multi-step outcome achievable within (roughly) a year.
  • Could be personal or professional.
  • Flexible in timeframe by context (“On Wall Street, long term is three months; in Japan, it’s ten years!” 15:43, Ana Maria)

• Someday/Maybe List:

  • “Potential projects or next actions that you're not yet committed to move on” (17:38).
  • Can be organized in ranges (quarterly, yearly, bucket list); all that matters is you’re consciously not committed to them now.

• Decision Power:

  • “As long as you renegotiate agreements with yourself on a weekly basis, you're not breaking agreements. … It's not that you're procrastinating, you're not forgetting, you're not ignoring it, you're not denying it. You are being conscious about your decision.” (19:05)

4. Clarifying the Projects List

[18:50-22:00]

• Writing Projects:

  • Projects must be phrased in “desired outcome” terms—what done looks like (e.g., “Remodel the house,” “Hire new person”).
  • Each project should contain an explicit verb, answering “what does done look like?”

• Thin Slicing:

  • Projects too big? Break them into sub-projects.
  • Projects not actionable? Move them to Someday/Maybe.

5. Mining for Hidden Projects

[23:10-29:30]

• Three Project Sources:

  • Current activities/contexts: Look at mind sweep items, your calendar (past and future), current next actions and agendas (“Sometimes, we’re very good at adding next actions, but not taking a moment to ask: does this action belong to a project?” 26:40).
  • Higher Horizons: Later in session.
  • The Others: To be discussed.

• Practical Examples:

  • Check for “camouflaged or hidden” projects in your space (“the faucet in the bathroom that drips...unless you put ‘fix faucet’ on your projects list, it's not going to happen.” 29:03).

6. Areas of Focus: The Ongoing Maintenance Items

[31:00-38:00]

• Horizon 2 in GTD: Your areas of focus/responsibility (e.g., "Health," "Family," "HR Admin").
• Not projects, but ongoing domains needing regular check-in (“As soon as you lose focus on your health, you’ll need a project related to health.” 31:50)
• Can be mapped for both professional (e.g., HR sub-domains) and personal (e.g., relationships, creativity, personal development).

Q&A Highlight

[33:11, John reading chat]:

• Q: “Would you consider each of the areas of focus sub items a project or only if there are next actions?”
• Ana Maria: “As HR admin, what do people expect of me? That’s an area of focus. It may trigger a project (lose five pounds), or just a next action (go to the movies). It’s all about whether action is required to bring it ‘back to cruise control’.” (35:25)

7. Higher Horizons Mining: Goals, Vision, Purpose

[42:06-50:20]
Horizons 3–5:

• Horizon 3: Goals/Objectives (2+ years)

• Horizon 4: Vision (4–5 years)

• Horizon 5: Purpose/Principles (prime criterion for priorities)

• Mining Projects Upward:

  • Looking ahead (“What do I want to be true by 2026?”) can reveal projects (e.g., preparing for kids to finish college, moving country, etc.)
  • Quote: “Everything… is an outcome, even if it’s a next action.” (45:58)
  • Assign timeframe by what’s right for you; use regular review to determine if it should move closer or sit as a goal.

8. Clarifying the Overlap: Goals vs. Projects vs. Someday/Maybe

[50:22–59:22] Discussion with Ariadne and group

• Ariadne’s Insight:

  • “I would have a project that I would call 'goals for 2025’… I wanted them separate because I wasn’t acting on them yet. … Then I realized they were actually projects, my expectation [was] of them being completed this year.”

• Ana Maria’s Response:

  • “What you described, Ariadne, is very common. Some people create a list titled ‘projects on hold’… All that matters is your commitment to reviewing.”
  • “Not doing anything about it is correct. Not seeing it is what’s incorrect.” (54:54)

• On Project Size:

  • Mark ([59:35]): “A project is anything that is more than one action. Size does not matter.”
  • John ([59:35]): “If the next actions list repels you...some part of our mind is not fooled by that—a next actions list full of projects won’t feel right.”

9. Practical Wisdom & GTD Philosophy

[60:27] Ana Maria:

• “If it’s self-evident, it may not even have to go on your projects list… You always need to put it on a projects list if it requires your weekly thinking, so you can guarantee you get to your outcome. If in doubt—put it on your projects list.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Your mind is for having ideas, not for holding them."
  — Ana Maria, 08:13
• "As long as you renegotiate agreements with yourself on a weekly basis, you're not breaking agreements."
  — Ana Maria, 19:05
• "Everything that can be accomplished or achievable within a year… it’s smart to put on your projects list."
  — Ana Maria, 15:10
• "A project is anything that is more than one action. Size does not matter."
  — Mark (participant), 59:35
• "Not doing anything about it is correct. Not seeing it, it's what's incorrect."
  — Ana Maria, 54:54
• "The projects list is the most liberating list. And it's the nastiest list because it's the list that brings us back to peace, to clarity, to a sense of control. But it's the list that demands thinking."
  — Ana Maria, 57:59

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:21] – Session structure & tools needed
• [04:20] – Initial mind sweep exercise
• [10:00] – Defining “projects” in GTD
• [17:38] – What is a Someday/Maybe
• [23:10] – Mining for hidden projects in current activities
• [31:00] – Defining and mapping “areas of focus”
• [33:11] – Areas of focus vs. projects (Q&A)
• [42:06] – Higher horizons mining (goals, vision, purpose)
• [50:22] – Goals, projects, and reviewing lists (participant discussion)
• [59:35] – Project size and the importance of clarity
• [60:27] – The necessity of weekly review and “self-evident” projects

Style & Tone

The session keeps a supportive, pragmatic, sometimes humorous tone (“…in Japan it’s ten years!”), validating participants’ confusion and growing pains, and ends with actionable clarity. Ana Maria encourages engagement, sharing of personal challenges, and curiosity about personal GTD adaptations. GTD is presented as deeply flexible, always practical, and tailored both to personality and context.

Summary for Non-Listeners

• The “Complete Projects Inventory” workshop offers a deep dive into identifying every commitment that qualifies as a project, sharpening your GTD system.
• Key: Projects are any outcome needing more than one step (and often more than one sitting).
• Regular review, clear project phrasing, and ongoing “mining” are crucial.
• The distinctions—project, someday maybe, area of focus, goal—are flexible but demand honest (and frequent) self-questioning.
• Only by routinely clarifying, organizing, and reviewing your projects list can GTD deliver the trusted system it promises for stress-free productivity.