I wrote last week about how I use projects rather than goals for prioritizing and focusing my action. Projects, in my scheme, are chosen based on action and inspiration rather than on predicted results. They are provisional and amorphous rather than crystallized and specific. I got the idea of keeping a projects list from David Allen’s GTD book, but my own use of projects developed out of trial and error experimentation with them.
My projects don’t follow any of those rules you’ve read about goal-setting (you know, make them specific, measurable, and so forth). I’m sure that traditional goal-setting works for many people, but it doesn’t for me.
So how do these projects work? Here’s what I do.
Keep a list of projects. My projects will be anything from straightening my closet to doing taxes to wooing a new consulting client to refreshing my blog. I keep my projects to about two months or less in length — more than that and I break them down into subprojects.
Use amorphous project names. This sounds all wrong doesn’t it? But this is one of the keys that makes projects work for me. Keeping them amorphous keeps me open to inspiration and happenstance.
For example, I have a “Fall garden update” on my projects list right now. What does that mean? I don’t know — I’ll decide as I do it. I know I might want to order some tulip bulbs, that I should pull some of that dang bindweed, and that my Hansa rose bushes need some tender loving care. I may or may not get to all that, and that’s okay. I might do something completely different with it. Just having it on my projects list reminds that it’s something I’d like to work on.
Not all my projects have amorphous names. Some are more specific, like finalizing my book manuscript. The majority are amorphous though — more specific to dos generally live in my daily to do lists.
Put projects on the front burner, back burner, fridge, or freezer. My projects list tracks how actively I’m working on each project. If it’s at the front of my mind, it’s on the front burner. Less active ones for which I’m waiting on somebody else or waiting on my own inspiration and motivation go on the back burner. Things I know I want to work on but don’t have the bandwidth for go in the fridge. And finally, I put stuff I may or may not want to do into my project freezer, similar to the GTD someday/maybe list.
Move projects freely between front burner, back burner, fridge, and freezer. Because these are projects and not goals I’ve committed to, I freely move them about, making some projects active while eliminating others when they prove less important or engaging.
Don’t put too many projects on the front burner at once. I can work about four or five active projects at once. If I start having more than that there, that’s when I get stressed. The projects list is a useful reminder of when I’ve taken on too much. If that happens, I make an explicit decision to move one project or another onto the back burner from the front burner, and I do whatever I need to do to make that happen — whether it means delegating work to someone else, putting something I really want to do on hold, or renegotiating deadlines on some tasks.
Revisit project list any time I’m wondering what to work on. I consult my project list at least a couple of times per day, looking for something that I want or need to do. I don’t track next actions for projects religiously, because most of my projects are amorphous enough that I don’t want to decide the next action until I’m actually inspired to work on it. (Note that sometimes I’m “inspired” to work on something because I can’t put it off any longer! So this is not necessarily a recipe for shirking responsibility, though it could be in the wrong hands.)
Focus on action, not results. I know, this goes against everything you’ve learned about goals, right? You’re supposed to visualize the outcome and make it so real you attract that reality into your life. You’re supposed to make them specific and measurable.
But there are many problems with focusing overly much on results rather than on the action and the process. For one, you’re more likely to achieve your goals if you engage in problem-solving and planning rather than on visualizing the outcome. For another, you can’t predict the future with any certainty. If you fixate on one particular outcome you might neglect other, better possibilities. And focusing on results only can take you away from enjoyment of the present and the process. So I think relatively more about action and enjoyment and relatively less about exactly what I’m going to get.
Notice emerging projects. When I start to find myself motivated or inspired in a certain area, I figure I have a project seedling poking up out of the soil. Maybe I’m suddenly reading more blog posts about a particular subject (for example, recently I’ve been fascinated by what the economic woes mean for online advertising). Or maybe I feel envious when I hear what one of my friends is working on. Maybe I get inspired about a new business opportunity.
Anything like that suggests I might need to add another project to my list. I don’t necessarily work on it right then. I just give it a name and stick it somewhere on my project list. Then maybe it’ll lead to some action. Or maybe not. Either way, it’s okay with me.
