In GTD, the Next actions list is the most important thing you look at during the day. It should contain only things you can do right now. As soon as it fills up with tasks that can't be done yet — because they're waiting for a previous step — it stops working. You start skipping it and go back to remembering things in your head.
Telling sequential from parallel projects is a simple tool for preventing that.
The difference in one sentence
- A sequential project shows only its first open task. The next one appears once you tick off the previous one.
- A parallel project shows every task at once, because order doesn't matter.
When to go sequential
When each step depends on the one before. Typical examples:
- Hiring: write the job ad → publish it → review CVs → invite to interviews.
- Workshop renovation: clear it out → electrician → floor → paint → move in the workbench.
- Publishing an article: draft → feedback → edits → proofreading → publish.
If a project like that were parallel, you'd see "invite to interviews" in Next actions while the job ad doesn't exist yet. That's noise.
When to go parallel
When it's a list of independent things you can do in any order:
- Getting ready for a holiday: buy sunscreen, pick up the passport, arrange a cat sitter.
- Wrapping up a project: invoice, archive files, send thank-you notes.
- Small client requests: three unrelated website tweaks.
A sequential order here would only slow you down — you don't need to wait for the sunscreen to pick up your passport.
Common mistakes
Everything parallel
The default in most apps. Result: Next actions has 200 items and half of them can't be done. If your list feels overloaded, first check which projects should be sequential.
Everything sequential
The opposite extreme. A "Holiday" project as a sequence means you can't see the passport until you've bought sunscreen. Then you tick things off out of order and the system no longer fits you.
Mixed projects without splitting
Big projects have phases: within each phase a few things run in parallel, but the phases follow one another. The fix: split the project into smaller ones (each with a clear outcome), or use sections and keep sequential order only where it really matters.
Combining with defer dates
A sequence handles dependence on another task. A defer date handles dependence on time: "order winter tyres" makes no sense before October. A task with a defer date disappears from Next actions until that day. Together, these two tools give you a list that shows only what's actually doable.
How it works in AltoFocus
Each project has a Sequential / Parallel switch, one tap away. A sequential project shows only its first open task in Next actions; the rest are visible in the project but dimmed. When you complete a task, the next one appears in the list automatically. The same applies in perspectives and in Focus mode.
During the weekly review, the guide flags projects with no next action — often a sign that a sequence is stuck on a task that's waiting on someone else. That task belongs in Waiting for.
One last rule
For each project, ask: "Can I do the second task before the first?" If not, it's a sequence. If yes, it's parallel. Nothing more complicated is needed.