Managing Project Files in GTD

In my introduction to GTD, I mentioned the importance of a weekly review.  This is when you sit down with your action items, projects list, and in-boxes to review what needs to be added to your action iterms and to make sure that you are on track with your various projects  The weekly review is one of the most important aspects of the GTD process, but it’s also pretty easy to ignore.  I don’t do mine weekly even though I always feel more in control of my professional and personal life when I do it.  Often, before I sit down for this review, I’ll leave a comment on Twitter and Facebook saying that I’m doing it, and I sometimes get questions about GTD.  One question I’ve gotten a couple of times is what my project list looks like.  That’s a good question since I do not keep project lists but instead keep project files.

To back up a bit, a project in GTD is anything that requires more than one step to complete.  If you are planning a trip to Venezuela next summer, you would have a project called “Venezuela Trip.”  In your weekly review, you would see this on your projects list and ask yourself what you need to do to move this project forward this week.  Some weeks, you’ll do nothing, but you’ll know that doing nothing keeps you on track.  Other weeks, this project will be more important than others and take up most of your action items, and you’ll know what those items are since you’ll have written them down or typed them out.

So, how do your organize your projects list?  Some people just keep a list of every project they are trying to pursue.  It could be a document file on your desktop or an email with no recipient that you save in your drafts folder.  Both allow for easy updating and checking.  Some people keep a handwritten note in their paper calendars or journals.  These are not as easy to update, but that is not a concern for everyone.  Personally, I prefer a filing system, which you can see in the photo above.  If you’d like a bigger look at my project files, you can go to the photo’s page on Flickr and click on “All Sizes” above the image.

Why files?  Frankly, it’s personal and somewhat arbitrary.  Part of it relates to the issues I covered in my review of Organizing for the Creative Person.  I’m a tactile person who likes having things in front of me.  The act of flipping through these files during my review feels natural, and doing what feels natural makes me more productive.  These files do not contain everything related to a project, though.  In fact, they often contain very little.  I keep reference folders in other places on my computer or in my home office that contain all the stuff that goes into a project, such as research for an essay I’m writing or books or articles related to a class I’m teaching.

What kinds of projects do I have in these files?  A few in the standard categories that define academic life.

• Teaching:  I have a folder for each class I’m teaching.  I usually create the folder when I start thinking about the books I need to order for the class.  The label contains the course code and the semester in which I’m teaching it (e.g., GS 100–Spring 2010 or RPW 210–Summer 2010).  These folders can then become reference folders in my larger file cabinet when the course ends (unless you prefer to lose the shells).  Having a folder works for me because I often get random ideas when I’m putting a course together.  I like writing those ideas on index cards and throwing them in the folder for later review.  During the semester, these folders don’t contain much as I tend to keep everything in a notebook I carry with me.
• Scholarship:  I have a folder for each piece of scholarship I plan on producing whether it’s a book or an essay.  Obviously, I have lots of reference materials for these projects that I keep elsewhere.  In the folders, I tend to keep things like the submission guidelines for the journals to which I’m planning to submit.  They remind me of important things like word length and reference style that shape how I produce each piece.  I also have a couple of folders for journals that I do not have a project for but that I want to publish in someday, especially when those journals publish things other than standard articles.  There’s a medical journal that has special sections, and I want to write something for one of those sections.  Having a folder keeps it percolating in my mind.  Finally, I have a folder for each conference I want to attend.  When a call for submissions comes out, I create a folder as I write the abstract.  If rejected, I trash or file it.  If accepted, then I use the folder for the conference itself.  In it, I’ll place things like hotel, train, or plane reservation confirmations.  I also place maps for how to get to the conference site if I’m driving to it or even if I’m flying there but walking from the hotel to the conference site.  I also place maps and other pieces of information related to museums or other things I want to do when I’m in that place.  The day I leave, I grab the folder and go, knowing I have all the information I want to have already grouped together.
• Service:  As the director of two university programs, I have a folder for each division.  I also have separate folders for larger administrative projects related to my directorships.  For example, I’m in charge of developing a new general education writing course, and I have a folder for that.  I do not have folders for the other committees I’m on because I’m not on many that require a lot of work because of my other administrative duties, but that is certainly an option.
• Personal:  There are other things related to my personal life that I like to be reminded of.  For example, I go into New York City fairly regularly for my research, and I have a folder called “New York–To See” where I keep reminders of things happening in the city, theatrical productions or museum exhibits., for example.  When I’m going into the city to see a concert, I keep the tickets in here (years ago, I missed Lilith Fair because a friend lost her ticket, so I’m very careful about where I put those).  If I’m staying in a hotel while I’m there, that reservation confirmation goes there, too (I’m aware that some people with smart phones will use those for such things).  When my partner and I are planning a trip, I create a file for that trip and put confirmations and such there.  Having just moved last semester, I’m sure I’ll create folders for the various renovations we’re planning over the next few years.  While I don’t have files like this, I could see having basic ones called “Health,” “Family,” or even specific names of people in your life.  These would function as weekly reminders pushing you to think of how you can make those relationships or areas of your life better.  In fact, typing this out now is making me think I should have a folder with my partner’s name on it so I can ask myself weekly if I’m doing what I need to do for him and for us.

Someone asked if the files are color-coded, and they are not.  They could be if that works for you, with red for scholarship and blue for teaching or whatever.  I just like having lots of random colors in my files.  Also, some of the “files” are file folders while others are pocket folders.  Again, there’s not a lot of logic behind it, though I do tend to use pocket folders for research and file folders for everything else.  Basically, I have this box of files under my desk, and I pull it out for every review.  I’ve stuck with it for quite a while now and am thrilled to have found something that works so well for me.

How do you keep track of your various projects?  Do you have a digital or other solution different from what I describe here?  Let us know in the comments.