Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Jean Louis writes: > * Sébastien Gendre [2022-03-01 05:35]: >> And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. > > Just use pen and paper notebook. Carry it with you. While nearly unparalleled on the input experience, pen-and-paper is terrible at data retrieval. --
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
I nominate this as the ultimate advice on how to get things done with Org-mode :-) Jean Louis writes: > * Sébastien Gendre [2022-03-01 05:35]: >> And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. > > Just use pen and paper notebook. Carry it with you.
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
* Sébastien Gendre [2022-03-02 23:44]: > Well, what I want by "follow the progress" is to see: > > * How many work I have done > * How many work remains to be done > * How many time left > * How many time other project need When speaking of multiple projects related to multiple entities such as companies, organizations, people, businesses, one has to divide it all by those groups. And then there is time involved. Any work done has to be calculated maybe in total, but maybe for the project within one group of people, and maybe for one period within the whole time. Thus there are various considerations. What really matter is the priority. Org mode can't know what it is. You know it best. You will know what is priority as for such you don't have much time to write it down, you just do it. Like waking up, brushing teeth, those are actual priorities, we don't write the down. - Units of work or tasks may be subproducts to the actual work, you may do 100 of them and not reach the point that other people may say it is valuable enough. Counting completed tasks is less useful and may be deceptive. Count the actual products you have produced. Not single tasks that one eventually cannot compare to each other. Instead of putting focus on counting the number of advertising pieces sent (which you should count), you should focus greatly on counting the actual sales. Convert this idea to your organizations schema. - For how much work remains to be done, one shall not just count as robot what one has written in the computer, but rather look at the purpose of the work. You may write 100 tasks to reach the purpose, and when you reach the purpose you may have still 27 tasks pending. If you have reached the purpose, those tasks may be redundant. Think about it. Awarding oneself for some numbers in computer is meaningless. - How much time is left for major actions will be always in your mind. For smaller actions and mass of tasks that is something you can track with computer. - Estimating time for projects is difficult and never accurate, especially if you are given rather shorter periods of time for some reason. It is better focusing on purpose and getting purpose done. Many assignees may not understand the purpose of the task. I suggest special property PURPOSE to be clear what the task means and why it is done. As overdoing the task just because it is written misses the purpose easily. Let us say you wish to watch movie in cinema, and you first take list of 10 cinema's in the town with the purpose to call them all and find out which movies play. Then you start calling or visiting their websites, and at the 3rd cinema your friend in the room tells you should watch that great movie, and you make that decision, and it is just 30 minutes before the movie starts. Are you going to keep pushing to find out the remaining 7 cinemas' programs or you are moving now to watch the actual movie? Stress must be made that PURPOSE of the task is important and that people shall not dwell on something that is redundant. > * Each project is a headline with the status "PROJECT" > * Each project have the deadline defined by the school work deadline > * Each project have a complete description with every info needed to work > * Each project have one or many tasks (as sub headlines with a > * status) Sounds very good to me. > * Each task have a importance, time and effort estimation Each task has the important, but let's go back to purpose. You wish to complete the project, tasks can't be illogically or out of the order. Thus they have to be in the order. Importance is automatically there if the logical order of tasks is part of the structure. In order to paint a room you have to purchase paint brushes, paint in the town and bring it to the school. You can't just go to school first and paint without first bringing paint brushes. There is logical order involved in everything what human do or shall do. Importance is useful only when person misses to have the sense for logical order. > * Each task have its own deadline, distributed along the remaining > * time And what do you do if you miss the deadline? -- Jean Take action in Free Software Foundation campaigns: https://www.fsf.org/campaigns In support of Richard M. Stallman https://stallmansupport.org/
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
* Sébastien Gendre [2022-03-03 00:36]: > Every time I create a new project, it start with one task: "Planning the > project". With a deadline at 2 days max. The description of this task is > a checkbox list of thing to do when planning the project. Maybe you mean to say "To finish the planning of the project"? Though I would not write that as a task, it is redundant as it is self-referencing. Either your project planning is finished or not finished, or maybe it is pending, but you or your senior will know it. But to write in the project that one has to plan project is redundant. To give another extreme example, after writing "Planning the project" in the project one could write as next "Write a task in the project" in order to write a task, and that way it leads to developed traffic, too much work and self-referencing. -- Jean Take action in Free Software Foundation campaigns: https://www.fsf.org/campaigns In support of Richard M. Stallman https://stallmansupport.org/
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
* Sébastien Gendre [2022-03-01 05:35]: > And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. Just use pen and paper notebook. Carry it with you. -- Jean Take action in Free Software Foundation campaigns: https://www.fsf.org/campaigns In support of Richard M. Stallman https://stallmansupport.org/
