[Guide] Making "Someday" work
In latest GTD book "Making it all work" David Allen writes that
not all someday items should be reviewed with same regularity
"Buy "Kick-ass" dvd " is not equal to "Buy a Villa".
David Allen sugests breaking the "Someday" into 3 sub categories:
Not now but soon
Not now but later
Nevernow
Personally I am putting stuff that is possible for me to do/achieve/buy in the near future (up to a year) into "soon", +1 year time frame is "later" and nevernow is a wild fantasy (example from the book: visit a space station)
each of my someday items is tagged with "to-buy" , "to-do" , "to-experience" etc. and then put into proper project folder "soon" "later" "nevernow"
this way you can have "to-buy" on dvd and a house and those items will not be displayed togeter because house is more of "later" item.
David Allen suggests reviewing "soon" folder every weekly review, "later" every other review, and "nevernow" should be checked out every 2-3 months
Give it a try
2 Posted by zen on 12 May, 2010 01:26 PM
I like the idea.
3 Posted by Proximo on 14 May, 2010 09:13 PM
I think David Allen complicates GTD.
ROFL
I will keep my system simple and to the point. :-)
4 Posted by sim on 02 Jun, 2010 12:02 AM
Why not just use the due date since you are reviewing it after a certain time. I keep mine simple
5 Posted by Proximo on 02 Jun, 2010 01:51 PM
@Sim,
I think many know that I am growing tired of how DA complicates GTD. It seems he is trying to keep the content alive by adding to it to sell more books.
IF GTD Works, then it should stick to what made it work. Simplicity.....
DA said that GTD was something that was proven for many years before he put it in a book and all of a sudden there is now a new twist of the month about GTD.
GTD is simple and the original idea works and has worked for years.
6 Posted by Lasse on 03 Jun, 2010 10:43 PM
I haven't read any of DA's books besides "GTD". The methodology was easy to understand and to implement, and has worked really well for me so I have never felt the need to read anything else about it. As for his suggestion concerning Someday, I think it defeats the purpose of Someday Maybe which to me is to "put everything I don't need in the attic and don't worry about it unless you have the time for it". It doesn't matter whether it's due soon or later - if I don't have time for it I won't do it, if I do have time for it, it doesn't matter whether it's soon or late - I can do it now. But (as Proximo never tires of saying :)) if people find that it works for them, that's great.
7 Posted by Proximo on 04 Jun, 2010 06:08 PM
@Lasse
:-)
One thing I learned about GTD is that it can be implemented differently by each person. There is a general Methodology that most can agree with but we all tweak it to cater to our environment and life.
I say this a lot because when I first learned and implemented GTD, I was excited to tell others about it but found myself trying to get them to use it 100% as it says in the book. I had to realize that the book was a good guide of why GTD works, but each person has to make the tweaks they need so that it works for THEM and not me.
The title of the second book is funny to me because "Making it all Work" will be different for each person. :-)
I have matured with GTD now. This means that I have learned to accept that GTD works but it does not need to be implemented exactly the same way for everyone. I learned that what works for me does not always work for others. I love sharing what I do with GTD but I expect people to take what works and leave the rest. Only the individual knows what parts work best for them.