I put Due Dates on things that NEED to happen on certain days or for commitments I've made to other people (or to myself sometimes). In GTD terms, these represent my "hard landscape". But I use MLO's Weekly Goals to mark things I'd like to get done this week that are undated. I've created a custom view that basically includes Incomplete tasks with Due Dates OR that are marked as Weekly Goals. I Group that view by Due Date, Ascending. I sort the View by Due Date (ascending), Urgency (descending) and Importance (descending). This gives me a nice view with my Weekly Goals at the top and each day of the Week with it's corresponding tasks sorted by Urgency and then Importance.
In my setup, I'd set that "Check out new website" task to Weekly Goal, no due date. And I'd set "Clean house before folks come" to Saturday, Urgency high, Importance low (cause after all if the house ain't clean nobody's gonna' die!). In custom view, I'd be able to see both, but they'd clearly be separated by the Grouping. The first one would show up under a group called "(none)", the second would show up in a group called "Saturday(May 30)". On May 25, 10:29 pm, "Martin.G" <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for a really helpful post - just curious, what do you use the ! > Dashboard context for? > > On May 26, 6:52 am, Christo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Adam, > > > I use a combination of Getting Things Done, Do It Tomorrow and > > Autofocus (Mark Forster). You can get a good idea what they all do by > > looking them up on Google. from GTD I use the management of incoming > > tasks and emails by gathering, processing and reviewing actions > > regularly. From DIT I use the idea of closed lists, doing a little bit > > of work often (on large tasks) and putting anything that comes in > > today into a placeholder spot for later. From Autofocus I use the > > subconscious work of the mind by using MLO to remind me of options for > > tasks for the day. MLO helps my mind remember the context: is this > > routine work, something with a hard deadline, something that I should > > be doing while I am running errands, a phonecall I can make when I > > have a moment, an Agenda item to discuss with my boss etc. which > > allows me to have short bursts of opportunistic production as well as > > focusing on the things that MUST get done today. > > > Have a look at the Autofocus system by Mark Forster. I incorporate a > > lot of his thinking into the basic Getting Things Done - Zoom for > > Focused Action template, by creating "&Page xx" contexts which I use > > as an electronic notebook. It takes the idea of closed lists and your > > brains ability to prioritise better than any ranking system out there, > > and combines it in a useful fashion. > > > I use the "&" symbol in the "& Page x" context as it sorts it directly > > under !!SameDay and !Dashboard in the to do list context filter. Once > > I have assigned a fixed number of tasks to a &Page, I create a new > > &Page context (&Page 1, &Page 2, ...). I tend to put approx 30 tasks > > in a page context, as that is what shows on my screen without > > scrolling and I can check the whole list in a glance and pick the > > tasks that inspire me :) The feeling when you close out the last task > > on a "Page" is quite rewarding! > > > For things that need to be completed today I use a !!SameDay context > > if I get given them today (i.e. urgent), or a !QuickList context if I > > feel the need to focus on hammering through a list of easy to do > > simple actions. For things with a specific due date I might also add > > the @Hardlandscape context. It all sounds very complex, and can > > probably be simplified. The key lies in the discipline of doing a few > > simple things every morning. > > 1. Spend a fixed amount of time on the "Current initiative". Before I > > open email, MLO, company intranet homepage or anything else more > > interesting on my computer, I pick a task related to something that is > > important right now, and work on it until I had enough of it e.g. if > > current initiative is "Clean house by Saturday" I will set a timer for > > 15 minutes and do some cleaning. Then I will stop and move to the next > > task = do little and often. Then I park the task for tomorrow (Do a > > little at a time). You might even reward yourself for doing this by > > allowing yourself to spend 10 minutes looking at that new website - > > again using the timer and sticking to it :) > > 2. Scan email inbox for urgent tasks that have to be added to the !! > > SameDay context in MLO - seldom more than one per day / most can be > > left until tomorrow. Move all the rest of the emails to "Closed list" > > email folder for processing during the course of the day. Close inbox. > > Any other emails coming in today will be scanned at lunch and late > > afternoon for urgent emails, but processed tomorrow (Do It Tomorrow > > approach). For me this is a big procrasination trap, having email open > > and just quickly checking if something more interesting than doing the > > month-end budget report has come in. > > 3. Then open MLO, check all active tasks in the contexts > > @Hardlandscape, !!SameDay, !ClosedList, !Dashboard. This 5 minutes > > scan gives me a first feel of what I should focus on today. I might > > even scan through the first &Page x for more inspiration. Chances are > > by now my mind has worked out what the next important thing is to work > > on, and I just go with the flow (Autofocus system at work). Obviously > > tasks on the @Hardlandscape and !!SameDay lists tend to drift to the > > top of the mental pile (Project: clean house) . The same principle > > applies as the current initiative. Work on a specific task until I get > > bored, and then park it for tomorrow. The benefit of this system is > > that I tend to start working on tasks before they get urgent, and > > decrease the number of times last minute rush - but I am not perfect > > yet :) One of my tasks in Daily routines (which shows up under the > > Dashboard context) is to clear the list of emails in the "Closed list" > > email folder, so I attack emails in a structured fashion. > > 4. Go back to MLO as often as I need to to pick the next interesting > > task on the list. > > Any new tasks that come in during the day (meetings, thinking, emails > > etc.) gets parked in the MLO inbox (GTD gathering spot). One of my > > morning routine tasks is to clear out the MLO inbox and assign tasks > > to projects or contexts. I prefer to let them lie in the inbox > > overnight as I often have a better idea what to do with it the next > > morning - this might include deleting stuff that sounded like a good > > idea at the time. > > 5. One of the afternoon routines is to check that I have cleared the !! > > SameDay list. Because I know that I WILL look here every day, I tend > > to also assign this context to the most important tasks that I HAVE to > > complete today - this ensures that I do not forget (or at least most > > of the time). > > > It boils down to knowing my own procrastination habits and putting a > > few easy traps in my day - I mean, how hard can it be to just quickly > > look at the !!SameDay list, without actually committing to doing > > anything on it ;) The other major tool I have is to run MLO on my > > Windows Mobile PDA / very useful to scan through the various task > > lists while having a cup of coffee to remind my brain what is on > > offer :) Autofocus again. > > > I also tried the Getting Things Done - Zones of Focus template. > > Although it did not work for me in the end, the way he builds up the > > various contexts (Must do, Should Do, Could do) by adding in more and > > more contexts is a very useful way to understand how to use contexts > > to help you focus on the important stuff - the only catch is that you > > must sometimes look at the complete list to pick up tasks that are not > > caught by any of the contexts, or fall off the bottom of the list. > > This is where the closed list idea of Do It Tomorrow works for me. I > > can see ALL the tasks on one Page context on my screen, and have a > > report that ensures that I do not have any active tasks that are not > > assigned a page context (topic for a seperate post?) > > > A long answer for a short question? I hope it is useful. I know it > > also makes me sound terribly structured and retentive - actually I am > > a very chaotic thinker, and having a relatively simple set of routines > > which are easy to do, with a complex outline & set of filters which is > > intellectually pleasing to set up and maintain, but not so much fun > > that I spend all my time playing with it, is working for me at the > > moment. > > > regards, Christo > > > > I'm curious to hear what *you* do and how you manage this :) > > > > - Adam > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. 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