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Search results for "Posted by Qrystal"
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Qrystal |
Kevin, thanks for replying.
I'm afraid the problem is still that I can't distinguish between the hard deadlines and soft deadlines within Toodledo -- it's not possible to export only SOME of the due dates. The other thing is: I am almost always at home. My "on the run" just means hurrying out of the house for something, and the calendar is on the way out the door. :) If I do go back to doing more stuff outside of the home, I'll probably reinstate my hipster PDA: http://wiki.43folders.com/index.php/Hipster_PDA Then it's just a matter of manually "synching" my hPDA with the calendar on the wall, which should be fairly fast and easy since I really only need the current day's info. |
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Qrystal |
I had a thought, perhaps a memory of something I read about the hard landscape of commitments, and just now Googled to see if I could find a quote. Success!
"You need to trust your calendar as sacred territory, reflecting the hard edges of your day's commitments, which should be noticeable at a glance when you're on the run...those that you absolutely have to get done on that day." ~David Allen, Getting Things Done Lo and behold, I HAVE a calendar! A real, hanging-on-the-wall-beside-the-computer calendar. I have already been using it for appointments and temporal commitments! I don't NEED Toodledo to do it for me -- Toodledo's job is to remind me to write appointments and such on the calendar!! And to help me keep track of the zillions of other things I have to do! So I'm going to treat most deadlines within Toodledo as soft deadlines, until they are transferred to the "hard" calendar. When it's on the calendar, that's as good as being carved in stone!! I may consider moving my calendar online someday, if I start getting too many appointments for the paper version, but for now, the wall calendar is perfect because it is "noticeable at a glance when [I'm] on the run!" I hope this revelation helps others with meshing Toodledo and GTD! :) |
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Qrystal |
What a great idea!!! Both parts of it!!
- If the search page could show all tasks that have subtasks, that would be AWESOME for a GTD Weekly Review!!! And it would be much less clunky than using a context or tag to mark such projects (and what if you forget to set a task as a project? eek!) - If the top-level task with subtasks could say something even as simple as "5/12 subtasks complete" on hovering over the subtask icon, that would be really awesome. |
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Qrystal |
Thanks for your reply! I am also using priority, actually, but I have no solid rules for it. I use priority in much the same way as due dates: it gets tweaked so I can have a bit of control over tasks on my hotlist, so I can better decide what to work on next. I've got a bunch of things without due dates, but with High Priority, sitting on the bottom of my Importance-sorted Hotlist just as a constant nag to do them. :P
Maybe it's not so bad that I'm using both due date and priority in a flexible way. I just wish there was some better way to distinguish between "definitely due" and "it'd be nice to have this done on this date". I guess I also only set a due time if there really is a due date, and that's one way for me to know... ...and maybe that Start Date thingie I discussed above will turn out to be perfect after all, and I just need to keep using it to see how perfect it is. I'm still open to other ideas, either within Toodledo or in the approach to scheduling such tasks! |
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Qrystal |
Wow, very nice!! You managed to make a collection of colour schemes where none of them look TACKY! I had a tough time deciding between them, until I noticed...
Default is the only one that has vivid colour emphasis for tasks that are overdue, due soon, or high priority. I use Multi-Line view, sorted by Importance, and so along the right-hand side I see either priorities (if High or Top) or relative due dates, and I'm used to seeing the colours. It's amazing how being "used to" something makes it more desirable! :P Default is also the only one where the icons in the sidebar are colourful and cheerful. The other schemes make them look ... kinda dreary. Maybe that's just me. So, I'm back to default, though I'm considering making a Stylish design for myself. But that's a Someday/Maybe task. :P |
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Qrystal |
I haven't actually read David Allen's book(s?) but I've read a lot of online material related to it, and thus have been inspired to incorporate many of the GTD concepts into my process.
That said, I have a question about GTD and due dates and Toodledo. I know DA emphasizes that there is a "hard landscape" of true due dates and meetings and whatnot. I have very little that is actually fixed in time, but I find myself wanting to set due dates for lots of things, especially for regularly repeating tasks. My problem is, I'm wondering if there's a better way to distinguish between hard deadlines and soft deadlines. I like how setting due dates in Toodledo brings their Importance up, and ensures they're on the Hotlist. But then I find myself shifting the due dates of things that aren't really set in stone, because they aren't *really* due or overdue, and that usually results in a lot of shifting. Does anyone have any ideas of how to deal with this? I suppose I could use the notes field, but I am just wondering if anyone else has any clever ideas. ...Hmmm, in asking, I've just come up with something clever: I rarely use the Start Date field, so perhaps I can set it to the same date as the Due Date when I originally set a Due Date. Since the due date isn't set in stone, I don't technically need to see the task until the date I've decided to do it. And, if/when I end up shifting the due date, I can keep track of how long I've been postponing the task. So flexible, this Toodledo is~! :) |
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Qrystal |
When this happens, the "Modify this Search" also doesn't remember what the search terms were.
This blank search result issue, i.e. You've done everything in this tab!, occurs even if the change done does not make it so that the search terms are no longer valid. [I didn't notice this issue for my first bunch of batches of changes, because I was changing the things I was searching for! My total revamp of contexts worked really, really well, thanks to this feature, so I'm thanking you again.] This message was edited Jul 17, 2008. |
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Qrystal |
I understand (and really like!) how the toggleable toolbar is distinguished from the nontoggleable links. I am amazed at how much more intuitive it is!
However, I find myself still mousing over to the right side of the screen to Show Details. Was there any particular reason why it couldn't be next to Customize and Print? Of course, I'll surely get used to it the way it is, especially if (as you say) there is new functionality coming in the future that makes the grouping logical as it is. Please don't take this as criticism of the decision, I am honestly just curious. Every change has a reason, after all, and I'm so excited about the changes you've been implementing, and those you will implement in the future!! |
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Qrystal |
I noticed the changes instantly, and wanted to come here to applaud you on them right away. VERY much more intuitive now!! It's amazing how little things make a big difference!
It's going to take some getting used to the Show Details (Show Notes, for grid-users) link being on the left instead of the right, though. Any particular reason for moving it? And as a suggestion, since the links on the right side of the same toolbar have icons, could the Collapse/Expand Dividers link also have an icon? perhaps a little triangle similar to the Filters, Sort, etc. but pointing up for Collapse and down for Expand. The Show Details or Show Notes link could have the notes icon. |
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Qrystal |
Yes yes yes yes yes!!!!!!!
Thank you so very much for this! The major revamp in how I'm using contexts is now going to be so much easier to implement, because I can just re-contextualize a whole bunch of things all at once!!! I could kiss you! |
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Qrystal |
I use notes, personally. I then have plenty of room to describe the current state of the task, what's holding it up, what to do next.
I know there's subtasks in the Pro version, and I use them occasionally, but a lot of times I really just want to keep all the details of a task within the same item in the list. I use the notes field for that too, often using the following system: [x] completed subtask [/] partly completed subtask [_] subtask yet to complete This allows me to keep dependent subtasks in the order they should be, without messing around with settings. |
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Qrystal |
There's a Firefox plugin that puts Toodledo in the sidebar, would that help?
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Qrystal |
Thanks for your reply.
I do already use combined contexts, but they feel kinda awkward, hence the need for a change in how I do it. I'm sure it will be some combination of contexts and tags. I'm also sure I'll eventually feel my system is tweaked enough that I'll feel ready to write about it in its entirety. :P |
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Qrystal |
I have been seriously contemplating doing a major revamp on how I use Contexts, but first I really want to know: are there any plans in the future for changing how Contexts work? Specifically, are you considering making it possible to set multiple contexts on a single task?
Basically, if there's going to be changes coming up, I don't want to go through the hassle of changing anything only to have to change it again. Hmm, there might be a way to do what I'm thinking using Contexts + Tags, especially now that the Awesome Search has been implemented... I just think it would be great to start using the Context filter, and that a change to how I use Contexts might help me out. |
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Qrystal |
Actually, there are so many different ways users may be using tags, so a context menu could get really cumbersome.
May I suggest/request maybe an auto-complete option for tags? So when we start typing, we see a popup list of other tags starting with those letters. Then I'd never again have to wonder what I decided to call my "organize" tag: organizing? organization? gahhh~! :P |
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Qrystal |
That's interesting, I never thought about starring items that weren't already in the Hotlist. Starring does increase the Importance ranking of any task by one point, and that could sometimes cause the task to go onto the Hotlist...
I wonder if there's any reason NOT to have starred items on the hotlist. If there aren't any reasons, maybe putting starred items on the hotlist should be default behaviour? Just thinking out loud! :) |
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Qrystal |
Wow, that was fast! 4 minutes, according to the posts here! :P
You rock! |
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Qrystal |
You could consider trying the Multi-Line view (changeable in Account Settings). It takes a bit of getting used to, in order to get used to using it efficiently, but I feel it's well worth it. Think outside the box--err, grid! :P
But seriously, I like seeing just my tasks listed without all the details (until I need the details). I love the minimalistic look, and the effect of changing what I'm sorting by: it changes what one parameter I see along with the task. And because it's so minimalistic, there's no need for horizontal scrolling. And it kinda does what ju9or says: there's a button that opens a task so that all the fields are shown. But it seems like most people here like the grid view. Hmm. |
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Qrystal |
I've realized this isn't as easy as just changing the output format .... there's also the handling of all the fields that handle time inputs too! Yikes!!
I, personally, switched myself as much to 24h time as possible years ago when I realized the efficiency of it... and the fact that (most of?) Europe uses it. I don't know much about the world (never been out of North America) but I'm under the impression that I'll be one of many people very happy to see it implemented. Thanks for adding it to your list! :) |
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Qrystal |
re: ct
I can answer how to do #3: - Sort a list of tasks by folder, and you can click on the folder heading to minimize/maximize the list of tasks. - Set the secondary sort criteria to priority. I can see how #2 could be nice, having a task entry field somewhere without requiring a click. BUT WAIT! You still have to click on the task entry field!! Clicking on Add Task automatically puts the cursor into the text field, so there's no effort saved... just space on the page. So I take it back: I don't see how #2 would add much. I also went to check out Classic view, and I do think (first impression) it looks better than the non-Classic Grid view. It seems to fit more into the width of the screen. It definitely feels much slower, though!! (I prefer Multi-Line anyways.. I was just looking out of curiosity!) |