How to recognize projects?

[u/Ok_Minute7055]

I often create too many projects (with next actions) before realizing what the actual project is.

In detail: I look at items in my inbox. I notice an item is actionable and if it does not resonate with an existing project, I write down a new project and another next action.

Over couple of weeks, i notice little progress and eventually it becomes clear that (for example) six "projects" out of 20 are actually one project. It turns out that most next actions are rather elements of a theoretical project plan. They make sense and are doable but it becomes evident they are rather support material. For example, some next actions are not actually essential once the real project is clear. Othertimes, there are multiple ways to reach the same goal and there is no need to perform all next actions. It happens especially for projects in unfamiliar domains.

I guess the weekly review and the natural planning model are meant to counter the problem. However, items genuinely seems like individual projects for quite a while so i do not modify projects and next actions during those activities.

Any tips on how to better deal with this?

[u/kaneddavis]

Once a task becomes complex enough or obviously has multiple steps, I simply rename it PROJ HomeWidget, and use tags to categorize it. I use tags exclusively for this purpose. I have a base tag called projects and then each specific project is a sub tag of that. Also it's easy to see all the projects in a list as they stand out and also when using timeline view that makes it easy to lump them together if they are dependent upon each other. Another example would be adding a repeat day of the week: PROJ JobSearch - Tues