Hi Till, first I want to thank you for your detailed description. I'm using MLO for collecting my tasks, but don't use views either than the default active actions view. With your ideas about views that show the tasks which lack some detail settings and therefore must be completed in the daily/weekly review, I see a great way to use MLO help me not to miss planning a task. You distinguish major and minor projects, this is a good idea to me, too.
Regarding your open questions due to reminders: * MLO reminders * I have experimented with reminders some time. I recognized one important thing: Its important to pay attention to a reminder. Therefore use them wisely, because if there are too much, you will ignore the popup that lists the reminders and let it open all the time. But if you have it closed, than it pops up to foreground if there is an actual reminder. You can than handle it immediately and if you complete the action or dismiss the reminder, then the popup closes and will reopen to foreground if there is the next reminder. These MLO reminders show up on my smartphone in the MLO app. * Outlook reminders * Additionally to MLO reminders, I use my Outlook reminders for upcoming meetings or doctor visits or other things I have to remember. These reminders show up on my smartphone, too. I synchronize my Outlook calendar with my smartphone. * App on smartphone reminders * For things its very important to think of at a specific time (e. g. before leaving the office take the notebook with me because I have a customer meeting next morning and will not enter the office before it) I use a reminder app on my smartphone which rings at a specified time and will re-ring in a one minute later intervall till I confirm it. It has a secondary alarm two, which is very loud and long so I won't miss it. What do you think about this? Is it helpful? The way I decide where to create the reminder (MLO or Outlook) is not sharply defined, but whether I take one of these two OR the app on my smartphone is clear to me. Regards ======= Bedrudin ======= On 5 Aug., 13:13, Till Poppels <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > After buying MLO pro for PC, I have now been working on a GTD- > compatible setup and want to share with you what I've finally come up > with so far. If anyone has any ideas as to how this could be optimized > (especially regarding the open questions - see below), please let me > (and everyone else) know :) > > --- Outline View --- > I use top-level folders for what David Allen calls "areas of > focus" ("roles" with Covey). As of now, I have identified 7 areas that > are currently part of my life: Finances, CV work, Fun/Leisure, Sharpen > the Saw, Education, Self-Management. Additionally I have the standard > <Inbox> folder, as well as a "Someday/Maybe" folder and a "Task > Templates" folder – both of the latter hidden in To-do views. > > --- Contexts --- > For contexts I use standard labels, such as "Computer" and "Home", but > I use two different "Errands"-contexts for two distinct locations I > might go to buy stuff. Also, I use the @-symbol only for people (e.g. > @Tom), because it makes the entry of the most used contexts (e.g. > Computer or Internet) faster. In addition to David Allen's "Anywhere", > I introduced the context "Take anywhere" for things that I could in > theory do anywhere, but have to think of taking them (in case I > anticipate having to wait somewhere). > > --- Action Lists --- > I have various action lists set up, depending on what I want to focus > on. In general, I use the following filters in the left-hand pane (in > that order): Contexts (operation set to "Or"), Effort, Time, Advanced, > Group&Sort. This allows me to quickly adjust constraints on task > choice in the order most relevant for me (I discovered that my energy > level (effort) is more important than the time required to a task). > Here are my most frequently used views, set up via the advanced-rule > option: > > * Weekly Focus * > This view is set up to show the following tasks (in that order): > starred tasks (see "Daily Planning" below); due within 7 days; weekly > goals. It enables me to see what's "on" this week and kill (what Covey > calls) "Quadrant I" tasks first, which I find very helpful. > > * Active Actions (by Goal/Project/Area-of-Focus/Context) * > These views are helpful when I feel like working on Project X or am > limited to Context Y or feel like I've been neglecting Area or Goal Z. > > * Completed Today * > Showing tasks that, well, I have completed today :D mainly for > personal validation and planning the next day. > > * Definition Required * > This is an exciting and hugely helpful view. I set it up to show all > items that need to be defined: projects without subtasks; major > projects without Notes (see "Project Planning" below); Tasks that lack > context, time required, or effort (equals 50). With this view I can > quickly switch to what David Allen calls "type 3 actions": define my > work. Once I defined a task/project, it automatically disappears from > the view. > > * Project List * > That’s right, I don’t use the Projects-option