Field notes · 2 min read · Keep commitments

Keep the promises and follow-ups that slip between lists

A colleague says they will send the figures. You promise to read them before Thursday. Later, a friend asks you to suggest a time to meet. Both conversations matter, but neither arrives as a neat task in your own list. A week later you remember the people and forget which next step belongs to you.

You do not need a system for managing other people's work. You need a small record of your part in the exchange and a time to look again.

Write the smallest useful record

After a conversation, jot down three lines:

1. What did I promise? Use a verb and an outcome: "Read the figures and send Sam a recommendation by Thursday."
2. What am I waiting for? Name the person and the specific thing: "Sam will send the figures."
3. When will I check? Choose a date or an existing review: "Check Wednesday afternoon; ask Sam if they have not arrived."

Keep the context if it changes what you will do. "We need the figures to choose a prototype" is useful. A full transcript of the conversation is usually unnecessary.

Separate your action from the wait

Only the first and third lines are actions you can take. Someone else's promise is context, not a task you can complete for them. If you cannot act until they reply, make your own next step explicit: "Ask Sam on Wednesday if the figures are ready." When they arrive, decide what you will do with them.

For a meeting with several decisions and open questions, use the two-minute meeting record. For a thought you have not yet sorted, capture it first and return to it when you have attention.

Review before the promise disappears

At the end of the week, look for three things: promises you made but have not completed, people you need to follow up with, and commitments that no longer matter. Close or change a commitment deliberately. The weekly review gives those checks a place beside deadlines and important work.

Where Trellis helps, and where it does not

In Trellis, you can capture the conversation in your own words, confirm an Action for what you will do, and keep the meeting or note as context. This Week shows your due and blocked Actions, and the Timeline keeps a record of meaningful changes. Trellis does not assign work to other people or maintain a dedicated "waiting for" list. Put the person's name and your follow-up in an Action you own, and choose when to review it.

Try this week

1. After one conversation, write the three lines above in under two minutes.
2. Put your own next step where you will see it, including a check date if you are waiting.
3. At your next weekly review, close, revise, or follow up on that one commitment.