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- [00:00]
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Foreign.
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Welcome, everyone. This is John Forester. I'm here with Ana Maria Gonzalez and we're going to review the GTD weekly review. This is not a time to, we're going to walk you through the weekly review. So it's not one of the guided reviews that we do sometimes. This one is to look more at the, the ideas, the, the purpose behind the review and each of the steps in it. So we're going to go through that. We'll, we're very open to questions, observations, that sort of thing, and that's our purpose here. So, Ana Maria, thanks for being here, especially with a bit of, a bit of the laryngitis left.
- [00:52]
A
You're welcome. So I will try my best so you can hear me, those of you on this call, and those of you listening to the call to the recording. So in any event, welcome. Thank you for taking this time to meet with us and be with us, as in John and I, this is kind of an informal gathering. I thought that there's so much always to talk about potentially on every single step of the review that it's very hard to try to get to cover, let's say, all these nuances as we're guiding you through a weekly review. So I wanted to take this time to do any, to do more of the, and about each one of the steps. And when I say end, I could also end with etc. Because I don't know that I'm going to cover them all because I think many of these nuances, I know them from reading the GTD book. I know them from being a GTD practitioner. I know them from teaching, getting things done. I know them from my years of working with David and Catherine. And it doesn't mean I know them all. So I'm sure there's more. But at least the ones that either come to mind or that I'm aware can help in your process of completing your weekly review. I'm going to do my best to cover and I think also when we have greater understanding that can help us complete the review because perhaps there is some like, why do I have to do this? Or why that? Or why not? So that's the kind of approach that I want to take during this time. And as John said, please feel free to either open your mic and ask a question, interrupt me, raise your hand, write on the chat box. It's very informal. So if we look at the, let's say, the first component of the review, which is known as get clear, there are three steps outlined in this checklist Are there more steps? Potentially, yes. Could there be less than 3? Probably not. Typically, when we put out materials for you on getting things done, we always do the baseline at a minimum, and then there's always more. Because it can be customized. You will eventually adapt it to your, to your truth, to your reality in that moment, because your reality can also change. You know, one week, you may be more out of control compared to another week your life could have changed. You are now on vacation instead of at the peak of your, you know, most busy season at work. You could have changed jobs. Things could have changed in your personal life. So not necessarily every review is the same review. And we need, we need to be, we need to know that because that's just the nature of life, right? Not every week is the same week. So with Get Clear, I always like to remind folks that the way I see it, it's more of a step that it's thought of as a just in case. Just in case I didn't get time to tidy up my physical space. Then here's my reminder of collecting my newspapers and materials just in case I, I didn't get my in to zero on a regular basis. Understood as anywhere between 24 to 48 hours based on our best practices on step two. Clarify then I'm going to take time now to get my int to 0. Just in case I forgot to write things down or it's not yet my standard to have nothing on my mind. Let me take a moment to see if there was anything I wrote in my head that I now need to make a note. If you find yourself ready for the weekly review. As in I got nothing to tidy up, my ins are at zero. And I, you know, my, my standard, my habit is to have nothing on my mind. You can jump straight into get current. There's no reason to pause here and torment yourself and torture yourself and try to find something that, that, that there isn't.
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Generally, in gtd, there's no reason to torment yourself about anything, period.
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A
Exactly.
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B
If you, if you ever ask David, did you design this so that I would torment myself? His answer will be no.
- [06:10]
A
Exactly.
- [06:11]
B
The other thing with the Get Clear is over many times of talking with people about their reviews and whether they make it a consistent habit more often than any other reason. The reason people say they don't either get to a review or complete a review within a very reasonable time, say less than an hour and a half, it's because they have not consistently been getting their ins to zero or they have a lot of Loose materials around on their desk, a pile of stuff here that they haven't processed or they have a bunch of things in their head that they haven't gotten out in a mind sweep. So the, the weekly review to me reveals in a way whether you, you have been practicing the good habits with GTD in general with getting your INS to zero regularly. So if the weekly review habit can reflect whether you have some other habits going and tell you what, it could be that if you just get the habit of getting your INS to zero regularly, you find that developing the weekly review habit just is much easier for you.
