Need GTD/MLO feedback on active action lists with tasks that ALWAYS stick around

[John Tomson]

The problem I have is many tasks continue to sit in the active actions section for a long period of time.  The tasks that stay around are tasks where I’m waiting for someone on an ongoing project (not a full handoff, typically something less ‘email’ orienated and more ‘whatsapp’ back and forth communication or I already ‘followed up’ in the last day, or the task I want to postpone due to tact (I don’t want to be pushy), or its something I want a staff to do, but I don’t want to overload them by dumping my entire to do list onto them at one time.  All of the above are good reasons to delay a task, however they could also be described as procrastination.  Being bullheaded and less concerned about tact would possibly be more productive. 

Is there some methodical GTD mindset where if its on the next action, you don’t procrastinate, you just do it?  Ive read that in the GTD overviews, is that really feasible?  Or should I be using the next review option more.  Are my active actions not really active?  I imagine many of you have tasks siting in your list that sit there forever. Whats the GTD mindset that will help make progress.   

I’m bothered because I finish lots of tasks and feel good, but some tasks sit in my action lists forever, and it’s a time drag/mental downer that these tasks never go away.

I’m looking for feedback concerning the use of MLO, or possibly outside the box/gtd/task management feedback.   

[Dwight Arthur]

I work off of a custom view of today's active tasks. If I am getting it right, the first task in the list is the next thing I should work on. If I encounter a task in that list that I am not willing to do at this time, I consider the question: what would have to change to make it ready for action? "Tact" as you describe it sounds like the enabling factor is the passage of time. Maybe it would be rude to nag someone today for something I asked for only yesterday. So, when would it not be rude? Maybe three weeks. Ok, so I set a start date in three weeks and the task drops off the Today view.

Maybe the task can't start until something happens, like receiving delivery of a tool. I set the context to waiting and put something in the note about what I am waiting for. Then I consider, if this never happens, how long will I wait before following up. That goes in the due date. My daily view excludes anything that has a waiting context. But there is a task that comes up once every few days called check waiting. When that comes up I click the tab that's locked to my check waiting view. Anything with a waiting context is listed, sorted by due date. The first few are usually red because due date has passed. I deal with each of them right away. If the thing I'm waiting for has happened, i take off the waiting context and the task moves back into the mainstream of my task management.

Other ways a task can be out of today's list is by having a closed context (for example the weekend context is closed weekdays) or by giving the task a dependency on another task, creating an uncompleted subtask representing the thing that will make this task actionable. Or if I have ten pieces of writing to do and I can only get to one at a time, create a folder, set the complete subtasks in order flag and dump all the writing tasks in. You will have one writing task on your daily view. If the task that shows up is not the one you want to work on today, that means that the tasks in the folder are in the wrong order. Sort them. The one you placed first will be on your list, when you complete it the next one will pop up

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[Stéph]

I do similar to Dwight. When I'm waiting for someone else to do something to progress a task, I set the context to "@Waiting", put the person's name at the top of my Note (with a ? tag - eg ?James, ?Sarah, etc) and reset the start date to the first day I can start chasing them for it. As my active actions should only be the ones with which I can actively do something, my filters mean that all my post-dated or @Waiting tasks get removed from the list and don't stress me until I next have to do something with them.

The ?Sarah tagged name in the task notes is so that I can filter for all the things I'm @Waiting for from that person, so I can check status / progress or remind them next time I call them.