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PLANNING SYSTEMS

Keep a Someday List That Does Not Pretend to Be This Week

Save possibilities with enough context to revisit them, then make a clear choice when one becomes a current project.

Words by Tiny Systems Co.5 min read4 things to tryUpdated September 5, 2026

The idea for a neighborhood zine still interests you, but seeing it beside tomorrow's tasks makes it look like another immediate obligation. A someday list gives the possibility a place without claiming you are currently working on it.

GTD's Someday/Maybe category separates potential future work from active commitments. This guide uses a small paper list with reasons and review cues. You will save one idea, distinguish a real commitment from a possibility, and activate an entry only when you are prepared to give it a next step.

The idea is preserved without being placed in the current action pool.
The idea is preserved without being placed in the current action pool. Open the diagram
In this guide
Gather a few things See what you’ll need
  • Notebook
  • Pen
  • Calendar or review reminder

Ask what you have actually decided

“I would like to make a neighborhood zine” is different from “I agreed to bring a zine to the fair.” The second statement includes a commitment that may need a project plan and a real date. Do not place it in someday merely because you are uncertain how to begin.

A community discussion asks how to decide between someday and current projects when both have possible actions. The existence of a possible action is not the only question. Ask whether you have chosen to pursue this work now and whether another person is relying on that choice. Preserve any actual agreement before deciding how to organize it.

WATCH & TRY

Follow an idea through a review

Which state would you like to inspect?

The idea is preserved without being placed in the current action pool.A possibility, not a promiseMake a neighborhood zineWhy: collect local storiesReview: after the autumn fair

The zine has a reason and review cue.

It is not yet on the current action list.

Now try it on your paper.

Identify one idea that is genuinely optional and write its reason for being kept.

Keep enough context to recognize the idea later

Write the idea and one sentence explaining its appeal or condition. “Neighborhood zine: collect local stories after the autumn fair” is more useful than “zine?” Add a supporting page or folder reference if you have already gathered material. Leave the full research in its reference location rather than copying it all onto the someday page.

You can save a possibility without designing its entire project plan. A title, a reason, and a route to existing notes are enough for this trial. If the idea only makes sense under a condition, name that condition plainly: “when the shared room is available” or “after the current booklet is finished.”

MAKE IT YOURS

Save a possibility with context

Edit the worked example into a note you can use.

AN EXAMPLE — MAKE IT YOURS

Possibility:Neighborhood zine

Reason or condition:Collect local stories after the autumn fair

Review cue:After the fair

Your words have a place now.

A review cue is an invitation to decide, not an invented deadline.

Words on this card
18
Now try it on your paper.

Add a reason and a review cue to one vague someday entry.

“Stop when your chosen review range has current statuses.”

Give the list an appropriate review cue

Choose a time or event when reviewing the possibilities would be useful. You might scan a short list during your normal weekly review, while a seasonal idea can wait until the relevant season approaches. A date labelled “review” means reconsider, not complete the project by then.

Avoid assigning a separate reminder to every casual possibility. One review cue for a small list may be enough. If your notebook will be closed for weeks, put the cue in the calendar or reminder system you actually consult. The paper preserves the idea; your review practice is what brings it back into consideration.

Make a small decision with each entry

Imagine the list contains a neighborhood zine, a recipe index repair, and a complicated scrapbook format you no longer like. After the fair, you still want the zine but have not chosen to begin it. Leave it deferred and update the reason. The recipe index is now useful because loose cards are hard to retrieve, so you activate that project.

Cross out the unwanted scrapbook idea with a brief “no longer interested.” Nothing needs to replace it. The review has produced three different outcomes: keep later, activate, and remove. It does not need to turn every surviving idea into work for the coming week.

Give a chosen idea a current home

For the recipe index, write an outcome such as “recipe cards are listed by name and location.” Choose an available first action: “gather loose recipe cards from the kitchen drawer.” Put that action in your current pool and note the project page. Then mark the someday entry as moved to that location.

Activating an idea involves more than starring its title. You should be able to see where you will choose its work and where its support lives. If you cannot identify an available action because information is missing, the first action may be a specific question or a request rather than the final project step.

Remove ambiguity before adding categories

If the list grows too long to review, skim it for duplicates, ideas that no longer appeal, and items that are actually reference material. A saved explanation of how a fold works belongs with reference notes; “try that fold for a winter card” is a potential action. Link the two only when you need the connection.

Then split the list only along a useful review boundary, such as “this season” and “uncommitted possibilities.” Avoid creating a dozen categories that you never open. You can also retire a whole batch after reading it. Keeping an idea once does not require maintaining it forever.

WATCH & TRY

Distinguish an idea from its supporting information

Move the reveal control to inspect the specific change.

The note stores information with no commitment to use it.ReferenceInstructions for a card foldSource and diagram: p. 17Someday possibilityTry the fold for winter cardsInstructions: p. 17

Reference only

Saved information does not automatically become an action.

Now try it on your paper.

Move one reference-only item out of the someday list, keeping a link if a real possibility remains.

Finish without making the list look busier

At the end of the review, check that activated work has a live destination and that deferred ideas are still clearly deferred. Remove any copied next action that makes the same idea look active in two places. Keep a short reason when it will prevent you from reconsidering the same decision next week.

Stop when your chosen review range has current statuses. A someday list can remain partly unchanged. Its value is the distinction it preserves between an idea worth keeping and a commitment you are currently making.

TRY IT ON THE PAGE

Activate an idea without losing its status

Move the steps so the necessary checks happen before the actions that depend on them.

One workable order

  1. Choose to pursue the idea nowA possible next action alone does not make the project active.
  2. Create its project and next-action recordThe active home needs to exist before the old line is moved.
  3. Mark the someday entry as movedThe old list should no longer make the idea look merely deferred.

Which check needs to come first?

The example shows one workable order. Other steps can move freely; these checks protect the information you need.

Now try it on your paper.

Activate one idea only if you are ready to give it a current action.

Where this idea began

Want to follow the idea further? These community discussions and maker references are a good place to start.