- [07:22]
A
Definitely. Yes. So you can think of Get Clear as a shorthand to clarify and organize. If you've been clarifying and organizing every day or you know, as soon as needed, as soon as possible. When in doubt, as David says, you know when in doubt that you're into zero. Yeah. So if you've been doing that, you are clear, you are ready to go. Truth is that as we're learning because there's so many different, you know, habits that we want to incorporate into our lives, probably you're not there yet, but you're on your way there. So just, just keep that in mind if you happen to be. Also here's another end to get clear, right. If you happen to be with a short time frame for your review. So for some reason, you know, your day got out of control. You had 90 minutes scheduled for your review. It's now being jeopardized and now you only have 30 minutes and I was coaching you. I will risk myself to say jump straight into get current. Don't invest the time in getting your into zero because you're gonna, you're gonna do that probably tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. You're probably, it's probably gonna give you a greater sense of control and perspective to use those 30 minutes. Looking at your system, looking at your lists, which, it's, it's, it's what belongs under Get Current. But it's a double edged sword because a lot of what's sitting on your in, whether that's your physical space as in your paper entry, or whether that's your digital space as your email inbox, or whether that's your mental space because you have stuff in your mind are potential items that, that, that are not in your system. So, so if you, if you do the Get Current, you might find yourself also kind of going well, but I'm reviewing an incomplete system. You're right. You are. If a lot of, a lot of that inventory is still Sitting on Get Clear. So when I say if you only have 30 minutes, jump into Get Current, that's kind of assuming that your Get Clear, it's probably just 48 hours old or three days old. It's not assuming that it's a month old, because then you're not really. You're doing yourself a disservice instead of a service. So again, there are a lot of shades of gray when we look at this. So pick your battles and get to decide what's the best. Obviously, the best is always going to be to come to the review ready to Get Current, not even having to do anything on Get Clear. But it's there as a just in case. When we think of Get Clear and we look at these three different steps, yes, there are still papers and materials that gather around our lives. Whether that's, you know, on our physical surfaces, our desks, inside of our briefcases, our backpacks, our purposes, our wallets, our pockets. I mean, there's still stuff that somehow it manages to get to get into our lives. And it's physical. You can touch it, you can smell it, you can see it. So that's kind of what that's referring to. So don't just comply with saying, oh, my desk is clean. Because there might be other places where these things are hidden.
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Your car, glove compartment, the side pockets in your car, the center console in your car, the visor, the dashboard of your car. So if you hop in your car and you sit there and you go, all right, where do I put things when I'm driving? It could be anything from trash to a receipt to all kinds of things there that are reminders of action you need to take. So that's a good place to look. Also your, your wallet, your handbag, your purse, your pack. The other place that shows up often is the first flat surface when you walk in the door. The first flat surface in your home when you walk in the door tends to collect things.
- [11:38]
A
Another option is not to have a flat surface. I don't. So there's no risk for collecting things. And as you can see here, it's only asking you to gather them and put them into the entry. That simple exercise already helps of feeling in control, just putting things where they belong. Because that's exactly what it. What it is. Because all this stuff doesn't belong, scatter or spread. It belongs in the in tray. So if you only go as far as that, that in itself, it's already a huge win. Obviously, there's the next step, which is to get it out of your in tray. But that can happen when you allocate time at some point in your day outside of the review to empty your paper entries. All we're asking you during the review is just to gather it and put it where it belongs. In this case the entry. Then of course we also have you check on your digital spaces or tools because it's not just your email inbox is anything digital that you have defined as a source of in. So that could be, you know, your meeting notes, your journal entries, your email inboxes, because you may have several that could be your social media, that could be your different instant messenger, messenger services, whether that's IM, WhatsApp, Telegram teams, etc. Voicemails these days still still happen. Not as much, but that's another one to keep in mind. Dictation tools, your computer desktop, pictures that you took, that you have in your photo library, anything that somehow it's in the digital space. How long would it take to get that into zero? That's a lot of the catch 22 that John was saying before because people wait to the review to do that and then 90 minutes have gone by and all they've done is gotten their into zero, which are steps two and three, clarify and organize. And the review as we know is part of step four, reflect. So we're not encouraging encouraging you by having this line item here to spend your whole time getting your interview. This is just in pace. If for some reason you find yourself going but I'm not there yet and this is what's happening to me, then we advise to get the get clears component the day before done. So find time the day before Your review, another 90 minutes if you want to get clear, which is nothing more than you having allocated time daily to get clear, which as I said is the shorthand for clarifying, organize. And then last, of course we have another line item there just in case. Empty your head, you know, anything that you need to put in writing about any new projects, about anything that you thought about. And you don't have the habit of the moment of thinking and writing it in relationship to actions, to waiting for, to something maybe to dreams, to visions, to whatever, it doesn't matter, just put it in writing or write it out, don't keep it in your mind. That's basically what that's saying.
