Projects are defined as outcomes that will require more than one action step to complete and that you can mark off as finished in the next 12 months.
Think of your Projects list as a current table of contents of the current outcomes on your plate.
Most people have 10-100 current projects, personally and professionally.
Current projects have at least one next action, waiting for, or calendar action, in order to be considered current.
Projects that have no current next action, waiting for, or calendar action are either no longer projects for you, or should be incubated to Someday/Maybe.
Future actions (i.e., actions that are dependent on something else happening first) do not go on the Next Actions lists until you can take action on them.
They get stored with project plans.
The Projects list and project plans are typically reviewed in your GTD Weekly Review, ensuring each project has at least one current next action, waiting for, or calendar item.
It’s fine to have multiple next actions on any given project, as long as they are parallel and not sequential actions (e.g., “Buy stamps” and “Mail invitations” would not both be on Next Actions lists for the “Put on Party for David” project given that you need to buy the stamps before you can mail the invitations).
Projects are listed by the outcome you will achieve when you can mark it as done (what will be true?).
Effective project names motivate you toward the outcome you wish to achieve, and give you clear direction about what you are trying to accomplish.