The stall audit
Most of what you have started is not moving, and it is not moving for one of six reasons. Each reason has one question that settles it. Ask it of everything you have not touched in a month and you will know what is waiting on a decision, what is waiting on a person, and what you decided against and never said.
How to run it
Write down everything you have started and have not touched in a month. Not tasks; things. A side product, a course, a room you meant to set up, a person you meant to write to. Next to each one, write the reason it stopped from the six below, then answer that reason’s question in one line. Then give it one of three outcomes. Every item gets exactly one.
The point is not to restart all of them. The point is to stop carrying the ones you have already decided against.
Six reasons, one question each
- 01Waiting on someone
Who, since when, and do they know you are waiting?
A delegation pattern, not a discipline one. Half the time the person does not know. The other half, the same name appears on three things and the fix is a conversation, not a reminder.
- 02Unclear next step
What is the one concrete thing that would move this, however small?
This is the most common reason and the cheapest to fix. Things stop because the next move was never decided, not because there was no time. Decide one step. Not the plan, the step.
- 03Lost interest
If this were finished tomorrow by someone else, would you care?
The most honest reason there is, and the cheapest. If the answer is no, drop it and keep the reason. Dropping something you no longer want is the system working, not failing.
- 04No time
When, exactly, and what would have to give?
"No time" is usually "not chosen". Either name the week it gets its time and park it until then, or admit it is one of the two reasons above wearing a calendar.
- 05Needs money
How much, by when, and what is the cheapest version that needs none?
A number and a date turn this from a feeling into a plan. Park it with the date. If the cheapest version needs no money at all, that is the next step.
- 06Something else
Write the real reason in one sentence.
If it will not fit in a sentence, it is one of the five above and you have not said which. If it does fit, you now have the reason written down, which is the whole audit.
Then one of three outcomes
One concrete thing, small enough to do this week. Write it down where you will see it.
Deliberately stopped, not abandoned. The date is when it comes back to ask the question again. Without a date, parked is dropped with better manners.
Decided against. Keep the sentence you wrote, so the next time the idea comes back you can read why you let it go instead of starting it a third time.
Where a thing can be
The sheet
| The thing | Last moved | Reason | The answer, in one line | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
brassdeck.com/free/stall-audit
Running it every week, without the sheet
Brassdeck is this audit, kept. Every card carries its stage, its next step and a clock that only moves when something real happens, so a card that has not moved fades on the board and asks the question before the month is gone. Parked cards come back on their date. Dropped cards keep their reason. Free has four cards, which is enough to find out whether the fade tells you something.
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