- [15:08]
B
And then all of this is to set you up so that when you start reviewing your lists and the get current section, you're doing that with a clear head and a complete inventory of what you've already committed to because it's a real challenge to review. Review your lists when you don't know how much unprocessed stuff there is, when you don't know whether there are a bunch of things that might represent new commitments or renegotiated commitments. If you're looking at your calendar but coming up, but you don't know whether there's stuff in your in boxes, in trays, in in sources, that changes what's on your calendar. It doesn't. It really, it reduces the effectiveness of reviewing your upcoming calendar because you don't know what might have changed. So that's, that's a big part of the get clear is so that when you're getting to your getting current step, you're doing it with a complete inventory. You're. You have a good picture of where things really are now, not where they were a week ago or anything like that.
- [16:23]
A
Yeah. And also because this is more of an and not a. But the get clear allows you to be more present during the get current because it has the potential to eliminate destruction, distractions, mental destructions. Because if you write down things that you kept in your mind because again, you're still creating that habit. And as part of getting of completing get Clear, you just write them down and put them where they belong for now, which is your in tray. They're still not in your system technically as in any one of your lists, because they're sitting on your in tray. But just the exercise of putting them where they belong, which is the in entry instead of your mind, will eliminate that distraction. And often the distraction that I'm referring to is unconscious. You're not conscious of that destruction, but there is a part of you that knows that you're not fully present. So it's pulling on your attention while you are doing get current. So they're all different. You know, there's so many different levels to this and depth and nuances. So at the bare minimum, just put it on the in train. That's going to get you even more ready to they get current. Obviously, as John is saying, if you have it all clear, clarify and organized, even better. But if not, at least put it in the in tray. Any questions so far? No questions.
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B
I'm not seeing any questions showing up yet.
- [17:59]
A
Okay, so let's talk a little about get current and some of those and or nuances. I think in the guided weekly reviews that John and I did some weeks ago, I did let people know that if you notice our checklist is not numbered, the reason for not being Numbered is because you don't necessarily have to follow this order. These are just line items that, that, that we know you need to get through to complete a weekly review. And Again, these are 11 line items. But I've worked with people that after they've customized their weekly review, they end up with 15 lines, 17 line items. Because there are other things that need to be added as part of your weekly review. So when you think, I'm going to go back to get clear, I apologize. When you think of get clear under three steps, do you have to follow this order? Not necessarily. Do you have to do all three? Not necessarily. But when in doubt or as while you're learning, yes, do all three. And if help, if it helps to follow the order so you don't have to even think about it, follow the order. But it's not designed to be that way as the only way. It's the same with get current. In get current, we have six steps. One, two. Right. Do you have to follow the order? Not necessarily. Is there a logic to this order? Yes, and I'm going to tell you why. So we start with Review Next actions list. So here are a lot of things to say about that. When you review your next actions list. Obviously there's kind of more than one purpose. One is to feel a greater sense of completion and that you did get things done and that you were productive. It's like re energizing because one of the first things that it says there is complete off, mark off completed actions. Honestly, I find myself rarely doing that because the moment that I complete something, I mark it off, I don't give myself. It's like I'm so happy to complete it off that I mark it, mark it off immediately. I don't wait until the weekly reviews. Like, it's rare that I would do that. But maybe you're moving too fast, you forgot to do it. And this is a great time to do that.
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B
And most of us are so hungry to have any kind of a win or sense of accomplishment or completion that it's wonderful to be able to mark anything off. So most people we know that I know want to mark off what they've done as soon as they do it. Just because immediately it recovers that kind of energy with a little bit of. It's a little dose of good for you. Way to go. You did great.
- [20:46]
A
I agree. Then of course, it has another purpose. Right. And here it says review for reminders of further action steps to record. Well, that's very wordy for me. Basically that's saying or what you also need to do. As you're looking at each one of your next actions lists, I'm assuming you have more than one, that you've organized your system by context list. So you may have a calls list, a computer list, an office list, and anywhere at agendas for different people, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Or you may just have one either or it works the same. Not only want to mark off completed actions, but also add whatever it is that as you are looking at your list, you're being triggered or prompted because even though, because you may say, well, but didn't I just do empty your head before? And should I have already written it when I did empty your head and why would I be doing it now? And you know there's some very inquisitive minds in that way. Yes, but since we're not perfect, maybe you forgot to write it down. And you're only now being triggered because it's the list that reminds you of that whatever that you forgot. So you're kind of using the form in this list, in this case the list to generate the behavior. So don't be so black or white, right? Like if I did it already here, why would I also have to somehow have another thought over here? Because it can happen. So as you're looking at your calls list and you're marking off completed actions, and for some reason a call comes to your mind, you can take this opportunity to add it onto your list. The point being is, make sure each one of your next actions lists are complete, current and consistent before you move on to the next list. So I start with my calls list. I have eight calls on my list. I don't have any call to Markov complete because I still need to do all those calls. Nothing else came to mind. I can move on to my next list. Or I have eight calls on my list. I, I did three. I forgot to mark off. It came down to five. But in that process of marking it off, I thought of another five. Now I have 10. Now that I have 10, I can move on to my next list. I think you get the idea. That's in a very basic level. In addition, when you're reviewing your next actions list, confirm you have a verb on every one of your action reminders. So it's very important that each one of your action reminders have a verb that describes your next physical, visible activity, a verb that you can see yourself doing. The calls list is a very poor example because the only verb for the calls List is call, call. But for computer, you may have served the Internet. Review a document update, a Google sheet, draft ideas, create a PowerPoint, you name it. There are many different verbs that you will have under your, let's say computer list.
