What's Your Next Action?

In his book "Getting Things Done", David Allen gives a simple question to ask of all the "stuff" you have on your lists of things to do.

The question is this, "What's the next action required?"

The answer to that is to determine the very next thing that needs to be done - an actual, physical action.

So for example, if one of your to-do items is to plan your vacation, what is the first next step to getting that done? It might be to talk to your family about where to go. If you already know that, it might be to get the latest travel guides for your destination - which might translate into steps such as visiting your nearest AMA or CAA office to get their guides. Or maybe to go online and do some research.

So for anything that comes up on your to-do list from here on, take the time to think through the next action step and write that down. Better yet, also schedule a time to do that.

This step alone can begin to move you ahead with things that have you stalled because you're not clear about what to do next.