I’ve been using David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” methodology almost as long as GTD has been around. But I’ve been struggling with the “Someday/Maybe” portion of the Weekly Review.
This week I found something that put it all together for me.
Luke, a commenter on the GTD website writes:
It’s not a parking lot for unprocessed stuff; never take something from your IN basket and slap it on this list…If you do you’ll get allergic to this list really fast, then you’ll stop reviewing it, then the domino effect that ends with falling off the GTD wagon begins. Luke on gettingthingsdone.com.
In order for something to qualify as a “Someday/Maybe” it needs to be actionable. Just not today.
My own horrendous Someday/Maybe pile is a collection of links and bookmarks such as “this comic strip is funny” or “I like these songs.” It’s all stuff that feels resonant, that stirs something inside me. But it needs to be processed…either that or stuffed in a reference folder somewhere.
For example “I like this comic strip” could become “print this out and frame it,” or “send this comic strip to Steve.” This way, when you do the Someday/Maybe part of your weekly review, you can easily say, ah, I can do that on Monday.
Anything else, anything that’s just an idea and not an action, goes in a big DOOM pile called “Reference.”
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