- [24:08]
B
Yeah, just in case it's helpful there, I once again posted in the chat the link to the Tools and templates section of the document library. And if you go to that link and scroll to the bottom of that section, you're going to see a couple of PDFs that are examples of verbs. Those are examples of verbs for your next actions. It also includes some verbs for sample verbs for projects. This is in case you're looking at your lists of next actions and later projects and you say I, I just have mom or I just have birthday or something like that on, on there as a next action, then that's not a verb. So you need a verb there to tell you what to do. You want to make this easy on you when it's time to take action. So that tools and templates section has a couple of PDFs that have sample verbs for you to try out and give you an idea about ways to go with verbs.
- [25:10]
A
Thank you, John. Also, as you're looking at each one of your action reminders or next action reminders, not only are you confirming for verbs, you're confirming for a complete reminder of your commitment. So call mom regarding weekend plans. Call John regarding update on outstanding invoices from Hungary. So you want to give yourself the full reminder of what it is that you are you've committed to taking action on. Not just two or three words, not an incomplete reminder, because that's not going to help you. The future in the moment, when you're looking at the list, I always like to think about if for some reason I came and took on your job, not that I will or that I want to, but if I came and took on your job, and even though I don't know what it is, could I at least follow these instructions? You know, are they clear and complete enough that I can say, oh, I can see that Alicia had to call this person by the name John regarding some outstanding invoices from Hungary. I'm going to give it a try and say, hey, John, I took on this job. I don't really know what it is, but it says here that you got to tell we got to check on outstanding invoices from Hungary. It's probably going to be clear enough to John that somehow we can make some sense of this. So just give yourself that time. To write yourself the full complete reminder. Even though no one's going to take on your job. But some, some more softer colleagues than I, they like to say be kind to your future self. I don't relate to that phrase because I'm not that kind of soft person. I relate more to the someone's going to take over my job, can they follow it? So whichever one works for you, the bottom line is give yourself a complete reminder of your commitment. Also, when you give yourself complete reminders of your commitments, not only is it going to make it easier for you when you are working off your list. As in getting things done right, as in step five engage when you're doing your review, if for some reason you change your mind, you change the commitment, life change on you, it's so much easier to renegotiate it or to not make it. In other words, delete it. The clearer and the more complete it is, the easier it is to either mark it off, renegotiate it, change it, etc. So it has lots of benefits. What else, if anything else with this one that I can think of?
- [28:01]
B
See, what if I ask you why the next actions lists are reviewed at the beginning of get current and not later on? Tell us. Tell us what you've observed about.
