Hi @fuzzy_bummer, it's a work in progress, but this is what I do:
In GoodTask I have these lists:
- Scheduled (Things I have to get done by a certain time, but are not recurring, all items in this list have a due date)
- Recurring (Things I have to get done by a certain time, but are recurring, all items in this list have a due date)
- Next (Non urgent things I want to get done, but don't have the bandwidth now, no due date, usually tagged with area of life like financial, personal development, health, etc.)
- Someday (Someday/Maybe like from GTD, no due date, tagged similar to Next list)
There really isn't any difference between tasks in Scheduled and Recurring, just things I've gotta do by a certain time. Until a month ago they were all in the Scheduled list and I didn't have a Recurring list. But during my weekly review, I started tracking the number of tasks in each list because I was frustrated that the number of tasks were never going down. One reason that partly explains it is that I have a lot of recurring tasks, so I put them in their own list as an experiment and to just visually see how many there are. They partly explain why my number of tasks don't go down - they never leave my system.
The other big thing for me is to not be looking at a huge number of tasks everyday. For my Someday list, I review it every 2-3 weeks, and I trust that anything in there will not become a problem if I don't look again in 2-3 weeks. Same with the Next list, I only look in there on my weekly review and decide if I want to take one on (and give it a due date and switch it to Scheduled list).
Everything in Scheduled and Recurring have a due date, so I use Smart Lists to look at things due near term. I have a smart list for everything due in next 15 days that I look at on the weekend during my weekly review. I also have a smart list I call T&T for tasks with due date of today and tomorrow which is handy at the end of the workday to plan the next day (what I didn't finish today, what's due tomorrow)
For things that need time to do, like renew passport. If it expires June 1, I would have a task with a due date of April 1 that says "Start renewal of passport - expires June 1". This way, my looking only 15 days in advance every week doesn't let things slip through the cracks. I won't see that task for months or years, but it will show up in my weekly review eventually when April 1st falls within my 15 day window, and with it on my radar I can think about what I have to do and adjust the task at that time
- A big thing for me is to only be looking at the tasks I need to in my review and my system ensures they'll come on my radar when they need to.
- I remind myself to only use the pieces of GTD as necessary for my needs and keep it simple. I know many people more productive than me that have never heard of GTD.
Okay, I've spent way to much time typing here. Gotta get to work