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Tim Cross writes: > My point was not that you don't need to review on a regular basis. > Reviewing your tasks and projects regularly is essential. My point was > that creating a todo task telling you to review your tasks/projects is > an example of a 'noise' task. I guess that it depends on what you mean by review. I would not call it a 'noise', but rather a routine. A non-trivial one that requires deep focus. Having the review routine as a repeated task "review projects" is not very useful by itself. However, you can make such task useful by using checklists: For example: https://gist.github.com/mwfogleman/fbec1cc11f9eaac5e5d36b92c671ec8b Or the one I use: - [ ] Commit all the changes before the review - [ ] Check clocking data for past week using the java app elisp:org-analyzer-start This data will reflect my actual performance, not the way I feel.\\ Related: [[id:benkuhn_my_weekl_review_habit_benkuh][[benkuhn] My Weekly Review Habit]] - [ ] add to [[clock-summary][summary table]] - [ ] Think about undesired actions I have made during the week. What was the trigger for the actions? Reward? Can I avoid the trigger? Can I change the action? Remove reward? [[id:duhigg2012the][Duhigg, Charles [Random House] (2012) The power of habit : why we do what we do in life and business]] - [ ] Am I happy with the time spend on work? - [ ] If not, should I mark some of the areas or common projects SOMEDAY? - [ ] If I feel that I worked too much, but it is not true, consider reducing the number of active work tasks - [ ] [[elisp:org-analyzer-stop]] - [ ] Collect all new legal documents and save them to org-mode - [ ] Add all new contacts to org-contacts - [ ] Commit and push all changed repositories elisp:magit-list-repositories - [ ] Clear the Mobiscribe notes - [ ] Make sure that all the zettels are in sync with org-mode - [ ] Copy the card number as =CUSTOM_ID= - [ ] Copy creation date as =CREATED= - [ ] mark sorted out cards by separator marker - [ ] Process all the REVIEW tasks (link them). If need many more notes, mark them NEXT again - [ ] Look at entire agenda for today =g a v= - [ ] check tasks to archive - [ ] commit the changes - [ ] check *active projects*. Make sure that nothing falls out of control - [ ] check work projects - [ ] check non-work projects - [ ] Check *WAITING and HOLD projects*, move them to someday if necessary - [ ] check *WAITING and HOLD tasks*, mark them NEXT if need to followup (make *note*) - [ ] check ongoing and NEXT tasks, make sure that they have a concrete NEXT action - [ ] make sure that the number of active project for *next week* is manageable. Mark/unmark them HOLD otherwise. I should really set a small number of projects to avoid distracting my attention into too many things at the same time [[id:benkuhn_atten_is_your_scarc_resour_benkuh][[benkuhn] Attention Is Your Scarcest Resource | Benkuhn.net]] - [ ] check SOMEDAY projects and consider if I need to start/continue working on them - [ ] Check next week's agenda - [ ] Schedule deadlines for 3 big tasks (goals) to be finished next week. [[id:small-hack-my-daily-plan-acf][[König von Haunstetten] #daily_goal_tasks A small hack for my daily plan]] If there are no tasks, create them. - [ ] check next month's calendar - [ ] commit all the changes made during the review > A common beginner error I've seen is for people to be so impressed with > org-mode, they decide to create tasks, templates and projects which map > out every aspect of their life. The problem with doing this is that you > then create additional work for yourself in managing these tasks and you > run the risk of being overwhelmed - you have so many tasks that instead > of making your life easier, you now become paralysed by too many task > choices. You are right, which is why I stress on limiting the number of tasks in agenda. However, I would not call review as something that should not be listed in agenda. It requires a good several hours and should be taken into account when planning the day. Best, Ihor
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Ihor Radchenko writes: > Tim Cross writes: > >> For example, I >> would not have a task which says to review my tasks twice a week. Do you >> really need a task to remind you to do this twice a week? Do you really >> need to track that you have done this? I would classify such tasks as >> 'noise' tasks. They really don't perform any real purpose. It is >> similar to brain dead project policies which state things like "every >> function must have a unit test". Many functions don't need a unit test >> and forcing people to write pointless unit tests does more damage than >> not having them. > > I disagree about this specific example (not with your whole idea). > Reviewing tasks is important for people who can easily fall into > continuous routine. Dedicating several hours per week to look into what > you are doing in a broader perspective is valuable. > > Note that I do not mean "review" as looking through _all_ the tasks. > Rather looking into current projects and deciding what to do, and, more > importantly, what not to do in the coming week/days/months. > > See https://www.benkuhn.net/weekly/ > My point was not that you don't need to review on a regular basis. Reviewing your tasks and projects regularly is essential. My point was that creating a todo task telling you to review your tasks/projects is an example of a 'noise' task. A common beginner error I've seen is for people to be so impressed with org-mode, they decide to create tasks, templates and projects which map out every aspect of their life. The problem with doing this is that you then create additional work for yourself in managing these tasks and you run the risk of being overwhelmed - you have so many tasks that instead of making your life easier, you now become paralysed by too many task choices. Getting the right balance is challenging and we do need to review what/how we do things and refine our process in a continuous analyse, plan, implement, review cycle.