in the Outline view, as > grouping by project status doesn’t suit my weekly review. More on this > below (“Project Planning” and “Weekly Review”). > > --- Daily Planning --- > I try to discipline myself to "review and preview" daily, usually > before going to bed. I go over what I've accomplished ("Completed > Today" view), compare this with what's "on" this week ("Weekly Focus" > view), and star a couple of tasks to focus on tomorrow (using one of > the "Active by ..." views). These automatically pop up in my "Weekly > Focus" view, which is the first list I look at the next morning. > > --- Project Planning --- > Via Flags, I have classified all my projects as either “major” or > “minor”, mainly because my project list was rather long and I needed > some subdivision for the weekly review. Minor projects are “all > outcomes that require more than one physical action” (much in the > Allen sense), but don’t require a written definition (successful > outcome etc.). Major Projects, on the other hand, are those that do > benefit from some “ideal scenariorizing”, the results of which I write > down in the Notes. So minor projects require definition only when no > next action (i.e. subtask) has been identified, while major projects > require definition as long as the Notes section is empty (see > “Definition Required” view above). While I keep my project list as a > To-Do view, to actually plan a project, I double-click it to return to > the outline view. Here I can conveniently “ideal scenariorize” my > project in the Notes section and organize it via the outline > functionality. If necessary I create a MindMap, which I save > externally. > > --- Automatic Formatting --- > I’ve experimented with autoformatting, but so far haven’t come up with > anything permanent. I format major projects to be distinguishable from > minor projects. Also, as a university student, I highlight all tasks > related to studying. > > --- Weekly Review --- > Now, this really is the one thing MLO has helped me most with. In fact > I have never been able to successfully do a complete weekly review > until now. The key insight for me was to split up the weekly review > into several steps: > > 1. I do a quick Mind Sweep, to see if there’s anything “yanking my > chain” (items go into my Inbox folder via the rapid task entry dialog) > > 2. Process In-baskets: the crucial distinction here for me is between > processing and organizing. Processing just means deciding whether it’s > actionable or not, and if yes, to move it (Ctrl + M) to the > appropriate area/project in the outline. > > 3. Review last week’s completions and the Weekly Focus view to see if > I accomplished everything > > 4. Review MAJOR projects: I briefly review the successful outcome > (Notes) and review/add/modify next actions or subprojects. Also, I > identify new weekly goals for the upcoming week. > > 5. Review MINOR projects: I simply scan the (usually pretty long) list > of minor projects and see if they are still current. I try to identify > those that are “stuck” and figure out new next actions. > > 6. Review Areas-of-Focus: Collapsing the outline view (F6), I look at > my Areas one-by-one, connect to my role mission statement (stored in > Notes), and identify new projects. > > 7. Review Goals: I look at the successful outcomes both for short-term > (weekly + monthly), as well as long-term goals (yearly), and identify > new projects. > > 8. Review Vision: I look at my 5-year vision, do some visualization > and brainstorming, and come up with new goals or projects. > > 9. If I’ve come up with any new projects at all (mostly during steps > 4-8), I switch to a To-Do view called “Projects created today” and > define them: minor or major? If major, what’s the successful outcome, > what subtasks can be identified? > > 10. Finally, ORGANIZE actions. Using my “Requiring Definition” view, I > go through all the actions/projects that, as a result of the weekly > review, require definition and add context, time, and effort. > > This process takes me about 2 hours, even though I already notice > speed improvements through practice. At the end of the weekly review – > because it is complete - I can trust that all of my projects are > identified and defined, and that my action lists are complete and have > all the meta-data I need to later filter them in terms of contexts, > energy level, and the time available. > > --- Open Questions --- > * Attachments: is it possible to attach external files (e.g. MindMaps) > directly to tasks? > * Long-term goals: as of yet, I’m not entirely clear on how to manage > long-term goals… Do you guys define yearly goals as “due by the end of > the calendar year”? What about 2-3-year goals? Do you use due dates? > * I have not yet tried the “reminder” option. Any ideas on how to use > them effectively? I was wondering if they might work as some sort of > “Tickler file”, without using due dates. Sadly, start-date-based > recurrence is not (yet) possible… > > So far, so good. Let me know what you think! :-) > Till -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mylifeorganized?hl=en.
