[smiggles]

I am very pleased so far with OF. I know I have been getting more done in general. And I've managed to get caught up in my work responsibiities, which is a huge accompishment. But I need some advice.

I find myself pretty much reviewing things in the "remaining" view rather than venturing into "next action" viewing. I find myself not trusting the system enough to work from "next action" mode. Much of the time the next actions don't make sense... like something that is actually suposed to happen before it is not showing up. I find this frustrating enough that I just resort to the "remaining actions" view. But I know I'm missing something. I know that there is a good way of working in "next action" mode that would be beneficial to work from. Can anyone shed some light and distinguish how they get to the point where they are working powerfully from "next action" view/mode?

[curt.clifton]

One quick remedy if a next action perspective shows you an action that you cannot do yet, is to double-click it. This brings up a new window focused on the project in planning mode. Then you can add the actual next action. If you aren't in a position to identify the actual next action in the moment, then you can add an action like "Plan next action for project". A "next action" that isn't really actionable is a sign that you need to do more planning on the project.

Ethan Schoonover gave some advice on writing next actions that I found helpful. He suggested writing next actions as if you were delegating them to someone else. This habit forces you to word the actions explicitly enough that they are truly actionable.

Ultimately, I've found that the key to trusting the system is to be religious about daily and weekly reviews. If you have too many projects to review them all, then you have too many projects to do them all. Pick the most important and focus on getting those on-track. Don't forget that you're investing energy into learning a new way of doing things. That might mean that you're temporarily less productive until you develop new habits.

[brianogilvie]

Seconding Curt's advice on the reviews. You need to get in the habit of reviewing your projects to keep on top of them, as often as necessary. Most of my projects have a review interval of 1 week, but some are more frequent and some less. If I defer a project by setting a start date in the future, I usually set the next review to the same date, unless for some reason I think I should review it before the start date.

In your review, you should (among other things) make sure that the next action for the project (the one at the top of the list, usually, unless that one is unavailable) is really the next action. If it's not, add the next action.

Just out of curiosity: do you work better if you choose Available actions rather than Next? That's a way to see actions in a parallel project or action group that you can do but that aren't next on your list. Many users prefer that setting, since it filters out actions that can't be done because they are blocked for some reason but shows all actions that you can do, not just the first one in each project.

[curt.clifton]

Originally Posted by brianogilvie

Just out of curiosity: do you work better if you choose Available actions rather than Next?

I suspect this question was directed at the OP, but I'll share my methods too. I tend to work out of Available actions rather than Next. I'll switch to Next Actions if I'm having trouble getting traction, just to narrow the list of possibilities.

[Toadling]

Originally Posted by curt.clifton

I tend to work out of Available actions rather than Next. I'll switch to Next Actions if I'm having trouble getting traction, just to narrow the list of possibilities.

The same goes for me. Maybe I just need to pay a little more attention to choosing my Next actions, but looking at my Available actions makes me feel a little more comfortable. I'm worried a collection of parallel actions might not be in the proper order and I'll miss something important when viewing only the Next action.

-Dennis

[brianogilvie]

I was addressing the OP but since we're sharing, I too tend to work with Available actions unless I really need to limit my options. When my schedule is flexible, it helps me to get a sense of whether I need to change contexts--if my @Library context has two items, I can wait to go there unless they are high priority, but when it has 15, I might head over to the library to work through them all at once. Ditto for errands and a few other contexts.