25 January 2005
Next Action Balls
In a previous posting I mentioned some upcoming forces – the sweetness of tools – that contest my analog / minimalistic approach of implementing GTD.
Another issue is a certain amount of thinking about this approach without adding any value. Currently I’m writing all next actions on 3.5 by 3.5 sized paper-notes. Now: should I tear a NA apart (makes me feel good for a second) when it’s done or should I keep them for future reference? If I keep them, shouldn’t I track metriks like time estimated vs. time actually spent, date issued vs. date done…? If I track those, shouldn’t I look for or build a database that visualizes trends…?
No. I need to trick and stick me to simplicity. Here is my plan:
1. take a basket and remove stuff inside
2. do the next action
3. make the corresponding note a little ball and throw it in the basket
4. repeat 2. and 3. until the basket is full
weekly do the review and post a picture of the status
Here is the next action balls basket as of today:
