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ken |
Thanks Proximo. Your answer makes sense, and it goes with my recollection of the GTD book (which I've read twice, but some time ago - I need to read the second one).
In the purest sense, though, when you identified the Next Action in a Project, wouldn't you move that to an Actions list? Probably not practical. Your description of a 'Today' view sounds just like what I have asked of Toodldo: allow the Hotlist to utilize Star for criteria. Frankly, I'm surprised the Hotlist doesn't get brought up more, because it's basically a stripped down saved search built in. For us Blackberry users, it's also available in TaskJot. A great Hotlist for me would be to set it for actions due today or starred. I think that would accomplish the Today view you describe. Priority filtering could be optional. |
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ken |
In Proximo's video, I notice he has all his actions that belong to a project in the Project folder.
I was wondering why these sub-tasks were not in the Actions folder? Since they are, after all, actions - that just happen to be part of a project. As I was tranferring over to Proximo's setup tonight, I inadvertantly moved a bunch of sub-tasks into the Actions folder. I was going to move them into the Projects folder as Proximo has them in his video, but then started wondering how I should be treating those sub-tasks. One of the nice flexibilities of Toodledo is that with sub-tasks, I can have the parent task in one folder and the sub-tasks in another (likewise with contexts). When looking at a list of projects, I can always click the project icon and see that item's sub-tasks even if they are normally hidden by the current folder or context selection. In fact, in Proximo's video, when he goes to the Project folder view, it would look very similar even if sub-tasks were in the Actions folder. They would all be listed in that view with their corresponding parent. When sorting by Task/Sub-Tasks first, having sub-tasks in the actions folder (and the parent project task in the Projects folder) means that when I click on my Actions folder, I see all Action tasks first, followed by all the sub-tasks that are part of a project. So I'm curious... For those of you using Action and Project folders, what folder do your sub-tasks belong to? |
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ken |
I've been trying to migrate to my version of Proximo's GTD solution posted early in this thread. I like the idea of using folders for the GTD-specific areas of focus and contexts for things like Work, Personal, etc.
For me, migrating to Proximo's setup means a lot of folder and context swapping. (Ex: moving from Work folder/Project context to Project folder/Work context) I have almost wrapped my brain around this setup, but am hung up on one thing right now: my @Calls context. I often want to look at this list on my way home from work - or when I have some time to make phone calls. In my current system, this is pretty straightforward: I can view my @Calls context and see any calls I need to do. And if I happen to be at work, I will view only the @Calls in my Work folder. The problem is that if I have a Work context and a Personal context (which does make sense to me), then I cannot assign a call to the @Call context without losing the Work/Personal distinction. How do those of you using the simplified folder structure (Inbox, Actions, Projects, etc.) handle items like calls that can fall into work or personal? |
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ken |
Posted Oct 30, 2009 in: project vs. task management struggles
Score: 0
Thanks Proximo. I appreciate your reasonable response. I agree and think Toodledo is a great GTD system, but not designed to manage projects. I pulled two major projects into Toodledo last night and don't think it's going to work.
There *is* a part of me that very strongly would like to distill all of my projects down to a parent task with a list of sub-tasks. But as you know, complex projects require more than that. So what do you do? What is your process with complex projects? Do you manage and review those projects in MS Project and then pull specific action items into Toodledo? How often do you do this? Is it all manual? Any tips/suggestions you can offer? |
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ken |
Posted Oct 29, 2009 in: project vs. task management struggles
Score: 0
I am really struggling. I have been blown away with Toodledo's functionality in the short time I have been using it. Coupled with TaskJot on the Blackberry, it is by far the best task management system I have used in a long time. I love having a web app that I can access from anywhere - but more important, a usable, well-designed web app that is enjoyable to use.
