Last updated Sep 20, 2022
Some tasks are easy to handle: it’s clear what should happen, when, and how. You can schedule it for a specific day or put it on a list. Some things are a little more difficult to process. These are the tasks, notes, and ideas you want to do something with, maybe, at some point. You don’t want to schedule them, or have a reminder. But you want to revisit them at some point. In GTD terminology, these are Someday/Maybe items. Even if you don’t follow GTD, you can use the same concept to get these items out of your head and somewhere safe, with easy access when you want it.
“Someday/Maybes are not throwaway items. They may be some of the most interesting and creative things you’ll ever get involved with.” -David Allen
Create a Someday/Maybe calendar
Here’s an easy option you can use in your Teamup calendar. Just add a new sub-calendar and name it Someday/Maybe (or something similar that works for you). When one of these items comes up, add it to that calendar as a current day event. When you don’t want to see these items on your calendar, just toggle off the Someday/Maybe sub-calendar so it’s not in view. Use the Table view anytime to see all the events on your Someday/Maybe calendar.
“Activating and maintaining your Someday/Maybe category unleashes the flow of your creative thinking–you have permission to imagine cool things to do without having to commit to doing anything about them yet.” -David Allen
Create a calendar “parking lot”
Another option is the calendar parking lot. Designate one day on your calendar to be the “parking lot” for these items. If you work in a Month or Multi-Week view most of the time, you could use the last Saturday of every month. You can drag items from anywhere else to the parking lot date. When you’re ready, they’re waiting.
“We’re likely to seize opportunities when they arise if we’ve already identified and captured them as a possibility.” -David Allen
More options for your Someday/Maybes
You can keep your Someday/Maybes as simple as you want to. A single word or phrase as the event title will do it. However, if you
want to capture all your thoughts, notes, and relevant info, you can do that too. You can add context with custom fields so it’s easy to sort these items later. Here are some ideas:
- Planning a future vacation but not sure where to go yet? Add an event for every possibility. Include images, links, and your thoughts about what would be fun and interesting about each place. Tag with a keyword like “vacation.” When you’ve set your budget and you’re ready to make a decision, take a look at all the options in Table view to easily compare.
- Add gift ideas for your friends and family all year long. You can take a photo and upload it, or save a link, or just add a note about the item and details. Tag it with the individual’s name and a keyword. You’ll never run out of gift ideas again.
- Do you think of ideas to write about when you’re reading? Save them on your calendar. You can write a quick description, note the book or article that sparked the idea, and tag it with keywords. Next time you hit writer’s block, visit your parking lot of inspiration.
You can upload PDFs to read later. Capture recommendations for book, movies, music, restaurants, and more. Sketch out that new product design, take a photo of your sketch, and save it. Grab those ideas as they fly by, so you can do something with them later. Try it out with one of our live demos, or create your own calendar today!