- [28:13]
A
I said that you didn't have to follow this order, but there's some logic to the order. Eventually you're going to get to the projects list and in a way it's a bit of a shortcut to the to the review your projects list. Because since you now know what's sitting on your next actions list, you're probably gonna you're more ready to actually confirm if the project has the next action on your system or not. So it has that logic to it. Once I know what my next actions are when I look at my projects list, then it's gonna be easier for me to say okay, yes, for this project I do have an extraction. I just saw it. It's on my calls list. Oh yeah, for this project I have an extractions list. I just saw it's on my waiting for list. So you could probably more move more speedy through your projects. However, there is no shame when reviewing your projects list. If anything, slowing slowing down when reviewing your project list is a much more advisable behavior. Don't ever rush your review and and don't ever rush reviewing your projects list as part of your review because your projects list, it's really the Sorry, I'm taking a throat. I'm having a throat loss for My throat. Your projects list is the driver of your weekly review. So if there's one list that you want to spend the most time and give it the most attention of all lists, and that's a little bit unfair for me to say because you have to give attention to all your lists. But if you were, you know, cornering means asking me which list should I give the most time and attention to? That's your projects list. So speeding the review doesn't equal to rushing the review. But that's kind of the logic of why you can start with next actions list. I, on the other hand, start with projects list because I find Johnny moved to natural planning model. The the methodology guys. I on the other hand, like to start with my projects list because I like to give my projects list the the most attention, the most time. I like to be thorough, I like to think about them, I like to reflect. And it really doesn't take me all that much time to, to see on my system if there's an extraction or not for that, for that one project. So it's really up to you what works best for you. Then we have the calendar, obviously previous and upcoming. It's kind of the same thing, just broken into two parts. Obviously there's some logic there. Probably easier to first look at the previous because that may affect your upcoming instead of the other way around because maybe whatever you had scheduled to do or planned to do, it just didn't happen because things change for you for real. I mean, whatever you put on your calendar, as you know, are the things that you're committed to, to doing on that specific day or on that specific day and time. So your calendar is for day specific actions. So for anything that I committed on that day, for time specific actions, for anything that I committed on that day at that time and for day specific information. So obviously information is not a commitment. It's just a good to know, you know, when someone in your office is on vacation, if there's, I don't know, the metro line is closed for repair, if someone's out of the office because they're sick. Earnings reports, just information that you want to have at your fingertips. But it could be that yesterday you had three meetings scheduled that needed to happen on that day at that time. But you were called, I don't know, from school, that your son got forbidden, fell down, and now you have to rush them to the ER because you know, they twisted an elbow so you couldn't attend to these meetings. That happens. So in situations like that, of course, when you're doing your weekly review, then you will identify, you know, those, those actions that didn't occur and either reschedule them, renegotiate, then move them to a future date, email the person about it, you know, whatever it is that you need to do. So that's what reviewing your previous calendar is all about. It's to make sure that that week that it's coming to an end doesn't have any residual behind. Everything was completed, everything was done or was reorganized or was renegotiated.
- [33:24]
B
Thank you, that was terrific.
- [33:27]
A
Answer for the upcoming the idea here is to actually, more so than anything, capture actions triggered. Sometimes what happens is if we're not looking far enough into the future, we might find ourselves on the day of the event, as in your loved one's birthday and not having bought a birthday gift. And now you have to rush and run and get something right. If, on the other hand, you're reviewing your upcoming calendar on a regular basis, then it may trigger actions to help you prepare and get ready for whatever that event is. It could be a birthday, it could be a presentation, it could be a meeting, it could be a doctor's appointment for which you need to gather a lot of information and documents, or you need to do lab work, etc. So that's the whole point of looking at your upcoming calendar to help you be ready for whatever that either day specific action or time specific action. So whatever it's triggered as part of your review of your upcoming calendar, then you need to organize it appropriately or accordingly. And that could be because you put it on any one of your next actions lists. Or that could be because you have to schedule some kind of appointment like, you know, lab work, go to the lab to draw a blood. And that has to happen on Friday in the morning, or, you know, whatever organizing you need to do or rearranging or moving things around. Again, often can happen that reminders on your calendar are next actions to projects. So having completed the calendar review prepares you to the project review. Because when you get to your project, then you can. You're confident that there is an action that you just saw for next Friday, for example. So that's some of the logic for this sequence. I'm not looking at the chat, John, but I do see things moving up and down, but I don't have to pay attention. Or is there anything on the chat that I need to be looking at? Because I see 10 entries on the chatbot?
- [35:46]
B
Yeah, nothing you need to pay attention to. I'll. I'll let you know if there's anything going on there, you need to address address on this. All good.
