Template Overview

Creative minds generate far more ideas than a single human lifespan can execute. Piling every creative whim, travel dream, and book idea onto your daily to-do list creates crushing guilt and paralysis. The Someday Maybe Project Backlog provides a dignified parking lot for aspirational ambitions, organizing them by life domain and activation criteria in plain Markdown.

Markdown Template Structure

Copy the block below or click Download .md File to add this template directly to your personal vault:

---
title: "Someday/Maybe Backlog: [Personal Ambitions & Dreams]"
date_initiated: [YYYY-MM-DD]
date_audited: [YYYY-MM-DD]
curator: "[[Your Name]]"
total_backlog_items: 24
items_promoted_this_year: 2
tags: [gtd, someday-maybe, bucket-list, aspirations, personal-growth, personal]
---

# Someday Maybe Project Backlog — [Curator Name]

## 1. Backlog Principles & Ground Rules
- **The Zero-Guilt Rule:** Nothing on this list is a commitment. Having an idea here incurs zero moral obligation to execute it today.
- **The Activation Rule:** An item moves from this backlog into active projects (`projects/`) ONLY when calendar bandwidth, energy, and financial resources are explicitly allocated.
- **Review Cadence:** Audit this document twice annually (during summer and new year life reviews).

## 2. Aspirational Creative & Writing Projects
- [ ] Write a 150-page historical novella set during the building of the transatlantic telegraph cable.
- [ ] Design and bind a physical leather-bound edition of my personal commonplace book.
- [ ] Build a tiny battery-powered mechanical e-ink typewriter running a custom local text editor.
- [ ] Compose and record an acoustic instrumental EP (guitar and cello).

## 3. Physical Adventures & Wilderness Expeditions
- [ ] Hike the Tour du Mont Blanc circuit through France, Italy, and Switzerland (10 days).
- [ ] Complete a 100-mile self-supported gravel bike bikepacking trip through Vermont.
- [ ] Learn open-water sailing and earn bareboat charter certification.
- [ ] Camp under the winter aurora borealis in northern Norway.

## 4. Technical Skills & Intellectual Curiosities
- [ ] Learn Japanese to conversational fluency (JLPT N3 level).
- [ ] Build a working 8-bit computer from basic logic gates on a breadboard.
- [ ] Read all surviving works of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius in Greek and Latin translations.
- [ ] Study classical violin acoustics and wood resonance physics.

## 5. Home, Craft & Physical Maker Projects
- [ ] Build a mortise-and-tenon solid walnut dining table by hand.
- [ ] Plant an heirloom heritage apple orchard (3 varieties).
- [ ] Restore a vintage 1970s dual-boiler manual espresso machine.

## 6. Promotion to Active Projects Ledger
*Record items promoted from this backlog into active execution:*

| Item Promoted | Date Promoted | Destination Active Project | Outcome / Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete 10k mountain trail run | 2026-03-15 | `projects/p-2026-trail-race/` | **Completed in 54 min (June 2026)** |
| Publish open-source Markdown template gallery | 2026-08-10 | `projects/p-2026-template-gallery/` | **Shipped 240 templates** |

## 7. Annual Pruning & Release
*Dreams that no longer resonate and were peacefully removed without regret:*
- *Released 2026-10:* Building a commercial iOS photography app (Interest shifted entirely to local desktop software).

Filled Real-World Example

Here is a realistic example demonstrating how this template captures actual deliberations:

---
title: "Someday/Maybe: Marcus Vance"
date_audited: 2026-10-06
curator: "[[Marcus Vance]]"
total_backlog_items: 18
tags: [gtd, bucket-list]
---

# Someday Maybe Project Backlog — Marcus Vance

## 1. Overview
Marcus Vance organized long-term creative and wilderness aspirations.

## 2. Promoted Milestone
Promoted 'Hike Iceland Laugavegur Trail' to active planning for summer 2027, locking in reservation dates and fitness training schedule.

When to Use and When to Avoid

When to Use

  • Use during weekly or monthly reviews to dump creative ideas that are not immediate priorities.
  • Use to preserve personal bucket list dreams without cluttering daily work task lists.
  • Use during annual life reviews to select upcoming year’s major adventurous milestones.

When to Avoid

  • Avoid putting time-sensitive work deadlines or urgent bills on this list.
  • Avoid letting this list become a graveyard of forgotten promises (audit twice yearly).

On-Device AI Integration

Summarize your recording in Oyma with this local instruction:

Analyze the author's brain dump of aspirations and creative ideas:
1. Categorize entries into distinct life domains (Creative, Adventures, Skills, Physical Craft).
2. Establish clear activation criteria for promoting items into active projects.
3. Formulate an inspiring, guilt-free Someday Maybe Project Backlog in structured Markdown.

Your data remains securely on your Mac with zero cloud exposure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a 'Someday/Maybe' list in GTD?

A foundational Getting Things Done (GTD) concept where you park non-immediate ideas, creative dreams, and aspirational goals safely outside your active to-do list so they do not cause daily guilt.

How does this prevent creative burnout?

By separating 'what I must do this week' from 'what I would love to explore someday', your mind is freed from the anxiety of unfinished dreams.

When should this backlog be reviewed?

During quarterly habit resets or annual life reviews, where you can consciously promote 1 or 2 items into active project status.