We are considering supporting the feature called task dependency. Thus, the next task will automatically appear only when the previous one is completed. What do you think?
Thank you for feedback and support.
The problem with this approach is that loading a project with 10-12 tasks that will need to be completed results in 10-12 items that are identified as next to complete. You have suggested in the past that we set them to "Someday" or "Waiting", but both of those also have specific meaning to a GTD practitioner and it's not the same. With 10-12 Next tasks and no way to drag/drop the order of them, the user is forced to read through all of the tasks in each project to find the one which should logically be completed next.
I recommended some time ago that tasks be created with either a status of "Not started", which would let the user set the appropriate next action to "Next". There were several other forum posts that discussed a similar approach the problems it would resolve in great detail. Having either a "Not started" status, or a single user-customizable status and the ability to set it as the default, would alleviate what is for many folks the single biggest shortcoming in your application.
Being able to set a project to sequential instead of parallel (as Nirvana does in its application) is a nicety independent of the next action issue, but it only provides an ordering workaround; it doesn't fully address the problem.
I spent many, many hours over several months evaluating several task management platforms for a replacement to the GTD application I have been using since 2007. While there are a couple other improvements I would make to your application, this is the only one that is actually a pain point for me, and it is for other folks as well.
I sincerely hope you'll consider this feature in the near future. I appreciate your product.
-
05/24/2013 02:46#1PRO
-
05/24/2013 20:59#2PRO
This leaves me with two questions:
1. Would all of the dependent tasks still have a status of "Next"? If so, this doesn't really solve the problem, it only makes the project tasks sequential. You still look at Next and see many tasks rather than the one that needs to be completed next.
2. Would the user have to define dependency on a task-by-task basis when the tasks are created? It seems logical that they would, which means there is more effort in recording tasks. The success of a GTD system is in its simplicity; if it's a pain to use, it won't be effective.
Maybe I'm just missing something here, but there have been countless discussions about this and your team seems to really resist it. Is there a reason that you're opposed to creating a null status or a "Not Started" status as a default? -
05/25/2013 09:17#4PRO
Actions to be done as soon as possible but with no exact start time are put into Next in Doit.im.
For tasks that need to be done right now, you may add them to the "Doit Now" group.
We will consider supporting manually sorting tasks and showing one task only in Next.
Do you mean that you want to add a "Not Started" status to next actions? Could you please tell me the reason why those tasks cannot be started? Why can't you add them to Someday and Waiting?
Thank you for your support.
-
05/25/2013 13:41#5PRO
Hi, Michelle. Thanks for your reply.
In GTD methodology, the statuses of "Someday" and "Waiting" have very specific meanings. An item that is placed in "Someday/Maybe" is an item that you have no actual plans to do right now. The idea behind GTD is to get ideas out of your mind and into your GTD system; an item that you might want to do one day is Someday/Maybe. Unless you decide to do them, they live there indefinitely. Items that have been delegated and are waiting on someone else are placed in "Waiting for" and in an optimal system they are delegated to a specific person. One improvement I'd like to see in your system one day is the ability to add contacts without requiring they create an account so that the task can be delegated to a person. I use tags to do this today, which works fine.
Neither "Someday" nor "Waiting" are really the right place to queue tasks that are in line to be your next action. Being able to order them in a sequential manner alleviates some of the pain, but it doesn't directly address the issue. I still makes it impossible for a user to view all of their Next Actions (regardless of project) and select something to do based on context, which is part of the power of GTD; if I'm at a telephone, it doesn't matter which project I start on -- I should just pick something from my Next Actions with a context of @phone and knock it out, selecting another one afterward.
A couple of weeks into evaluating GTD systems to replace my original one, I had narrowed my search to Doit and Nirvana. There have been similar discussions on their forums as true GTD practitioners view this as a significant shortcoming:
http://forums.nirvanahq.com/discussion/393/next-vs-next-action
http://help.nirvanahq.com/discussions/questions/606-sequential-drilldown-with-parallel-actions
They actually have sequential projects and drag-drop task ordering, but I chose your solution for two reasons: First, your span of different OS platforms is important to me since I use PC, Mac and Android. Second, by getting a pro account, I can help contribute to your development and hopefully provide some direction through feedback such as this.
In the end, this change (to create a non-Next starting status that doesn't conflict with other standard GTD statuses) seems like a very easy modification to your platform architecture, and given that it's consistent with how GTD is used and the fact that your market your solution as being a GTD system, it seems like a simple way to please a lot of die-hard GTD followers. This is why I had asked if there as a reason there hasn't been better reception to this suggestion. -
05/25/2013 13:54#6PRO
This is a private comment.
-
05/26/2013 02:12#8PRO
This is a private comment.
-
05/26/2013 03:19#9PRO
Can I also agree with JDavidCarr on his suggestion. I'd very much like to see a "NotStarted" or "Upcoming" category.
When opening a project I want to brainstorm all of the tasks I can think of. Not all of them are things I can do straight away, they may have dependencies on other tasks. Only the tasks with no dependencies that I can actually do can go into Next. The remaining ones need to stay in "NotStarted" or "Upcoming".
Sequential tasks and manually re-ording would help with this certainly, but there needs to be another "bucket" to keep these brainstormed and not actionable now tasks in. I agree that Someday and Waiting have a different meaning in GTD.
I'm going to work-around this by using "Someday" for this purpose and also making a "Someday" project to hold my *actual* someday (in GTD meaning) project ideas, but I hope you will add a NotStarted / Upcoming category soon! -
05/27/2013 17:01#10PRO
This is a private comment.
-
05/28/2013 02:30#11PRO
This is a private comment.