[iNik]

I have many ginormous single-action lists. I split them up somewhat (e.g. Domestic Tasks, Work Tasks, and the all-important Misc. Tasks). I'll also frequently create a new bucket of tasks when I start a major new goal. So, for example, now that I'm job hunting, I've got a "job hunting" folder with a ton of projects (I don't care for sub-projects, so I use folders), and it has a couple buckets, one of which is Resumes to Submit. A day of filtering through want ads will generally add 6-10 items to that list, so it gets big fast.

That's not a problem, though. These are indeed single tasks that can be fairly quickly dispatched. I don't waste time prioritizing or otherwise micro-managing these singletons. I just watch my Next Actions (via a handy perspective) and knock them down as they come up. It keeps me on-task (okay, now send the resume to Company X -- I don't have to think about the other pile of places I have yet to apply to) and when I knock that one off, I am magically treated to a new one. Knock 'em down, get 'er done!

Where these become overwhelming is when you try to prioritize too much. The single tasks are SINGLE TASKS that can be dispatched relatively easily.

I'll also move a task into a project of its own if it looks like it's taking more energy than I thought. So if I call the credit card company only to find that they've raised my rate to 130% APR and I need to transfer the debt to another card, I'll make a project for it while I close out the task.

And, if it wasn't obvious, NONE of my bucket projects are actually buckets in the traditional sense. Yes, the tasks COULD be handled in parallel, but I still treat them as sequential so that the Next Action Wizardry works to my advantage. I have other perspectives that will give me the full list of singletons.