Today’s Homemaker

[New to this series on Getting Things Done? Start at the beginning!]

Today we’re going to start organizing all of that “stuff” that we’ve been collecting from our brains and inboxes and calendars. The first thing we’re going to do is create a master Project List.

Now, let’s take a look at that list we’ve been making, shall we? First, I’m going to delete the things that I’ve already done. Oh, that feels nice. (Notice that all of the things I’ve been procrastinating on are still on there…big surprise!)

• Decide on how to present MMLC’s photo gallery
• Follow up with Carol about FAQs list
• Follow up with Lynn on the site design that I sent Friday
• Finish coding Jocelyn’s main page
• Post Craigslist ad
• Start emailing school districts for Teacher of the Year lists
• Write tomorrow’s blog entry
• Go to optometrist to get receipt
• Do finances/finish paying the bills for the month
• Direct Nolan to clean the playroom (he did it, but it needs it again!)
• Do laundry
• Edit newsletter for Back to Him Adoption Ministries
• Clean old leftovers out of refrigerator
• Clean old stuff out of the pantry
• Clean out my embarrassingly messy car
• Clean out my horrifyingly messy purse (hey, I’m sensing a pattern here)
• Finish secret sewing project (can’t post about it yet…it’s a surprise!)
• Finish writing the rest of Lilah’s thank you cards
• Cut Nolan’s hair
• Shower and get dressed (with two kids, I have to remind myself to do this!)
• Do the dishes
• Practice the piano
• Read/comment on my favorite blogs (yes, even include things you like to do)
• Wipe down the counter tops
• Take out the trash/recycling
• Make dinner
• Read the paper

I can clearly see that some of these items are part of a project. What is a project? Anything that requires more than one step. Anything. The only other stipulation is that these are projects that you are actively working on. So, using this list as my base, here is my project list:

• Jocelyn’s website
• Lynn’s website
• MMLC’s website
• Salute to Teachers event
• Today’s Homemaker blog
• Piano education
• Lilah’s thank you cards
• Refrigerator cleaning
• Secret sewing project

Okay, looks good. Now some of you might be wondering, why are Lilah’s thank you cards on this list? Isn’t that just one thing? Good question. I said that a project is anything that requires more than one step. A “step” (for our purposes) is a very specific thing. “Lilah’s thank you cards” require me to do several things — find them (I’m sure those blasted things are around here somewhere), write them, address them, stamp them, and take them to the post office. So see…that’s a whole project in itself.

Most of the time, we procrastinate on things that are seemingly simple — say, cleaning out our embarrassingly messy cars. We write it down. We look at it. We ponder it. We think about it. We do just about everything but DO it. That’s because we have written down a “to do” item that is actually an entire project.

Allen calls these tasks that make up a project “Next Actions.” We will go into detail about those another day. For now, look at your “stuff” list that we’ve been working on and decide which of those are actually projects that need to go on your Project List.

Done? Good. I’m so proud. So why didn’t I put “clean out my embarrassingly messy car” on my Project List? Well, that brings me to the next list we’re going to make. Allen calls this a Someday/Maybe list, but I’m going to call it our Future Possibilities list. These are projects that you are not currently working on, but you’d like to get to One Day. And believe me, with this system, that day will come sooner than you think! Here’s my list (based on the “stuff” list above):

• Nolan’s haircut (that day better come sooner rather than later…he’s looking pretty shaggy!)
• Pantry organization
• Car organization
• Purse organization

Pretty short, huh? But now that I’m thinking about it, there are several things I could add:

• DIY filing cabinet redo
• Lilah’s clothing purge/organization
• Leaf pillows (they’re cut, but not sewn)
• Desk organization

Okay, I think you get the picture. If you’re wondering about those other things that are left on the list, those are things that have to be done every day or once a week. We will deal with those later.

For today, I’m going to flesh out my Project List and Future Possibilities List, and I encourage you to do the same. Both of these lists are going to go in that 3-ring binder, so you can either type them up and print them out or write them directly on a sheet of notebook paper.

I prefer the notebook paper because it’s much easier to update. I mean, seriously, you are going to be modifying this list all the time — probably once a day. Are you really going to get on the computer, update the file, and print it out each time? Probably not. I know it’s pretty, but the point here is to find something that actually works. It’s not going to work if it’s just another thing you can procrastinate on.

So that’s the spiel for the day. I’d love to hear how it’s going for you — email me at sarahjoy [at] todayshomemaker [dot] com or leave a comment below.

GTD day five: Next Actions >>