Get Everything Done

I have been using AF now since the beginning of the Beta launch and for the most part, it is working well for me. I still do things digitally in OneNote primarily now, with urgent, hard due date tasks also in Outlook so I can see them apart from the regular list. This is much llike Mark's index card alternative. So far, so good.

I am having one problem and need some advice from Mark and others. When top-level administrators ask me what my projects are and when I might have things done in a linear sequence, it becomes very difficult to look at my AF lists and have an adequate answer. Moreover, if a new project comes my way, it is hard for me to gain a sense of when I can start on it in a linear fashion. In other words, if I add it to myAF list, how do I know that I am not simply overwhelming myself? What do I tell "bosses" when target dates I will have this done? I hope I am making mysefl clear on this.

-David

I keep all my project planning separate from AF. I use Remember the Milk with a task list for each project but a page in Word would work as well or specialised project management software. I also keep an electronic notebook (evernote.com) for keeping my goals and brainstorming notes on projects, again Word would work as well or sheets of paper. I use MindManager from time to time to mindmap if I need that extra brainstorming help.

I try and look at my project lists each week and I update my lists in the following way:
1. Update completed tasks from AF in my project lists.
2. Add any extra tasks that I've thought of in AF (if you do your review regularly enough, you'll remember what these are without having to do too much of a search - but if not just use your dates on your pages to look through the period since the last review).
3. Project planning by reviewing goals and notes and task actions, brainstorming next actions, problems, solutions, whether things need due dates changed or added, dependent tasks etc.
4. Ideally I would also look through any paper project folder/s and do a bit of a clean up here too.
5. Update my task project task list and milestones, add any reminders necessary to my calendar/tickler system (I use Remember the Milk as my reminder system). At this point, you should have a good idea of your progress on the project enough to report back.
6. From this I should have some new next actions which I add back to AF.

If I had to report to someone, I would then schedule a project review close to seeing them so that they would have the freshest progress update, but if you're doing one each week, you would probably have a good idea on where you are anyway.

Hi Catherine CS,

This sounds like it works for you, but I am somewhat confused. Why use two systems? This seems overly complicated, but maybe I am not seeing it correctly. I thought we were supposed to put EVERYTHING

Oops....hit enter by mistake. I meant to say I thought we were supposed to put EVERYTHING in AF and not have a parallel system outside of AF. Am I incorrect in this?

-David

Hi David

I work with Projects in AF in two distinct ways, which are largely dictated by the project type itself. If it is a project that requires a set path of actions, e.g. tax return, preparing a set of accounts etc., then i would put the steps into AF, e.g. "get out file" "collate receipts" "bank reconciliation" etc., If however it was a larger project, .e.g. Family History, Setting Up a Credit Control System, Research & Development Projects, etc where there is a high task dependancy and a lot of influencing factors, then I would have more general tasks such as Work on Family History. That sort of project generally requires specific time blocks and needs to be properly controlled.

I have a section in One Note specifically for projects, where I can keep all associated files etc. Detailed project work by it's very nature, develops it's own collection of "stuff", whether physical such as paper files, or digital, databases and such like. A separate container is needed to collect that, whether it be a physical filing system or PC folder structure.

What I try to do for any project is set up a standard structure for control - with a front sheet detailing the project, resources required, parties involved, filing structure if appropriate and estimated time frame. If I have a new project under AF my first task would be to set up that Project Action Sheet. That is then followed by any planning structure normally followed, although I am personally finding that AF is causing me to revisit some of my existing systems. By having a clearly defined structure to enable you to manage your projects and identify progress you will be able to demonstrate to your bosses where you are at any given point on any project. Whether the individual items end up in your AF lists will invariably change from time to time, but one task you need to have on your list is a task to ensure that you are reviewing your projects.

There are a number of great software packages out there to help but quite often you don't have any discretion in a work environment to use anything other than that prescribed.

The following threads had a lot of comments regarding projects which may also help -

Handling Projects

http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/623306

http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/625387

Thanks -- this makes it much more clear. One still has everything in AF, but one can still do project management on the side.

-David

Absolutely!

I would be wary of asking my AF list to also track phases of multiple projects. Even GTD doesn't do that. And that's a problem separate from the one that AF is designed to help with.

But all tasks that advance a project I would put into AF. And I have put "Think about project reporting" into my AF list to prompt my brain to think about this problem for my own situation.

Hi Mike

I think the level of detail on projects is going to vary from person to person. What I like about AF is the flexibility and ability to manage multiple projects at the same time. With DIT you had only the current initiative (one project) as the primary focus and directly referenced in the system. All other projects would be either scheduled or the individual tasks listed on the daily list. With AF I am doing something similar - sometimes putting ing the option of a time block, eg "work on Project x" and sometimes the individual part e.g. "update client file". AF is the first tool I have ever come across that gives me that level of control - if a project needs action of any kind it goes on the list in whatever format, or level of detail, is appropraite at that point in time. If that requirement changes then my list is merely updated accordingly.

Hope that helps ......

Hi David, I think Mike and Christine have answered your question about parallel systems very well, but here's my perspective...

The way I see AF is that it is not a tool for planning, nor is it a tool for managing - it's a tool for doing.

If you have any complex project, you're going to have a lot of dependent and future events if you've planned out what you need to do. Mark says in the instructions that AF isn't for scheduled actions/events, also the rules (must dismiss items if you can't take any action on them) imply that it's not really for future dependent actions (unless of course you use them as a reminder to do the prior actions). So you will need somewhere else to track these and that's really up to your personal tastes. But you don't work from your project tracking/management system - that's just a place to hold your planning and your progress - you work from your AF system, so really for practical doing purposes, there is only one system*.

(*Small proviso - you'll need to also look at your calendar/reminder system to check for any time scheduled events for the day - but I'm currently entering this onto an index card bookmark at the beginning of the day as per Mark's suggestion for handling urgent tasks so it's all in the one system: http://www.markforster.net/forum/post/629549 )

I take the same approach as Christine B and have a separate section in OneNote. I recently moved this over to the same NoteBook as I have the AF pages in, this way I have all planning and actions in one place for projects and general tasks and the other notebook is more reference and links across when needed. This is working well for me at the moment and I'll update my template at some point.