{"id":21144,"date":"2021-06-23T10:29:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T17:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?p=21144"},"modified":"2021-06-23T10:52:59","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T17:52:59","slug":"are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nQuestion:<\/strong> I get overwhelmed by the huge lists of things to do because I\u2019m not sure which items to work on next. Any suggestions for that?<\/p>\n

David Allen’s Answer:<\/strong> Yours is a universally common question, and one I frequently hear from people as they begin to adopt the Getting Things Done methodology. GTD promotes the idea of producing an inventory of all commitments, as well as an inventory of what specifically needs to be done about those commitments, called next actions. The result is a large to-do list.<\/p>\n

Most mid- to senior-level professionals have on their plates on any given day between 30 and 100 projects (tasks that require multiple steps) and over 150 next actions that relate to the various moving parts of their multi-level commitments.<\/p>\n

Welcome to a lovely restaurant with a menu of an overwhelming number of choices!<\/p>\n

The challenge is that there is no simple A-B-C, 1-2-3, high-medium-low prioritizing formula that makes much sense in the day-to-day, minute-to-minute real world\u2014though these have been promoted ad nauseam.<\/p>\n

When you decide to take a nap or spend quality time with your daughter (or your puppy), is that a \u201chigh priority\u201d on your list? And if you\u2019ve identified some high-priority tasks on your list and fail to do them in the moment, does that feel good or bad? Does that mean you\u2019re doing the wrong things?<\/p>\n

One simple way to abandon all those ridiculously simplified notions of priorities is to simply ask yourself, at any moment in time: what could I do right now that would produce the greatest value to me? Handle that \u201cugly\u201d email? Sit in my easy chair and meditate for a few minutes? Start saut\u00e9ing onions for dinner? Create a crude first draft of a business plan? Take a hot bath? Call my brother and discuss his latest decisions about Mom? What?<\/p>\n

Life is a bit more complex than one, two, three.<\/p>\n

It becomes less complex, however, when you have lists of all the possible actions you might take, at hand, current, and in your face. Here are all your errands to run. Here are all the things to talk to your life partner about. Here are all the things you\u2019re waiting for. Here are all your projects. Et cetera. Then, at least, you have a complete menu of your options. Without that, you\u2019re likely to be driven by whatever shows up latest or loudest.<\/p>\n

Even if you have thoroughly applied GTD in your life, there are at least three dynamics in play that influence your best decision-making.<\/p>\n

First, your limitations. Where are you, and with what tools at hand? How much time do you have until your next engagement? How much creative energy do you have to put into this potential action?<\/p>\n

Second, your adaptability. Are you best doing something already defined on your list, acting on new inputs, or taking time to clarify and organize what has just shown up in your in-basket and inbox to ensure your inventory of work is current and complete?<\/p>\n

And third, from an overall context, your life purpose. What are your core standards and principles, your goals and objectives, your areas of focus that need appropriate levels of engagement? What is your long-term vision of success?<\/p>\n

Hah! If you have a simple formula that takes into account all of the above while helping you quickly and successfully prioritize, please share it with me. I\u2019ve spent the last 35 years of my life trying to simplify the process of prioritization and haven\u2019t yet.<\/p>\n

That said, here\u2019s how I curate all factors into a rather basic rule for myself: What most has my attention right now? What do I need to do, next, to get that off my mind? I do this because I have a very high standard for having a clear head\u2014I want nothing on my mind except the object of my intended focus.<\/p>\n

There is not a simple formula. You must practice and refine the art of managing the flow of life\u2019s work. It\u2019s about capturing, clarifying, organizing, and reflecting on all your options\u2014and engaging, moment to moment, with the thing that serves you best, based on a rigorous coordination of your conscious commitments and your intuitive knowing.<\/p>\n

Best of Luck,
\n\"David<\/p>\n

 
\n <\/p>\n

For much more content like this in video, audio, and text formats, get a free 14-day membership in GTD Connect<\/a>, our online community and content library.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you overwhelmed by long lists? David Allen’s advice for choosing what to do from your many possibilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-david-allen","category-featured","category-productivity-tips","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAre you overwhelmed by long lists? - Getting Things Done\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? David Allen's advice for choosing what to do from your many possibilities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are you overwhelmed by long lists?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? David Allen's advice for choosing what to do from your many possibilities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-23T17:29:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-23T17:52:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gtdtimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GTD Times Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\"},\"headline\":\"Are you overwhelmed by long lists?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-23T17:29:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-23T17:52:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/\"},\"wordCount\":751,\"commentCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"David Allen\",\"Featured\",\"Productivity Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/\",\"name\":\"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? - Getting Things Done\u00ae\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-23T17:29:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-23T17:52:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? David Allen's advice for choosing what to do from your many possibilities.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"David Allen\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are you overwhelmed by long lists?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\",\"name\":\"Getting Things Done\u00ae\",\"description\":\"David Allen's GTD\u00ae Methodology\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Getting Things Done\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png\",\"width\":370,\"height\":338,\"caption\":\"Getting Things Done\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/gtdtimes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gtdtimes\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/2328651\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4\",\"name\":\"GTD Times Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GTD Times Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/author\/webadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? - Getting Things Done\u00ae","description":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? David Allen's advice for choosing what to do from your many possibilities.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists?","og_description":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? David Allen's advice for choosing what to do from your many possibilities.","og_url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/","og_site_name":"Getting Things Done\u00ae","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/","article_published_time":"2021-06-23T17:29:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-23T17:52:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"GTD Times Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gtdtimes","twitter_site":"@gtdtimes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GTD Times Staff","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/"},"author":{"name":"GTD Times Staff","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4"},"headline":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists?","datePublished":"2021-06-23T17:29:37+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-23T17:52:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/"},"wordCount":751,"commentCount":9,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg","articleSection":["David Allen","Featured","Productivity Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/","name":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? - Getting Things Done\u00ae","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg","datePublished":"2021-06-23T17:29:37+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-23T17:52:59+00:00","description":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists? David Allen's advice for choosing what to do from your many possibilities.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/chxhjdpkfby.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"David Allen"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/2021\/06\/are-you-overwhelmed-by-long-lists\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are you overwhelmed by long lists?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/","name":"Getting Things Done\u00ae","description":"David Allen's GTD\u00ae Methodology","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#organization","name":"Getting Things Done","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/gtd-logo.png","width":370,"height":338,"caption":"Getting Things Done"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gettingthingsdone\/","https:\/\/x.com\/gtdtimes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gtdtimes\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/2328651\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52d8dfa5db8d4e8792586794625c12a4","name":"GTD Times Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4df22f74cebc078fff6e9f4d8e6e74a980295dec0849d6ab2d6b303ee0c92030?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GTD Times Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/author\/webadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21144"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21153,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21144\/revisions\/21153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gettingthingsdone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}