Action Lists
Locus provides three mutually exclusive action lists: Next Action, Waiting For, and Someday / Maybe. A task can be in one of them or none. Action lists are independent from project membership, tags, and flags.
Next Action
Next Action means you have committed to advancing a specific, concrete action soon, such as:
- Confirm delivery with the supplier
- Draft the first page of the proposal
- Book the annual checkup
Prefer a title that starts with an action and is specific enough to begin without more clarification. Adding a task to Next Action is your decision; Locus does not add it automatically because of list order.
Waiting For
Waiting For means progress depends on another person, an external response, or an event that has not happened yet:
- Waiting for Alex to confirm the budget
- Waiting for the package to arrive
- Waiting for the property manager to reply
Waiting For tasks are unavailable. Add a plan or due date if you need a follow-up checkpoint, then review the list daily or weekly.
Someday / Maybe
Someday / Maybe holds ideas you are not committing to now:
- Learn pottery
- Research an RV trip
- Try a new note-taking method
These tasks are unavailable and should not crowd daily execution views. Review them periodically; activate ideas that became relevant and cancel or delete those that did not.
First Available Is Not Next Action
| Concept | Decided by | Based on | Stored on task? |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Available | Locus | Project type, order, hierarchy, status, defer, and more | No; recalculated continuously |
| Next Action | You | Your commitment and workflow | Yes; an action-list field |
Therefore:
- A sequential project’s First Available task might not be in Next Action.
- A manually selected Next Action can still be unavailable because its parent is paused or its defer date has not arrived.
- A Custom Filter can separately test First Available, availability, and the Next Action list.
Relationship to the Inbox
Selecting any action list marks the task as organized, so it leaves the Inbox. If you remove the action list and the task has no project, plan/due date, or Inbox-excluding tag, it can return.
Projects, Action Lists, and Tags
- Project: which outcome?
- Action list: what commitment state?
- Tag: under which context?
For example, “Wait for the client to approve homepage copy” can belong to Launch Website, use Waiting For, and carry a Client A tag.
Practical Workflow
- During Inbox Processing, decide whether the item is ready, waiting, or uncommitted.
- Use tags, duration, and dates to select among Next Actions.
- Check Waiting For daily for necessary follow-ups.
- Review Someday / Maybe weekly or at another trusted interval.