Tip: Using Left-Menu Contexts for the Daily Review

Folke

02/06/2014 10:47

As I have said earlier, for the weekly GTD review (reviewing my lists as a part of planning ahead) I think it is best to go goal by goal, AoR by AoR, project by project etc.The built-in task hierarchies in the left menu (Goals, Projects) are the best way, IMO, to go about doing this.

But for the daily GTD review (the daily "scan", checking whether anything needs my attention today or would seem particularly appropriate to consider today), which I used to do by looking at the Next list, the Waiting list etc, I have come to the conclusion that it is generally better, IMO, to almost completely ignore those lists and instead use the Context lists from the left menu.

Obviously, there are pros and cons with both approaches, and it is also possible to do it in different ways on different days, or to use both methods. (I still use the other lists, too, sometimes.) But here are the main advantages to using the Contexts in the left menu as the primary approach, reviewing one context at a time:

• I can see my next actions, whether they are starred or not, all in the same list
• I can also see, in the same list, my waiting for actions, some of which may be imminent and may cause me to change my plans suddenly if they occur today
• and of course I can see my calendar actions etc for today
• going through all this context by context in the daily scan feels very natural and mentally not so taxing. The purpose of the daily scan is not really to review my whole plans, but mainly to get prepared for what I will or may need to do on this particular day. Since all of that will definitely take place in different contexts, e.g. several errands all in one go, several calls in one go, etc, it somehow feels easier and more manageable and down-to-earth o select tasks context by context.

The main disadvantages to this method are:

• I do not get a single "global" view of high priority next actions across all contexts. (The high priority actions I will consider, in combination with calendar actions, to determine which contexts I will even plan to get myself into today.)
• the context for waiting for actions is sometimes highly irrelevant and arbitrary - I may not always know in advance whether a given "result" will be delivered to me in person or by email or by phone etc

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• hntopper  (积分：395)02/06/2014 23:04
  1 floor

  @folke
  
  Could you not just create an advanced filter? I think the advanced filter would provide you with more functionality than what you get in the Context list. You could create an advanced filter of Piority sorted by Context... or a list of Context sorted by Prioity. Either of these seem like they would provide you with what you describe above while allowing you to see a global view of high priority next actions across all contexts.
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• Folke  (积分：2425)02/07/2014 00:18
  2 floor

  Hmm. Maybe. I am not sure. Will need to chew on this.
  
  Doit's advanced filters are pretty lame. They do not recognize "boxes" at all, and they cannot display mixed lists with tasks from different boxes (you cannot tell the difference), and you cannot really define combined criteria like in RTM or Toodledo - plus I am reluctant to having along list of saved searches in my left menu; then I might as well use one of those other apps instead :-)
  
  And just now when I tested it, it could not even group or sort by priority anymore :-( (or maybe it never could?)
  
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• Folke  (积分：2425)02/08/2014 15:05
  3 floor

  @hntopper
  
  I gave some more thought to this, and came up with a wild idea. I wonder if it would work. What do you think?
  
  I agree that advanced filters, in principle (if powerful enough), could give you almost any list you want. No question. At the same time I assume we all think it would be a pity to have to duplicate each and every built-in list that we already have in the left menu with a "ditto" list further down in the filters section.
  
  It occurred to me that the discussion in this thread (about viewing by context) actually seems to have some interesting similarities with the discussion we had about a Goal overview http://help.doit.im/group/topic/87. And we can generalize the discussion to viewing by project, AoR, goal, context, anything - perhaps even to viewing by "box" (next, waiting someday) but let me get back to that later.
  
  Although the purpose we have have when looking at these different views (lists) can be quite different, there is often one factor in common, namely that it would often be desirable to be able to reduce the content of the list such that we see the NEAR FUTURE more clearly - in other words be able to eliminate stuff that we usually do not normally need to see (except if we want to do a very thorough review.).
  
  So here is the wild idea: Maybe it would be possible (???) to let each user have one single "near filter" defined that the user could engage or disengage for any of the built-in lists? The "near filter" could be customizable roughly as suggested in the Goals thread, but I repeat again:
  
  - for each of the main boxes (Next, Waiting, Something) individually specify which priorities you want to see
  - for dated tasks (with a start date or deadline) specify how many days ahead you want to see
  
  Then there could be a toggle button somewhere on each list to engage or disengage this filter. The filter could be defined once and for all in the preference settings. Only one definition - very simple; applies to all lists (goals, projects, contexts, whatever) and would be applied to the extent possible to each particular list on which you engage it - thus, for example, if you engage it while looking at the Next list, then the filtering instruction for the someday box would simply be ignored as there are no someday tasks on the next list, but the priority selection for the next box and the selection for deadline dates would still apply even on the Next list.
  
  I suppose the main use for this "near filter" would be for the existing project views and contexts views, and, very much so indeed, for any not-yet-present goal view and/or area view etc.
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• hntopper  (积分：395)02/10/2014 23:04
  4 floor

  @folke,
  
  I like the concept very much. I think it's very intersting and could help on a number of issues.
  
  You know you really need to get some venture capital funding to do a start up to establish you very own GTD app. You are very creative and clearly have a grasp on what's effective and what's not.
  
  Thank you for sharing.
  