My struggle is the need to manage more complex projects. My boss asked me about some projects I am managing and wants an overview presentation of progress, milestones, specific tasks, etc. What I want to do is download and fire up the latest version of Bonsai, the awesome outliner app I used from my Palm days. The desktop version is very nice for project management - not the level of MS Project, but enough functionality to properly manage multiple complex projects. You get multiple hierarchies, tags, categories, etc. But also amazaing filters and views, including Next Action definition and parent-child due date dependencies. I miss using Bonsai. I know that some of the attraction is going back to a program that I know and love, am familiar with and already know the idiosyncracies. I am a believer in using the right tool for the job, and am resistant to the "all-in-one" approach. For years, I stuck to Thunderbird for e-mail and Palm Desktop for Calendar, finally capitulating to the Outlook world and Blackberry. I used to hate Outlook passionately, but have evolved to mild displeasure and even being impressed occasionally. Another discussion, another time. Projects/outliner/Bonsai... I am trying to simplify. I'm not sure I want another application, another tool to use. I *definitely* do not want to use Bonsai as my task management app. No web app and no mobile sync - missing one would be tough to overcome, missing both is a deal-breaker. But it is so nice for managing complex projects. So what am I yammering on about? I don't know really. Maybe I just need to see the text on the screen to work this out. Feel free to mock me. ;) I want to use Toodledo to manage all my actionable items - everything, projects included. I know that it is limited in project management capabilities. And the solutions posted here - while good - are still really massaging a task management app into a project management app. I am asking myself if my projects need to be so complex, if I can use a simpler structure. Then I start wondering if Toodledo is the right tool for project management. I like my system of using Evernote as my main capture, research and reference tool. I rely on it. It is the right tool for me for that purpose. It is a terrible - OK, barely adequate - task management app. I wouldn't dare try to rely on Evernote to manage my task in an orderly way. Just as I wouldn't dare try to rely on Toodledo to manage my web snippets, research and reference material the way Evernote does. Toodledo is a task management app. A great one. But if I'm completely honest, and really look at the value of Toodledo, I have to wonder if trying to make it a project management app is the way to go. Much of what makes Toodledo so great is its simplicity. I see all these requests for projects and multiple folder hierarchies and task dependencies and I wonder if that is the wrong direction for Toodledo. Don't get me wrong, I would probably enjoy seeing some of those features implemented. But I wonder if that's the right thing for Toodledo. I'm going to try to set up projects within Toodledo and set up projects in Bonsai and figure out what works best for me. I am going to really look at how I'm structuring my data. I will use Bonsai if it is the best tool, though it will mean manually transferring actions to Toodledo. Manually transferring items from one app to another seems like a major inconvenience. But perhaps there is some benefit. To some extent, I do this now with Evernote, taking items from meeting notes, for example and transferring them to Toodledo as action items. I know I can approach project management in different ways. I am trying to keep my mind open and not only look at the tools (and their inherent limitations), but also how I define items and organize them in my head. How many of you have successfully come from using an outliner and managed with Toodledo? How many of you are using an outliner (or other project manager) alongside Toodledo? Do you review projects and pull action items into TD? [edit] A couple updates for clarity: 1. I am a follower of GTD. I was using the term "project" above to mean a large project, and not a task that has multiple steps, in the GTD sense. 2. I tried using folders for projects, but don't like that methodology because it limits what I can "attach" to that project. I use parent tasks as projects so I can define a due date, attach notes, add tags, etc. I use folders as major subject areas (Work, Personal, etc.) This message was edited Oct 29, 2009. |
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ken |
Posted Oct 22, 2009 in: Ability to Set Default Folder for Emailed Tasks
Score: 0
Posted by ilroberts:
+1 on this one - it took me a while to find the stuff I'd emailed in as I'd set the default folder to be "inbox" I expected to find emailed items in that folder. I submitted a feature request tonight asking for the ability to have the default folder apply to items e-mailed to Toodledo. But reading the above post, I really think this is a UI problem. The user is presented a choice of Defaults for new tasks in Account Settings. That should apply to *all* new tasks - no matter the source - unless explicitly stated otherwise. *At the very least* users should be told in account settings and/or the e-mail configuration screen that default settings do not apply to e-mailed items. I'd still like to see default items apply globally, where special e-mail syntax would overwrite the defaults. |
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ken |
Posted Oct 20, 2009 in: Who's got here from Shadowplan/Datebk (Palm)
Score: 0
Posted by TheGriff:
I used to be quite active on both the Shadowplan and Datebk5/6 mailing lists a few years ago when I used Palm devices. Wondering if anyone else who reads these forums has also come from the above mentioned programs on the Palm. Particularly interested in former Shadow users as I think Toodledo is what Jeff was thinking of developing one day. Hi Griff. I remember you from those lists. I am currently on a Blackberry Bold, and came back to Toodledo because of the release of TaskJot. I glanced at Toodledo briefly awhile ago, but was very much stuck in the "must be able to enter/manage data on the desktop" mindset. Also, really wanted some kind of mobile sync. TaskJot really opens up the possibilities with Toodledo for me. |
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ken |
Posted Oct 19, 2009 in: 35 Contexts and 170 (Active) Projects
Score: 0
Posted by dave:
My understanding from my reading is that if I were to use a context of "project", then none of the subtasks would appear in any other contexts unless I had explicitly flattened the display. Posted by Anders: Your understanding is correct. I'm confused. I don't think this is correct. Unless I'm missing something, this would make the use of sub-tasks and contexts pretty lame. A parent task's context is independent of its sub-tasks contexts. I have a context of #project for all parent tasks. Sub-tasks most definitely have their own independent contexts. I can get a quick project list by viewing the #project context. And any sub-tasks marked @computer for instance, show up in context views for @computer. |
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