- [35:55]
A
So okay, thank you. Waiting for same intelligence there may be actions in waiting for that belong to projects Again. If you got through reviewing your waiting for list, you're more ready to complete your, your project list review. What can I say about your waiting for list? I just want to say that obviously this is an opportunity to, you know, mark up whatever items were returned to you that you're no longer waiting on. That one I do find myself doing. I'm not, I'm not that obsessive compulsive, even though I am, but I'm not that obsessive compulsive that when I get an answer to something that I'm on that I have on my waiting for, I immediately go and clean it out from my waiting for. I don't. It usually happens during my weekly review. I go, oh yeah, I did hear back from John on this. Oh yeah, answer me on that. Oh yeah, I got that from Katherine. Oh yeah, I got the, you know, the books that I ordered delivered, etc. So typically during my weekly review my waiting for gets becomes updated as in marking up a bunch of completed items. The other thing that can happen as part of your waiting for list review is that you come across an item that you go, I wonder why I haven't gotten any answer on this. It's now been two weeks and it's about time I get an answer on it. You may decide right there, right then because It's a quick 30 seconds kind of action to either re email, if it was on an email form, re email the person and say, hey, what about this? What's the status? When would I hear from you? Whatever. Or leave a voicemail message or whatever. The action is triggered. Again, short. I'm not saying that this is going to trigger now you standing up from your office, going to someone's office and, and, and investing an hour in a meeting. Because then that means that you have chosen to stop doing your review and you have chosen instead to do work as it appears. Because somehow this just appear in the face of your, you know, in your face. And you've chosen to invest that time. You change how you're using your time, which is okay as long as you're consciously aware. But that's not really the intention of your review and your waiting for list. It's more for checking off received items and for, for following up on whatever can be followed up quickly so that your, your waiting for list is current and up to date and also for confirming, no different than with the next actions list that it's a complete reminder for waiting for. It's a best practice to have the person's name or company that you're waiting on the date of request. In other words, since when you're waiting on this and then what are you waiting on? So who, since when and what? So that makes it very easy for you to then review your waiting for list and either leave it alone as it is, follow up because it's important, need it required finally, or check it off because it's been received, there are exceptions or exceptionally, I should say better. Some of your waiting for list items will also include a buy date. In other words, by when I should be getting this. So I'm waiting, you know, on Bob since 12-12-12XYZ and then I have a due date as well because he promised me that by December 31st I will get that answer. So obviously if I'm doing my review on December 22, I'm not going to do anything about this because there's still nine days left for Bob to do his job. So many times the due dates, if they're real, as in deadlines, as in an agreement made by the two of you, not as in your hopes, then make a note of it as part of your waiting for reminder because that in itself makes helps you be more efficient when you're reviewing your waiting for list because then those are items that you don't even have to kind of look at because they're not due yet. Does that make sense? So that would be a reason for having a due date, but only when true. Not made up.
- [40:27]
B
Right? All good, all good, all good. I think we can look at project and outcome lists.
- [40:36]
A
Okay, so what else with this? Review your project list and you may notice that I have been kept on referring to your projects major projects list. I rarely refer to it as my larger outcome list. As you know, in gtd a project is anything that meets the definition of a multi step outcome to be completed within a year or so. Multi step outcome, as in more than one sitting, as in more than one action. To be completed, to be finished, to be ended within a year. That could be 13 months too. It doesn't have to be exactly 12. So it could be 6 months, 8 months, 10 months, 12 months, 13 months, 14 months. Don't don't be so exacting. Purpose being is when you're doing your weekly review, your projects list is really going to help you gain perspective and kind of have a greater Understanding of the bigger picture. Not just the day to day, action to action to action or interruption to interruption. It's more like the confirmation of oh yes, these are the larger outcomes. We can use that term. Right. That I've committed to, that are part of my job. That given my focus and accountability, they are my job. I need to make sure I deliver on these outcomes. Projects, you don't do them, you have them because what you do are actions. So you have a projects list which is understood to be as in your project inventory that helps you with having greater clarity around all these commitments that you've made that cannot be finished in one sitting and that they are part of your job. So your projects list definitely helps you with prioritizing because it gives you that bigger picture. The projects list also should have all those outcomes that you know that weekly you need to come back to, to reflect on, to think about, to kind of push the needle a little further in terms of progress. Because interesting enough, if we don't do this on a weekly basis is not that projects don't get too done. Projects do get to done. Everybody do get projects done, but often they're done at a very high price. You know, it. We wait until the very end and now we really need to put a lot of energy and effort and work that not necessarily you have to had you've been regularly reviewing and progressing. So instead of having your projects behave in peaks like you know, and then I forget my work, I forget and then imagine that multiplied by 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 projects. It's exhausting.
- [43:46]
B
Right.
- [43:46]
A
It's better to be more stable and consistent in their progress. And that's guaranteed through the weekly review.
- [43:53]
B
And your, your stress levels will also be much reduced if you're not doing projects as peaks and valleys, if you can correct. Get to the point where you're reviewing them often enough that you consistently make progress on actions toward completing those. That at least I've found in talking with many other people, they found that it reduces their overall stress level around those projects. And as Maria mentioned, that's part of how you can think about the review is what are the projects I want to see every week and monitor my progress on?
- [44:35]
A
Correct. So I think David calls, says, you know, it reduces the ambient stress.
- [44:40]
B
Yes.
