A waiting-for list: keep track of tasks that depend on other people

Not every open task needs your action right now

You sent a client a mockup, requested a document from accounting and asked a colleague to check some copy. In your to-do list, all of these sit alongside your own work. Yet you cannot approve the mockup by yourself today: the client has the next move. This creates an odd feeling: plenty of tasks, but no way to move them forward.

A waiting-for list holds external dependencies. It contains results you have requested but not yet received, rather than your own actions saved for later.

In GTD, you review the Waiting For list as part of reviewing your current commitments. It helps you keep track of open commitments; it does not guarantee faster replies. What follows is an editorial example of applying this principle to one project.

Each entry should answer four questions

“Waiting on the website” quickly becomes a puzzle. A week later, you no longer know whom you contacted, exactly what reply you need or whether work can continue. An entry should be brief enough to scan and precise enough to support your next message.

Managing waiting-for items in Sinqly

In Sinqly, you can record a waiting-for item as an ordinary task. You do not need special automation to begin: the entry needs to make clear what you are waiting for and how to resume work.

Schedule your own check rather than assuming control over another person. An entry alone does not send a reminder to the client. You need to contact them separately.

For several waiting-for items, use the same title prefix. Do not mix “Waiting” with “Need to send”: in the second case, the action is still yours. Keep details in the description so the list stays readable.

Plan your own follow-up. Create a separate task, “Check for a reply about the estimate”, and choose a planning day for it. On that day, open your task list and check for the reply. The date refers to your action, rather than someone else’s promise. This is a manual check: we are not setting up automatic reminders to the other person here.

What to do when there is no reply

Thursday arrives. Anna has not yet approved the mockup. There is no need to move the same item every day without changing your decision. First check what deadline was agreed and exactly what is blocked: the final file, publication or only cosmetic revisions.

Review to make a decision, rather than reread

Choose a review rhythm based on the consequences of delay. A request that tomorrow’s publication depends on needs checking sooner than a book you lent a friend. The GTD example includes regular reviews of the waiting-for list; the urgency of any particular entry still depends on your context.

A review ends with an action or a deliberate decision to wait. If you simply look at the list and close it without clarifying anything, it will soon become an archive.

After the review, update the task description in Sinqly: the new agreement should replace the old “Check on Thursday”. If a reply has arrived, do not leave the entry open alongside the new work: close the waiting-for item and name the action now available.

When the list stops helping

If the same dependency repeatedly fails, the problem may be the agreement rather than the entry: an unclear result, an unsuitable channel or an unavailable person. The list makes the problem visible, but does not solve it automatically.

Start with one result that depends on someone else. Find a request you have sent that blocks further work, and record it so your next check does not require rereading the entire conversation.