Put difficult and tedious work onto project status. Conversely, there are often things I procrastinate about, mostly having to do with household management. I should get a carpet runner put onto our stairs so the dog doesn’t slip. I need to finish the updating of our estate plan. And I’ve yet to get our new health savings account funded.
When I’ve been procrastinating about something for a while, I put it on “project status:” give it a name, bundle any related tasks into the project, and put it somewhere onto the project list… preferably not the freezer.
How do you manage your priorities and focus throughout the day? Goals or projects or something else?
7 Comments
Hi Anne,
You have company over @ goal-free living http://www.stephenshapiro.com/blog/
(e.g., his first rule, use a compass not a map reminds me of your “focus on action not results”)
I started with GTD but attempts at a full implementation stress me a little. I recently read two things I really like in this regard: 1. Marc Andreesen wrote his approach is, before he goes to sleep, he writes down the 3 important things he wants to do the following day. 2. I read that Arnold Swarchenegger does not schedule anything on his calendar; i.e., so he is liberated to do what is important in the moment
But, it also occurs to me that, your flow-ish approach (I am here for your Zen postings!) is, in part, a logical answer to the slightly shifting nature of work - that is, from analytical to creative. As we outsource/automate more of the linear tasks, what remains is hard to quantify into “do this from 2 to 4 pm and be done with it.” For example, I have been learning graphics a bit lately and, while I know how long it takes to build a spreadsheet, rendering a picture requires more flexibility.
For myself, I have found that what is really important is that I can summon/find the *energy* and *attitude* to meet a task. So, I agree the procrastinating stuff needs to go on a hard list. But for a lot of other stuff, I lately have been thinking about leaving open spaces to let my energy/mood go to the next action. Related, I am trying to not put myself into daily deadlines but rather restructure (to same effect, really) but that I am WEEKLY working on several projects with longer timeframes. This is also creates space, but in the time dimension, which I think may improve my craftsmanship.
What I like about this is the fresh perspective, ie turning the standard measurable to-do list with its categories of importance out the window for something novel and a lot more exciting. As a recently returned full-time student, I cannot quite bag ALL the traditional must-do listings, but I do find myself applying your front/back/fridge/etc paradigm to my classes and to my “non-school” duties. Inserting some fairly easy tasks is a trick I’ve used for yrs, as it gives me momentum to tackle the harder tasks.
David, thanks for the link to Steven Shapiro’s stuff, that’s exactly what I’m getting at! Yes, it’s all very Zen and I agree, it has something to do with moving to more creative work rather than analytical. Daniel Pink calls what we’re in now the “conceptual age” as distinct from the “information age” which I think captures the shift too.
I as well need to find the energy and attitude for tasks. It doesn’t happen for me just because I have a list of next actions. The mini to do list is a good suggestion, and I also like the idea of making more space and using less hard deadlines.
Rick: I also haven’t totally done away with the must-do list. Adding some easy tasks onto the list is something I do too — like sometimes I write “shower” onto my daily to do list, knowing I will do it and then I can scratch it off! I love scratching things off!
Anne, I really can resonate with your observations about projects instead of goals.
As I read this post my mind went back to my childhood when, as you write, my day’s activities were usually “chosen based on action and inspiration rather than on predicted results.”
I think going back to that pattern with a dose of adult thought and responsibility makes great sense to me.
Keep creating,
Mike
Anne, excellent post. I’ve been a project person for years and years. Yet, I usually feel very piqued by my friends’ comments about how I do not set goals in the way that most time management courses suggest.
Your post made me realize that there is definitely a theme to my madness. Project work is somehow creatively non-judgmental; clearing out a closet can be as creative as working on a novel. Well, maybe not quite, but given the right frame of mind… We can certainly strive to live lives filled with creativity and not just learning to optimize our task management.
Thanks for your very insightful post.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who finds a more flowing approach works! Being “creatively non-judgmental” is exactly what I seek.
Do I always achieve it? Not at all. Always more work to do.
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