ForumsQuestionsTask dependency - still pending after 8 YEARS?!


Task dependency - still pending after 8 YEARS?!
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alexandremrj_2

Posted: May 17, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Jake:
@Gnopps: This is an interesting way to do it. It is very simple, so it may not work for everyone, but I wonder.
What does everyone else think? You would have to order your subtasks manually, but if you did, the top subtask would be forced to have a status of "Next Action" and when you complete it, the new top subtask would be given this status. Would this solve Task dependency for you? Please let me know.


This would solve task dependency for me if I get to choose the status that is read. So the option in setting would be:
If you complete a subtask with a status of "Choose Status" then mark next subtask without status as "Same status as chosen before"

My Use Case:
My projects are a Toodledo main task, with tasks inside a project as Toodledo subtasks.
Folders are areas of responsibility.
I use the "Next Action" status as a focus list, because next action sends to the Toodledo hotlist, allowing me to mark my MITs.
Subtasks that can be choosen and worked on are marked as "Active" - this is great for agendas and people contexts.
Subtasks that are waiting for answers are marked as "Waiting For".
Salgud

Posted: May 17, 2016
Score: 1 Reference
Alex: This would solve task dependency for me if I get to choose the status that is read.

Read by whom or what? Do you mean that the user gets to choose which status indicates a dependency? That only tasks with that particular status follow a preceding task with that status? I don't think that is anything like what Jake is suggesting, though I would like something like that better than all subtasks are either dependent tasks or not. But your idea is also much, much more complicated to program than Jake's. If we went with your idea, it would make more sense to just create a new status called "Dependent", and then have TD automatically bring the next subtask of the same parent with that status become a Next Action when the predecessor is marked complete. That would work well for me, better than a total either or.
alexandremrj_2

Posted: May 17, 2016
Score: 1 Reference
Hello Salgud,

Its exactly what Jake proposed but with a twist - task dependency is activated in the settings and you get to choose when marking a task complete, which status is automatically filled on the tasks with no status.

You order the subtasks manualy when the task dependency is activated, and when (in my case) a subtask marked with Active is completed, the next subtask without a status gets marked as Active.
Salgud

Posted: May 17, 2016
Score: 1 Reference
Posted by alexandremrj_2:
Hello Salgud,

Its exactly what Jake proposed but with a twist - task dependency is activated in the settings and you get to choose when marking a task complete, which status is automatically filled on the tasks with no status.

You order the subtasks manualy when the task dependency is activated, and when (in my case) a subtask marked with Active is completed, the next subtask without a status gets marked as Active.


I don't think that's what Jake said. Here it is:

"It would have to be an account setting where all of your subtasks behaved this way or none."

That sounds to me like this is an app level setting, on or off, where any and all subtasks of any and all parents are done in the manually selected order. I hope I'm wrong, because that doesn't work for me, or many others, or at least I don't think so based on this conservation.

The idea of choosing which status you want to indicate dependency doesn't sound practical to me either, and far, far more complicated from a programmer's standpoint. Creating a new status called "Dependent" seems more obvious, and easier to program. Having to select what status creates a dependency each time you want one seems and would create as many problems as it solves. Dependent/not dependent could also be just a radio button rather than a new status, which might be even easier to program.

Just my point of view.
Gnopps

Posted: Jul 18, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
An easy way to implement this would be to add a filter option to hide all but the first subtask shown in each parent task. Then you'd be able to make a search like:

Status: Active
Has subtasks: No

Then in the search results you'd activate the suggested filter and you'd see only the first subtasks and tasks without subtasks.

It wouldn't be a real implementation but an easy (?) quick-win for the developer and it'd help a lot with GTD.
betsys

Posted: Jul 24, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
I would use it, either way. although it would be a lot more useful if there were subtasks visible on the iPhone (hint hint)
rob.barry

Posted: Aug 11, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
Asana, a task-management competitor to Toodledo, now offers a task dependency feature for premium users.

https://asana.com/pricing
Neil.bothams

Posted: Sep 25, 2016
Score: 0 Reference
I am newly back with Toodledo and can confirm that using Toodledo's powerful search facility you can already create an effective way of deploying Next Action Methodology in a smooth though not automatic flow. I am sure that as this discussion thread shows it may not be everybody's perfect solution as it still requires you to review your projects but I consider Reviews to be good general and GTD practice.

I also use "due dates" and "start dates" for parts of my system and so this approach works for me by enabling me to have lots of tasks brainstormed out but only the most relevant ones show up when I come to action execution.

I can share some screenshots with those that are interested. Essentially it makes use of subtasks and I am using the manual sorting option you will find under settings.

From there the key thing is to create two "Saved Searches":

"Next Action" - this is a search you would use when you are executing actions
"Completed Next Action" - this is a search you would use when you are reviewing actions - could be whatever frequency you desire depending on the number of "Next Actions" you would expect to complete in a project chain in a given time. eg if you want to do an action from each of your projects every week or so then a review of twice per week will suffice but if you are doing daily next actions in each project then you may wish to review twice a day.

The logic behind the searches are:
"Next Action" - simple: "Status = Next Action"

"Completed Next Action, involves the use of "OR" and a search for two alternative conditions:

1) is a subtask, is complete, and status= next action
2) is a subtask, is not complete, and status = planning (you could choose hold but I want to avoid missing a task so have chosen not to use a "deferred" status.

So after setting up how will it work?

You have a project A
-sub task A1, status = next action
-sub task A2, status = planning
-sub task A3, status = hold
-sub task A4, due date = Friday, status = active
-sub task A5, status = planning

ACTION EXECUTION
When you run the saved search for "Next action" then only tasks such as A1 will show based on its status.
You work on these tasks and tick them off

REVIEW
At the frequency you have decided (eg daily), you run "Completed Next Action"
All the completed subtasks like A1 will show (in my case I opt to have a line through them in settings)
Also so does A2
I can now decide to make task A2 the "Next Action" but I could instead decide to make subtask A5 the "Next Action" or even both if they do not need to be done sequentially.


When you next enter ACTION EXECUTION mode by running your "Next Action" search, then task A2 (or A5) will show up as tasks to be done.

Of course some people will have needs like I dont want A3 to be done before A2 is complete as it has true dependency. That's fine - that's why it should be setup as "hold".

Other people will be worried that they may miss a task. I would consider creating a "tag" called "Time critical" and adding it to any projects that merit this and then you can always create an extra search for these which you run more frequently. Also you can use "due dates" or start dates if you want to ensure that you are prompted to review the relevant tasks.

I accept this is not automatic but it runs smoothly and keeps you reviewing your list. If anyone is struggling to get their head around why reviews are critical to overall good management then two actions you might want to try - read David Allen GTD again and perhaps challenge yourself to try a totally different methodology - FVP (Final Version Pefected by Mark Forster).


This message was edited Sep 25, 2016.
Gnopps

Posted: Jan 19, 2017
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by Gnopps:
An easy way to implement this would be to add a filter option to hide all but the first subtask shown in each parent task. Then you'd be able to make a search like:

Status: Active
Has subtasks: No

Then in the search results you'd activate the suggested filter and you'd see only the first subtasks and tasks without subtasks.

It wouldn't be a real implementation but an easy (?) quick-win for the developer and it'd help a lot with GTD.

Again this would be a very easy way of implementing semi-automatic Next-actions. What are your thoughts Jake? To me this seems like it could be implemented quickly without much effort on your side.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Jan 19, 2017
Score: 0 Reference
I'll think about adding a filter to hide all but the first subtask.
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