  PS - I've been using Nozbe for the last two weeks and I've really liked it. So much so that I've ported my tasks over to it and using it exclusively. I paid for a year membership with Doit and will keep coming back her to the group forum but have ceased using the app for right now. Nozbe is not perfect and I'm loosing some functionality but I like it's simplicity and I'm finding that it has two key things which fits me perfectly: manual sorting of all lists if I choose; a proper star functionality. While they call their star list the Next Action list which is a little confusing to get used to, when something gets starred it stays on the original list and does move from box to box to box like in Doit. I've simply set up my project folders and actions, starred the ones I want to work on and work from the Next actions list. every day I go in and only look at those priority projects that I have labled and add to the next actions list. Once a week I review all projects. That's it. Very simple. For some reason I could never get to this with Doit. While there is a lot of things I like, it seemed like they would take one step backward for every two steps forward. I will keep my eye on Doit and if they implement any real change I may try it out again. But I think I will be using Nozbe for awhile, or at least to the next best thing pops up.
  
  Take care of yourself and please let me know if you find something new or start to build one of these on your own.
  
  Best wishes!
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• Stephen2  (积分：160)02/12/2014 06:12
  5 floor

  @hntopper I have been using the free account since reading your post a couple of days ago. You're right about the simplicity, there's something serene about using it after the clutter of doit.
  
  However, I find it a bit expensive. I'm trying the free account and using the following as my 5 projects;
  
  - single actions
  - projects list
  - priority project 1
  - priority project 2
  - priority project 3
  
  I find that most of my projects contain only a single next action so I have a single list of projects in true GTD fashion and have allowed three of them to have a full-blown project folder. If I stay with it for at least a couple of weeks (a rare thing these days) then I'll sign up for the year.
  
  Out of interest, have you signed up? If so, monthly or yearly?
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• hntopper  (积分：395)02/13/2014 00:33
  6 floor

  @Folke
  
  I signed up on a monthly basis just in the event something else comes along that I like better or has some killer feature.
  
  I've enjoyed using it. It's far from perfect but I like the simplicity as you stated. I like the color coding of projects and that follows through to the tasks on the Next Actions list. I also like the labeling of projects. I tend to have a lot of projects (45 right now) I like to label them to group them as I have a tendency to look at them in groups (Staffing / Recruiting) (Negotiations) (Immigration Issues) (Business Travel) etc. So I like just sorting on a specific label and focus on those 3-4 projects that are key for a given day or week. I also use the color coding to highlight importance or priority. I have one shade for work projects (blue), another shade for projects that may be on hold (light blue) and red for important projects. I like that I can manually sort the projects list and can move the non critical ones to the bottom. The color coding allows me to quickly distinguish which ones matter and which ones don't. I will review all the projects during a weekly review but only focus on the red ones during the day and I can filter the rest out. I also have been using the comments function a lot more in Nozbe than other apps and like that I can easily tell which ones have comments and which do not by the icon. While I wish the Contexts would be visible in a list, having the Context icon is better than nothing. I don't have many context anymore so I can tell easily what context the task has. I had inquired with Nozbe if they would consider coloring the Context icons to make them easier to see and they said that it was coming. Overall I'm quite satisfied right now. I haven't felt "un-organized" or flustered using the system and I've actually feel like I've been staying more on top of things. It may simply be a perception more than anything else but that perception is worth it. With Doit, I was constantly confused on which list my tasks were and if I was missing something. Also, tasks would magically pop up on my Today list and I was constantly surprised. With Nozbe I'm not. I found that the tasks with due dates do go on the Next Actions list on the due date, but they generally go on at the top of the list (which is what I would expect) so I can see them first thing when I log in in the morning and can choose to unstar if it's not a priority.
  
  I will continue to use this forum as I don't find the Nozbe forum that involved so I look forward to hear how well it's working for you.
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• Stephen2  (积分：160)02/13/2014 12:39
  7 floor

  @hntopper
  
  I decided to switch back to OmniFocus. I did find Nozbe easy to use though but, ultimately, I think the price is too high. With the regularity that I switch apps I will probably be back in a week :-)
  
  I am getting really sick of switching, I wish I could just settle with one and be content.
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• Folke  (积分：2425)02/13/2014 14:47
  8 floor

  @Stephen2 "I am getting really sick of switching, I wish I could just settle with one and be content."
  
  Me, too. I was a reluctant to leave Nirvana, and I would be reluctant to leave Doit. Unfortunately the perfect app does not exist, and there are quite a few that are "passable" (Doit, Nirvana, Asana, Nozbe, Zendone, Todoist etc etc), but none of them is really good enough to clearly draw you in their direction. So it comes down to the little things that either make or break the deal, like Nirvana's lack of development and communication. For Doit I think the whole V4 fiasco on top of their consistent lack of focus and consistency has been extremely taxing, but I do not have the energy to move just yet.
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• Stephen2  (积分：160)02/14/2014 13:00
  9 floor

  I agree 100% Folke. It's funny that we left Nirvana, as I'm sure a lot more people have, because of the lack of activity but, when I think about it, Nirvana is probably still better than the likes of Doit, Zendone and Todoist. The core functionality in Nirvana is solid and the perfect platform to build on.
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• lisa_alway  (积分：530)02/16/2014 08:39
  10 floor

  folke et all:
  
  okay so i've not been active on here for awhile, can anyone sum up where we are with current versions, what has been screwed up, etc? Last opinion i had was that the windows version is not worth using, crashes all the time for me and that is that. The web version is much better, so I use that solely, but would like a windows version that works. What is their current plan promise to be in the next version, and when is it due, do you believe them etc? It is frustrating, as they do reply quickly and seem attentive, but then things don't go the way you think they will when it is delivered, have they improved over time on this do you think folke?, others?
  
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• lisa_alway  (积分：530)02/16/2014 08:42
  11 floor

  @hntopper
  
  and to folke:
  
  I would like to second the thought that folke, if you were to head up a new, improved, application yourself, i would preorder. I think you know, it seems, exactly what and how the app that I want would be, if you could get the developers and funding in place and commit, I would be behind you, that is for sure. Any plans on this, would you consider it???
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