On Hold vs Waiting Perspectives/Tags

Sorry, I did search and didn’t see anything related. It’s a basic question that I have gotten myself into the weeds on…

I’m updating my workflow and trying to justify having a perspective for On Hold and Waiting. I’ve debated myself into thinking I only need waiting.

Waiting - On someone, the right opportunity, other factors before the project or task can move forward.
I am usually waiting on someone else and attach a tag with that person’s name.
I could just as easily do the same with the other criteria for Waiting.

On Hold - I got nothing that cannot be addressed by Waiting.

What am I missing?

Thanks!

I reserve On Hold for projects that have been sidelined pending a change in an external factor. By example, painting on the exterior for the house is on hold for three months until the winter weather clears. Such projects are also marked by a Status as On Hold. By comparison, Waiting is for active projects where the next action has been delegated to someone else.

You may do well enough with one perspective if you adequately account for variations in external factors (such as weather, traffic, administrative approval, income tax refund, …) as simply other forms of “delegated to” tags. Or, for cases where you are waiting on something other than a real person, use one generic yet clear tag such as “green light”. Then, you can create one perspective, sort by tags, and find your “waiting on green light” projects in one cluster.


JJW

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For me, On Hold is for projects I’ve decided to pause due to any one of a number of factors. I’m the only person who decides whether a project is on hold or active.

I use Waiting for actions (not projects) where someone else has to take an action. It’s entirely in someone else’s hands.

If I have a project with an action which is in context Waiting, the project is not On Hold, it’s still active, simply waiting for someone else to complete an action.

That’s the difference for me.

P.S. If a project is due to start (deferred) in the future, it’s not on hold either.

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That has been my way of thinking too. Waiting is specifically for an active project and waiting on a specific person. I’ve added tags for People - Personal and People - Work. This seems to be working well.

I think I’ll try with only the Waiting perspective with maybe filtering out any On Hold.

I should probably leave well enough alone but where’s the fun in that?

Thanks!

Yes… I don’t have projects in Waiting… but I do sort by projects.

What got me looking at this was I had a task in Waiting that really is a Maybe/Someday. I ended up moving that task but didn’t stop there.

Thanks!

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