Projects (and their next actions) are managed in different ways, depending on the features of your task management tool. In addition, every kind of TRO project support must include either orphan protection (ideal) or a projects list (not recommended).
Choose the option that works best for your tool:
- Inline w/ Notes. (Recommended.) Use the task Name, Title, or Subject field to enter the project name, followed by the single next action, like this:
Project Name / Next Action
Cat shots / Call vet 555-1234
Remodel / Choose plumbing bid
Controller hire / W/F Midge to call
- The slash (with spaces in both sides) is important: it makes the action stand out visually.
- Handle multiple next actions at once by adding other tasks with the same “Project Name”.
- Future next steps are kept in the Notes.
- No orphan protection needed—it is built-in.
- No projects list is available or needed. Rely on Search to find all tasks for a project.
- Dedicated Project Field. A project name field keeps track of the project.
- Unlimited next actions per project. Use Someday/Maybe to “pause” future next steps if that feature is not provided.
- Orphan protection may not be available unless the tool is TRO-aware.
- Projects list should be built-in.
- Named Folders or Lists. Use named folders or lists for projects. You cannot use this unless tasks appear in all TRO task views, regardless of their folder or list. Also, the folder or list name should be visible in any grid views, so you can tell which project it belongs to.
- Unlimited next actions per project. Use Someday/Maybe to “pause” future next steps.
- Orphan protection is probably not an option, so your weekly reviews will be longer.
- Projects list is the list of folder/list names.
- Special Tags or Categories. Use specially-named tags or categories to track which project a task belongs to. The tag or category is the project name, starting with a unique special character like “=”, “#”, or “!”, like this: =Remodel, =Pilots License, =Pick Grad School.
- Unlimited next actions per project. Use Someday/Maybe to “pause” future next steps.
- Orphan protection may be possible if complex custom task views are supported.
- Projects list is your master contexts list (or equivalent).
- Subtasks. A main task record allows subtasks. You use the main record as the project and the subtasks as next actions. This only works for TRO if 1) the main task record somehow appears with each subtask in any grid view, and 2) unprocessed subtasks appear in the Unprocessed Tasks list and not in your regular lists.
- Unlimited next actions per project. Use Someday/Maybe to “pause” future next steps if that feature is not provided.
- Orphan protection may not be available unless the tool is TRO-aware.
- Projects list is the view that shows all your main tasks.
- Hierarchical. Like subtasks, but with multiple levels, so any task or project can belong to a parent project.
- Unlimited tasks per project. Use Someday/Maybe to “pause” future next steps if that feature is not provided.
- Orphan protection is probably not available unless the tool is TRO-specific.
- Projects list should be built-in.
- Multi-Hierarchical. Any task or project can belong to any number of other projects. Very flexible for complicated work environments.
- Unlimited next actions per project. Use Someday/Maybe to “pause” future next steps if that feature is not provided.
- Orphan protection is probably not available unless the tool is TRO-specific.
- Projects list should be built-in.
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