Christoph - Thank you, I shall digest later and revert.
Pottster (good to see you're still here too!) - here is some feedback for MLO: When I used the word "bloatware" I used it cautiously. My point is not that it *is* bloatware necessarily, but more that it *feels* like bloatware. i.e. To the new user, the shear complexity of MLO is completely overwhelming and this is a SERIOUS problem commercially for mainstream users. To recap from previous discussions, the psychologically speaking "early adopters" (i.e. many people here??) enjoy new stuff, they don't mind complexity and they thrive off new, cutting edge ideas. However "Mainstream" users hate it. They say "don't waste my time" and "it should be obvious". And every minute spent learning a new system is a minute the software 'owes' them - and not only do they want it back, they want it back at a *multiple*. If I owned MLO itself I would stop all new developments and build a hugely simplified interface using the MLO platform. (Actually if you boil down what all advanced users are doing there are probably 4 or 5 fundamentally different ways in which 80% of them are working. I would show each of these to new users and I would then do user trials to choose between them.) I would then create a big obvious button with 3 modes "novice / intermediate / expert" and only show the absolute minimum options to the user when in Novice mode. But what should be on the Novice mode would be the fruit of *extensive *user trials using with total newbies to see how much noise & clutter of non-essential features we could get rid of. The final version should be minimalist, slick and completely obvious. ==> I would then promote and market this like crazy (esp on social media) ==> And then and only then I would conquer the known universe with MLO. More advanced users could do whatever the heck they like in Expert mode, and newbies could understand MLO swiftly, get on with using it, rave about it and tell all their friends using Novice and then Intermediate mode. On reflection, the interface I would start on would be mobile (using both iOS *and* Android simultaneously) rather than not computer (because that is where the buzz is these days). Another problem MLO has is that, if I'm correct, the old timers (most people here) no longer contribute financially to MLO. There is probably a way to make at least some money out of them, but I don't know what it is. Listening to their advice regarding development is extremely dangerous because they no longer see through the eyes of a newbie. But if we had an Expert mode then fine I guess. * * * Btw, this has been an unexpectedly useful exercise to me because I may have solved one of my own problems for myself. If I now cut down the number of Contexts to something sensible - say 10 - then I can create a filter for each one in the left hand menu of views, simply by creating a filtered copy of my All Active Tasks outline (view) for each Contexts. This way I end up with 10 things to click on in the left hand menu, which with a single click will show just the Context I'm interested in. P.S. *Christoph * Regarding my problem of how to move tasks out of my Active Tasks and dump them into my NON-active lists (folders), using a small number of keystrokes.... Yes, F6 (collapse) and F7 (expand) look potentially useful, however I still can't work out how to move items out of my "All tasks Active" view into different lists that are NOT active. Wait - what very nearly works is *Control/M*. However it behaves in slightly surprising ways i.e. if I hit Control/M and then cursor down, it goes to the last place where you left off. Yes v useful in some cases but not for me. Whereas I need a way for it to go to the FIRST item in the list (in my case a folder holding a GTD list). Using the Tab key doesn't help either. Neither does Control/cursor down, Shift/ cursor down nor Alt/cursor down behave any differently. :^( Ah okay so if I go Control/M, cursor down, and then Home, then yes, that does get to the 1st item in the list... but that's starting to be a lot of keystrokes if doing a LOT - which is after all my plan...! Must dash J On Thursday, 13 August 2015 13:17:15 UTC+1, J Smith wrote: > > > > Hello > > Confession time: > I thought it would be helpful to this community to report back after a few > months of use just how *little* of MLO I am using. In part I am also > asking for practical advice on how to make better genuinely > *time-efficient* use of more features of MLO. > > > SUMMARY > I have discovered that in practice all I am using MLO for is: > a) A glorified To-Do list - mostly for today > b) A list of major projects (although this gets less attention that it > should) > > HOTKEYS > In practice I am using VERY little of MLO. Here is what I am using: > - I use *Alt/Shift/arrow keys...* a LOT to change priority and > indentations into Projects. This is one of the best features of MLO > interface. > - I use Stars (*Control/Shit/S*) for "do today " - however I am NOT using > the Star outline because I think *visually* and like to see the 2D shape > of projects (indentations etc) on the page. > - I use Highlighting (*Control/H*) to flag up IMPORTANT stuff to do > (today). > > - I sit mostly in the Active Tasks outline view(**) and insert > tasks/projects directly into it using *Insert* and *Alt/Insert*. > - I use *Control/S* to input the Start date (e.g. "6h" or "2d") to get > things to disappear off the view for a few hours or days. > > From time to time I look at the (long/medium term) Goals outline view. > > ...and (slightly shamefully) that's about it. > > > BACKGROUND > I discovered that I was wasting far, FAR too much time learning the > system, trying to set things up and discussing the technology... and not > getting on with my life! i.e. Not actually Getting Things Done fast enough! > > > WEAKNESSES OF MLO > I still think MLO is massively confusing to any newbie. "Bloatware" comes > to mind. And until this is sorted out I don't think MLO will ever make many > significant sales to consumers. I like and use this product. However I am > unable to recommend this product to any of my productive/busy friends due > to the hideous learning curve. This is product (productivity platform) only > for my friends who are hard-core geeks. I cannot imagine any highly > productive CEO of a major corporation using this stuff. > > Also the Andriod app is - to be brutal - appalling. > 1. It should sync automatically with my PC. [That's it - no discussion!] > 2. I want to be able to drag & drop items up and down my lists (equivalent > to using the Alt/Shift/arrow keys on my keyboard) and also sideways - in > and out of a hierarchy. [No discussion on this either!] > Sorry but *only* if MLO gets these two things right does the app even > *begin* to become useful to me. > > > ADVICE SOUGHT > > a) Moving tasks between lists > From time to time I do a "weekly review" but I now have a ton of stuff > (250 - 500 items) on my various GTD style 'lists' and partly as a result > moving tasks/projects in out of my different lists is just too hard. i.e. I > can't do it in a couple of clicks. So in practice I just don't do it! > - Is there a quick hotkey or 2-click way to move an item between my > various GTD type lists? (e.g. I have: "Someday-Maybe" list, "Definitely Do > - but not yet" list, "Reflective thoughts" list ...) > If I got this going I might find GTD "Weekly reviews" become easier and > became a more productive use of time > ==> Any suggestions? > > > b) Contexts > I have completely failed to make Contexts work! Yes, when I remember I do > put Contexts into some tasks, but mostly I can't be bothered. What I really > mean is that it doesn't seem to be worth the input time because I don't > currently actually use Contexts! I think maybe I have too many Contexts - > I ended up with about 25. > > - Is there a *single-click* way to filter my Active Tasks to just > show just the tasks that match a given Context? > > [ASIDE: Because I think so *visually* ideally I would like to still > see the entire tree structure of my projects, but: > i) it would be great if just the relevant tasks leapt out visually (e.g. > became highlighter, or the others became greyed out) > ii) It would also be great to have some hotkey way of skipping to the next > relevant task (i.e. that matches the selected Context) ] > > ==> Any suggestions? > > J > > > P.S. (**) Btw, why is an MLO Outline called an "Outline"? This is > confusing for newbies. Why not "View" or "Report" ? > > > > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MyLifeOrganized" group. 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