Every Problem is a Project

Anything that's a "problem" is a "project."

When I first heard this in Boston in late September my thought was "sure - makes sense" and that was about it. However, like much of what's behind GTD, it's simple but deep. In this case, I've found that creating a "full" GTD project for every single problem is a great idea, even if the problem seems to require just one step to solve, because the problem often becomes more complex, presents surprises, or needs to be tracked (i.e., doesn't go away the first time).

Here's a typical example (this seems to come up with billing errors in particular): I was recently charged for an optical exam that should have been covered by my insurance company [2]. Here are the steps:

1. Bill goes into paper collection point [3].
   
2. Process - What is it?
   
3. A bill for something that should have been covered. Ugh!
   
4. Add to @Calls: "Health Services re: glasses bill - 545-0111" [4]
   
5. Later, when time: Make the call, talk to (very helpful) person - promises all straightened out. Great!
   
6. Toss bill in recycling bin.

Oops.

Here's the problem: I naively assumed the problem was really taken care of. But guess what? Three weeks later, return to step 1. However, I don't have the original bill, I don't have the person's name I talked to, and I don't have a file that should contain all of this. So now, because I didn't do the basics, my stress level is higher than it should have been!

So now I've learned my lesson: I now use any problem as a trigger to create a project - I make an entry in my project list [5], create a folder with my labeler [6], and file any related paper work in it. Just. In. Case.

One question that comes up is: Doesn't this approach create a bunch of needless files? Well, I think it's better to have the files around in case I need them, than the alternative. I've created plenty of space in my office for filing (as Allen recommends) [7], so it's not a problem. And removing them in the yearly purge (it's on my checklist) is not a problem.

So is it a problem? Make it a project!