In training our clients, I’ve discovered the power of the projects list isn't always easy to recognise straight away. I think that's partly because most people have never had a resource like this at their disposal, so they're not always immediately able to see how they might use it.

I know that was the case with me when I was first introduced to our model. I saw straight away how deciding on a next action, the very next physical action step needed to move forwards, for everything I needed to get done would help me be more productive. But this projects list I was setting up didn't give me the same instant payoff. However, once you understand its potential to help you, you'll never want to be without it.

We define a project as any outcome you're committed to achieving that requires more than one action step to complete. Many people think of projects as much larger than that, perhaps with teams of people working for months generating reams of documentation and gigabytes of data. Yet by our definition, some fairly small pieces of work qualify as projects. That's a good thing, because every project gets a desired project outcome, and that makes them easier to complete, and easier to get off your mind in the meantime. What exactly are you trying to achieve here? What will exist or be different in the world when it's finished? When do you get to pat yourself on the back and mark off another job well done? Without that focus on the outcome it's all too easy to be pulled off course, suffer scope creep or lose sight of where you're trying to get to, incurring unnecessary work, stress and expense in the process. The desired project outcome puts a shining beacon at the finish line to guide you towards completion.

The projects list gathers all these outcomes together in one place. It is, simply, a list of all the project outcomes you are committed to achieving. Unlike your next actions lists, this isn't a resource you'll be referring to all the time. Whenever you have a choice about what to do next, you turn to your next actions to see all the things you could do where you are right now. In the case of the projects list, by contrast, you'll probably only refer to it a handful of times per week. But that doesn't mean it's unimportant, for when you do look at it, it can really do a lot for you.

Anytime you need an overview of how much you've got on your plate at the moment, your projects list is the place to go. In circumstances like this, seeing things in terms of next actions - that you have seven phone calls to make, 24 things to do at your desk and 12 items you're waiting for - isn't going to give you a useful at-a-glance snapshot. Your projects list can. This is particularly valuable when you're considering whether you're able to take on something new.

Usually when somebody asks us to do something we're keen to say yes, even if we have an uneasy feeling that we're already pretty much at capacity. But without a resource like the projects list, you're not really sure, so you probably say yes and hope for the best. The projects list can help you say no, if you're at liberty to do so. It can also help you give a qualified yes, setting realistic expectations for yourself and others as to when you're likely to be able to deliver given everything else you're working on.

If you're like many of the people we train, you'll find that when thinking about a new project and its desired outcome you have a lot of other thoughts and ideas that aren't part of the outcome, nor are they next actions, but things to consider or be aware of later on. Maybe you'll want to show a draft to somebody before submission. Perhaps once you've done some initial research it might be helpful to dig out the notes you took at that conference last year. You want somewhere to keep these potentially useful nuggets, and the projects list can be that place. Add some notes to the project task item if you're using a computer, or add a page to your hard copy notes if you're using a paper system, and include all these bits and pieces. Thoughts on project components, structure, vision, sequencing: anything that might be useful later. For the smaller projects you're managing (remember, that includes anything with more than one action step), that might be all the project planning you need to do.

For the bigger projects, those same notes can point you to documents or folders where project support material is kept, or link to web pages you'll need later on. Depending on your setup, you'll be able to embed, link or point to pretty much anything you might need. When it’s used like this your projects list can also be your project hub,  if you want it to be.

With all this thinking at your fingertips, your projects list is now also a great place to turn anytime you're unsure where to go next with a project. You might have completed all the next actions you identified, but what's needed now isn't immediately clear. Reviewing the project's desired outcome and any of that ad hoc project planning you did is a great place to start in getting unstuck and clarifying new next actions. Re-engaging with the project's purpose will help you stay on track and identify if you've allowed anything new and potentially extraneous to sneak into the project’s scope, and either zap it or assimilate it if you have.

You can use the projects list in this way whenever you feel the need. But you'll also want to spend some time reviewing it during your weekly focus session. Look over what you've written about each project. If you feel good about it, define any new next actions and move on. But if you feel uneasy, unsure or want to hide under your desk at just the thought of a particular project, that might be an indication there's something, or several somethings, you haven't quite got off your mind or defined sufficiently in relation to this project.

Reviewing your projects list as part of your weekly focus session also offers a great safety net in that it reminds you there is an outcome you're committed to here. So, for example, if you ticked off all the next actions for this project during the week and didn't define new ones there and then, seeing the project during the weekly focus session will prompt you to identify new next actions now.

The projects list doesn't have the immediate dazzle of its glitzier next action colleagues, but it's got a lot of power under the hood to underpin your progress towards achieving outcomes to which you're committed. It just needs you to unlock its potential.

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