Clean Out Your Projects List
26.02.2014
I carry a list of 10K Active Projects with me. (This is the 10,000 foot level in Getting Things Done terminology.) I usually print out a new list when I do my weekly review. Currently, I have 36 projects on my list. When I have some time waiting for an appointment, I list next actions for as many of the projects as possible.
Lately, I’ve been noticing that some of the projects aren’t moving forward. They’re stuck. A friend of mine and I brainstormed categories of stuckness.
1. Lack of knowledge or skill: “I don’t know how to do the next step.”
2. Unclear purpose/goal/benefit/outcome: “How valuable is this anyway?”
3. Defective strategy/approach/plan: “I’m afraid I’ve been going about this the wrong way.”
4. High cost in time/money: “I can’t afford to do this now.”
5. Dependency on others: “I can’t get the permission/help that I need to do this.”
6. Situational barriers: “I’m just going to have to wait for better conditions/weather/resources.”
Think of your 10K Projects list as a refrigerator, keeping your projects in one place ready to work on. But every once in a while, you need to clean out the fridge. Projects are perishable.
Don’t let yourself get discouraged when projects get stuck and your list gets too long. Give yourself a fresh start. Reassess your priorities, current conditions, and resources, and then clean out the fridge.
List next actions for all of them and keep moving forward. Life is too short to work on stale projects.