- [44:40]
A
Checking your projects on a weekly basis. And it does. And I know that there are projects that have higher priority. I know that there are projects that they progress much more. I know there are projects that move way faster, but that doesn't exclude the other projects. You know, what I mean, like, it's not mutually exclusive because I have these ones that are of a higher priority. Then I ignore this ones. They all get reviewed. Some will get much more work and energy and time versus others. But they all, at the very minimum, have a next action identified. That's a common denominator on all your projects. Always, no matter which one it is, all have one next action identified. And during your weekly review, you got to get to that confirmation. Each and every one of my projects have at least one next action identified. Why I say at least is because they may have more than one. Do you want to say that? So I rest my.
- [45:39]
B
You took the words out of my mouth.
- [45:41]
A
Go ahead. You can just talk about why can it be more than one?
- [45:46]
B
It's at least one next action, but it's not limited to one next action. Because there may be projects you have where you have more than one next action that you can take to move that project forward at any given time. Now, the thing to watch out for. Here's the trap, the gotcha in this that I find with people is they. They'll add to their. Their next actions lists, actions to move a project forward that are dependent on something else happening first. So then they have a list that's not truly next actions. It's. It's a mixed list. It's cluttered with next actions, but also actions that have to wait on something else to happen first. That's what you want to watch out for, is to make sure that if you do have, say, two or more next actions on your lists for any given project, make sure that each one of those truly is a next action. You could take that action independently of whether anything else happens first. So that's the. That's the filter on your next actions list. If it requires waiting for something else to happen first, it's dependent on something else happening first for the to move that project forward. Then that would go in your project notes, your project support, support materials, where you might have a list of potential future next actions for that project that aren't ready to activate yet because other things have to happen first.
- [47:20]
A
Exactly. Also another. And when you're reviewing your projects list, it's similar to your next actions list. Make sure each one of your projects has a verb that describes, defines completion. When are you done? So whenever you title your projects, make sure you title them with the understanding of I'm done when I've, you know, created the presentation, I've delivered the training, I bought the house, I've sold the car, I've merged the company, you know, I've organized the party. Whatever the right verb is that defines when you're done, that's the verb you want to make sure it's included in your project title. Some people like to start their projects with the verb. Some people like to end the project with the verb. Either or, it doesn't matter. I've even seen some people with the project somewhere with the verb somewhere in the middle of the project title. As long as there's a verb that defines completion and when you're done, we're good. Why one versus the other? Because some people like to have their projects in alphabetical order. So, so putting the project at the end, the project verb. I'm sorry, at the end. It's very helpful if you want to see your project in alphabetical order. Otherwise it would organize your project in alphabetical order, but by the verb. So you may have a lot of complete, complete, complete organize, organize, organize, etc. Right. So pick your bottles. I have them all over the place. Honestly. I have some projects that start with a verb. I have some projects that end with a verb. I have some projects that have the verb in the middle. I have some projects in Spanish, have some projects in English. It doesn't matter. When I'm doing my review, I'm giving myself the time to look at each and every one of my projects thoroughly. And however my brain was thinking in that moment is how I capture my project. What I do have is a complete reminder of my project title or a complete reminder of my commitment for this multi step outcome.
- [49:25]
B
Yeah.
- [49:26]
A
So make a complete reminder of what your project statement is, of what your project, you know, what's your desired outcome? When are you done? Those kinds of questions are very helpful. You don't necessarily have to get into writing a vision statement because we're not asking you to do that, just a title, a wine liner. It's, it's all you need. Yeah, go ahead, John.
- [49:49]
B
And as far as the where to put the verb in the title, it, it can go either way. There's, there's a person, their GTD practitioner, who breeds a special kind of sheep. So for her she said the, the project could be called Shear the sheep or Sheep sheared. So it could be phrased either as past tense or current. Either one works. But there's a verb in there to say what, what needs to happen, what will, what will, what will be happening there for that project to be completed. And there she has many, many sheep. So shearing the sheep is a big project with Next actions to it. But either way, you can have it sheared or shear. Either way there's going to be a verb in there.
- [50:38]
A
And if we want to get picky and we don't have time for that, you can always revisit chapter 13 on the power of outcome focusing from the book because there might be more power, let's say, to maybe writing it in the past tense because it's affirming what you want or affirmed what you want. So how sold in terms of how the brain works and visioning works. But could. Could provide more benefits for you. I'm not saying it's. It's right or wrong either way, but if you want to practice with that and you want to kind of look at more details on it, you can revisit chapter 13 on the book during the weekly review. Should I be doing project planning? Not really, because you're going to run out of time. So if you, if you. As in, you know, should I spend 10 minutes getting through a natural planning model on this project? Well, if time allows and you can. I'm not saying no, it's not heresy. But don't. We're not saying yes because you may run out of time, as in, you're required. Right. But if you've identified that this project can use better planning, as in the natural planning model, then you just identify that as the next action to that project. And that's all you need to eliminate the distraction and eliminate the attention, the mental attention from your mind on that project once you've identified the next action. Obviously is not unequal as, as in having done the natural planning model, but it's all you need to eliminate the distraction and the tension on that project. I think that's all that I can think of, John.
- [52:20]
B
Yep, that's. I think we're good there. You could touch on checklists and then hop into getting creative.
- [52:27]
A
So with checklists, this is the world to be discovered. Honestly. You can have anywhere from one checklist, at the very least, your weekly review checklist, to 100 checklists. It's going to be very different to everyone. You will have probably checklists that are, you know, of those things that come up seasonally that only get to be reviewed, you know, when, when the time is right, let's say. Or you may have checklists for things that need to be reviewed on some regular interval, you know, like end of quarter or weekly review or when I travel, here's my checklist kind of thing. So there's a whole world to be discovered when it comes to checklists. So if you're doing your weekly review and you're not, you know, packing your suitcase and you have a travel checklist, there's no reason to review the travel checklist, obviously, because you're not packing. But when you're doing your weekly review and you have a weekly review checklist, then yes, follow your weekly review checklist. So it depends on what checklist you have. Very useful, again, a world to be discovered. Very important component aspect of your GTD system. Best way to create your checklist is give it your best shot when you first create them. And then when you realize that you forgot an item that needed to go on your checklist giving feedback, then add it on your checklist. You know, you forgot to put global adapters on your travel checklist and now you happen to be in Spain and you have a way to power oh adapters, and you add that onto your checklist. So that's one way to keep on working on your checklists. And then with Get Creative, this is the last component of the review. This is something that I have found myself that sort of more naturally occurs, is a bit of a byproduct of the work that we just completed from getting current and getting clear. Because now I've created room in my head, right? I've created room in my space, in my ecosystem, whether that's physical, digital or mental, or all three. So naturally you're going to come up with ideas. That's just the human nature, you know, getting things done. It's not really about getting things done as you know, it's about appropriate engagement. So not just because you have a list and you get things done off your list. And that doesn't mean. That means that you're never going to have a list. I'm sure you're going to have a list and a bigger list and a great list and you know, in a more colorful list because just human nature. So as part of this review, we asked you to check out your Sunday maybe list. It's a very powerful list. It's to me is the close cousin to your projects list. Your Sunday maybe list is a great list to put in there. All these other outcomes that you're not committed to taking action yet, but you may in the future. So many projects that are not yet projects, as in having an extraction identified, they can be parked on your Sunday maybe list. Thoughts, ideas, dreams, visions, aspirations. When I retire, when I win the lottery, if I happen to travel to Hong Kong, all kinds of things can go into something maybe. So it's another world to explore. You can break down your Someday maybe list into by categories. You can have Someday maybe list broken down in terms of time frame because you might find yourself a little overwhelmed if you have a thousand items in your Sunday maybe list. A little overwhelmed looking at a thousand items weekly and it may not be appropriately so. You may have a weekly something maybe list monthly Someday maybe list quarterly Someday maybe list by yearly yearly. In other words, you kind of give yourself at different time frames those thoughts and ideas that you wrote into your Someday maybe list. Again, same intelligence. The more complete you put the reminder into something maybe list, the easier the better, probably for you to action on. Otherwise it's going to be confusing and difficult for your mind to be reminded of whatever that thought was when you had it. And be creative and courageous. I think it's a byproduct. I don't necessarily think that somehow now I'm going to become creative and courageous and I'm going to come up with this crazy idea that otherwise I didn't. It just happens. So don't, don't, don't force it. Let it be natural. I would say pause, of course, give yourself some time to see if anything surfaces, but don't force it.
- [57:12]
B
And doing the steps in the review leading up to be creative and courageous gives you so much room, so much space in in your psyche for being creative. You'll find that the more consistently you do the review, the more the more your creativity will have permission to show up because you'll be no, you'll know that you're complete and current with everything else you've committed to. So you have the create. You have the creative space space to have new ideas show up.
- [57:47]
A
So hopefully I gave you a little more color around the review. As I said, all of this includes an etc. Because I'm sure there's more, but there.
- [57:57]
B
Is some There you go. Well, thank you all for joining us here. Thank you, Ana Maria, for adding so much color. Just like the painting behind you, you've added a lot of color to the whole weekly review checklist. And that's it for today. We'll see you all again on a webinar very soon. I hope.