Project

A Project is a goal large enough to require multiple Flows. It has a clear finish line. It lives inside an Area.

Examples: "App launch," "Job search," "Conference talk," "Move to new apartment."

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What a Project is

A Project in OTD is not the same as GTD's "Project." In GTD, a project is anything that requires more than one action step. In OTD, a Project groups multiple related Flows that share a single goal.

The distinction matters. In OTD, a single stream of sequential work is a Flow, not a Project. A Project appears only when you have multiple Flows that all contribute to the same larger outcome.

Project: App launch
  ├─ Flow: Build MVP
  ├─ Flow: Prepare launch marketing
  └─ Flow: Set up infrastructure

Each of these Flows is a distinct stream of work. They're parallel: you can be building the product while also preparing the marketing. But they share a goal — shipping the app — so they belong to the same Project.

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When to use a Project

The decision criterion:

"Do I have multiple independent workstreams that can advance in parallel toward the same goal?"

Yes → Project (group those workstreams as Flows under a Project) No → Flow (it's one sequential thread, no Project needed)

Use a Project when:

• Multiple Flows can run in parallel toward the same goal. You can work on marketing while development is running. You can do company research while updating your resume.
• The goal is large enough that you need a single place to track overall progress.

Don't use a Project when:

• You only have one sequential thread. "Redesign personal website" — if it's just one series of steps, it's a Flow, not a Project.
• The goal is vague. "Improve my health" is not a Project — it's an Area. "Run a half marathon" is a Project (or just a Flow, depending on how many parallel streams you have).

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Collapsing a Project back to a Flow

Projects can also go the other direction. You planned parallel workstreams, but in reality you're working through everything sequentially. The parallel structure isn't helping — it's just overhead.

Signs it's time to collapse:

• The Flows in your Project never actually run at the same time
• You always finish one Flow before starting the next
• The Project feels like extra structure for no benefit

How to collapse:

1. Merge all Flows from the Project into one Flow with a clear sequence
2. Delete the Project container
3. Move the single Flow directly under the Area

Before — Project that isn't actually parallel:
Project: Job search
  ├─ Flow: Resume prep      (always done first)
  └─ Flow: Applications     (only started after resume is done)

After — collapsed to one Flow:
Flow: Job search
  1. Update resume
  2. Update portfolio
  3. Shortlist companies
  4. Submit applications
  5. Interview prep

The structure should reflect how work actually happens, not how you hoped it would happen.

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Why Projects matter: an example

Take an app launch. It typically requires three distinct streams of work:

1. Building the product — scoping, development, QA, bug fixes
2. Preparing the launch — landing page, announcement copy, press outreach
3. Setting up infrastructure — hosting, analytics, payment, monitoring

These three streams are genuinely parallel. You can be building while delegating the landing page copy. You can start infrastructure setup before development is finished. Each has its own sequence of steps, its own rhythm.

Without a Project to group them, you'd have three Flows scattered across the Area with no visible connection. The goal — shipping the app — would be invisible at the system level.

With a Project, you get:

• A single place to see the overall goal and whether it's on track
• A clear container for Weekly Review: "Is this Project progressing?"
• A natural Someday target: if you pause the launch, the whole Project moves to Someday

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Someday Projects

A dormant Project is called Someday. You're not working on it now, but you might in the future.

Moving a Project to Someday means:

• None of its Flows surface Actions in Today
• It appears in your Weekly Review's Someday list
• You can activate it when you're ready

This is how OTD handles the GTD "Someday/Maybe" concept at the Project level. You don't delete good ideas. You park them until they're timely.

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Project vs. Area vs. Flow

The boundaries matter. Here's how to tell them apart:

	Ends?	Contains	Example
Area	Never	Projects, Flows, Actions	Career
Project	Yes	Multiple Flows	Job search
Flow	Yes	Sequential Actions	Prepare portfolio

If something never ends, it's an Area. If it ends and contains multiple workstreams, it's a Project. If it ends and is a single workstream, it's a Flow.

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Projects in Weekly Review

During Weekly Review, you look at every active Project and ask: Is the overall goal still on track?

This is a different question from reviewing individual Flows. You're looking at the Project as a unit: Are all its Flows making progress? Is any Flow blocked? Is the finish line still realistic?

If a Project has been stalled for a long time with no clear path forward, move it to Someday. Don't let dormant Projects sit in your active list — they add cognitive weight without moving anything forward.