ForumsTips & TricksAnyone using "Search" as their default start page?
Anyone using "Search" as their default start page?
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Douglas |
Now that I'm a couple months into Toodledo ... I feel like I'm getting enough of the swing of things that I'm going to start trying to re-implement a "GTD lite" system. As a result, I was thinking of changing my settings so that my starting page is the Search tab ... and then having three pre-saved searches named on that tab (complete with the numbers) in this order:
1) Inbox - new items via web, iphone, or other methods categorized here by default. Anything in here, needs to get put into a folder. Anytime anything is in here, I need to process it until this gets to zero. 2) Waiting On - items set "Waiting" in the status field (or a similar value) where I am waiting on someone else for something. I tend to forget these things. 3) Hotlist - basically, a duplicate of the existing hotlist. Once I have processed #1 and #2, the remainder of my time would likely be spent here. This way ... my daily routine can simply be a matter of 1-2-3. I haven't tried implementing it yet (going to re-read GTD this weekend for some more ideas) but was wondering if there were any thoughts. |
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Colin A |
Hi Douglas
I use the search page as my default page - I have the following searches saved: 1. Next Actions (organised by context) 2. Project List 3. Areas of Responsibility 4. One to Two year goals 5. Three to Five year goals 6. Lifestyle and Purpose I spend most of my time in my next actions tab...but the other areas of focus have helped in keeping track of and planning for future or longer term objectives |
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Douglas |
So, I've basically set this up ... a little bit differently than originally expected, but if this is a useful structure for anyone, here it is:
* I don't have any defaults set for new tasks. So anything that comes in via the web, email, however else ... unless I've set a folder/context as a part of the creation process, it will come in as "No Folder" and "No Context". * My Search tabs are named & set as such: "1) Inbox" - Anything uncompleted, that is set to either "No Folder" or "No Context". This is so I can quickly get things out of my mind, and process them in more detail later. To make this work, I needed to add an additional context of "Anywhere" so that everything could eventually have a context. I plan to use MailActOn on my Mac to quickly shoot items out of my email inbox and over into Toodledo, where I can refine them later. "2) Waiting/Delegated" - Anything uncompleted, that is dependent on *someone else* for the next step (Waiting or Delegated status) ... but I still need to make sure that it moves forward. "3) Postponed / On Hold" - Anything uncompleted, that has a status of postponed or on-hold. Loosely, I think I will likely use these for things that may not have a tightly defined start *and* end date. Being in this deferred status gets it off of my hotlist until the dates can be set more accurately. I'm still trying to define what "Postponed" and "On Hold" mean to me ... I'd be curious to see what others use as their definition. "4) Someday" - Anything uncompleted, that has a status of someday. These are things where I don't know what my start date will be, nor my end date. These are the higher level goals I want to accomplish. I'm sure I'll refine these more as time goes on. But I can see myself using a system where daily I'm processing #1, #2, and my hotlist ... and weekly, I'll review #3 and #4 to see if it's time to make progress on any of those items. This message was edited May 02, 2010. |
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Brad |
I love it! Any changes you've made since? I am using tags as context because of the limitation on only having one context to a task...
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Douglas |
Only a few minor tweaks as I work through it a bit more and figure out what works for me. Changes include:
- There is now a "4) No target dates" ... I tend to have a lot of low-priority items that linger down here, and need to pull some of them out from time-to-time. - That means that "Someday" is now 5) - Using MailActOn on my Mac, I can shoot emails over to Toodledo with a simple CTRL-T and nothing else. They collect in #1, so that's effectively my GTD Inbox. Also, using Siri from the iPhone, the reminder emails from there get shot over to Toodledo via email rules. So I've got a really efficient capture system so far that doesn't let much slip through the cracks. And then usually it only takes me 4-5 minutes every morning to review my inbox and classify or rewrite to-do titles as needed. This message was edited May 04, 2010. |
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Brad |
I looked into MailActOn - do you just send it with the existing subject line so you can modify it later, or do you somehow embed other parts of syntax in with Control T? I'm also thinking for something as simple as a rule to forward an email to a certain address, if that's in fact what you're doing, could be done with a simpler method than a purchased software?
Brad |
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Douglas |
There are some people out there that have built some scripts to re-arrange the outbound subject line to fit with toodledo syntax (google mailacton and toodledo and you should find them) but honestly that's just shifting the task of needing to prioritize, classify, and think about the item into the front of the process (directly in mail.app) instead of into the back of the process (once I'm in toodledo and sorting out my "Inbox"). I don't find much value in that ... in fact, I think it would make me less efficient. Right now, as I'm going through mail-by-mail, if something comes across that I know I'll probably need to act on ... a simple CTRL-T makes sure it's over in Toodledo for me.
That means when I search my "1) Inbox" search as mentioned above, a lot of items are "Fwd: Next quarter's research report" ... and I have to rewrite that into something more meaningful for a to-do list. This is no biggie for me (like I said, I have to either do it on the front end or the back end but the work is the same). Then, at the same time, I assign all of the relevant context, dates, status, etc. needed. I can get through my entire "inbox" in a matter of minutes ... and then I'm done, and I have a very focused list of what to concentrate on today ... while at the same time knowing that I've not let anything slip through the cracks and other tasks will come up later as needed. That's what makes MailActOn worthwhile for me. It's that single split-second "CTRL-T" on a message ... which gets it over to toodledo and (more importantly) off my mind with no extra effort required. You can't really do that with the stock mail.app rules engine. I do, however, use the built-in mail.app rules engine to automatically forward any reminder emails from Siri (see my other post on that) directly into toodledo with no further action on my part. This message was edited May 05, 2010. |
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Brad |
Great info. Thank you Douglas. The only shortcoming I see is how this may apply to iPhone - without a search page function. I suppose I can use iPhone to simply track tasks, and perhaps enter them, whereas inbox items need to be taken care of on the web.
Thanks again, Brad |
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Douglas |
That's pretty much what I do. The iPhone client is for new task entry, task check-off, or for checking contexts that I might be in (i.e. "Shopping/Errands") where I might be able to reach in and tick off a few more items that aren't otherwise on my hotlist.
As for my tasks for organizing to "inbox zero" every day ... I think I'll more often leave that as a first-thing-in-the-morning activity when I'm at my laptop. Helps me know what I need to tackle in my day. This message was edited May 05, 2010. |
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