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Tim Cross writes: > For example, I > would not have a task which says to review my tasks twice a week. Do you > really need a task to remind you to do this twice a week? Do you really > need to track that you have done this? I would classify such tasks as > 'noise' tasks. They really don't perform any real purpose. It is > similar to brain dead project policies which state things like "every > function must have a unit test". Many functions don't need a unit test > and forcing people to write pointless unit tests does more damage than > not having them. I disagree about this specific example (not with your whole idea). Reviewing tasks is important for people who can easily fall into continuous routine. Dedicating several hours per week to look into what you are doing in a broader perspective is valuable. Note that I do not mean "review" as looking through _all_ the tasks. Rather looking into current projects and deciding what to do, and, more importantly, what not to do in the coming week/days/months. See https://www.benkuhn.net/weekly/ Best, Ihor
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Sébastien Gendre writes: > So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects > with: > * Lot of work to do (many days) > * Short deadline (not enough time) > * High importance (disastrous consequences in my future in case of fail) > * Many of them in the same time > * Progression need to be followed to chose where to sacrifice time to > limit the damages I think that your existing system is already a good starting point. I would not recommend changing it drastically. Every possible time management workflow must be based on existing workflow habits (like daily inbox review) and only introduce new habits one by one and slowly. For your specific situation with many simultaneous important projects, you are not alone. Every student meets similar issue. My recommendations for managing multiple projects: 1. Similar to daily inbox review, do weekly/bi-weekly project progress review. You are already doing this. However, I am not sure about the details. When doing project review, I find it useful to create a custom agenda listing all the ongoing projects. Every time I review the project list, I select up to 3 projects I plan to work on from now till the next project review. All other projects are marked "HOLD" and their tasks will never be listed in agenda (unless there is some hard deadline or unskippable meeting). Review is the time when you decide which projects to sacrifice if you have insufficient time. Coming back to those HOLD projects after the review time is a no-no, unless you complete the planned projects and still have remaining time. 2. If you cannot complete a project within initially planned time, it may be tempting to continue until completion. Do not do this. It is better to try finishing the other planned project work first and come back to the partially completed projects if time permits. In Org, there are several tools you can use to address this: - You may dedicate each single day to no more than a single project. The project tasks will be scheduled to specific days and you can create a custom agenda that does not show tasks scheduled in past days. - You may use effort estimates for projects/tasks shorter than a day + non-nil org-clock-sound. If you create a habit to clock-in regularly, Emacs will play a sound when you run out of time. - You may create a rule to have at least a single easy 2-3 min task as "entry" point to a project you plan to switch to. Having a simple task really makes it easier to switch from working on current and already familiar project to other one. *This rule sounds obvious and simple, but I cannot stress more how much it changed my workflow once I got to follow this regularly* The above suggestions are simple to list and somewhat obvious, but not-so-easy to master. It is important to stick to them as much as possible until they become a habit. They may take months to master. > To manage school big work, I think of managing them as projects. > > I want to apply a simple "Project" workflow: > > * Each project is a headline with the status "PROJECT" > * Each project have the deadline defined by the school work deadline > * Each project have a complete description with every info needed to work > * Each project have one or many tasks (as sub headlines with a status) > * Each task have a importance, time and effort estimation > * Each task have its own deadline, distributed along the remaining time > * When I set a task deadline, I look at its estimations and also other > projects tasks > * To create a new project, I use Org-capture with a template Just one comment. If you tend to have a large number of tasks in your agenda, you are likely overusing deadlines and scheduling. I would avoid setting deadlines for every single task. Too long agenda lists are *counterproductive* in many ways. I recommend scheduling the whole project (or subproject, it the main project is huge) + 1-2 individual tasks. When you complete the 1-2 individual tasks, it is more productive to look inside the project, and select next tasks depending on the new results from the first tasks. Hope my comments are useful. Best, Ihor
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Sébastien Gendre writes: > Hello Eric, > > Thanks for your reply and advice. > > I will look at custom agenda view and clocking. But I have bad memory of > clocking tools because of the way previous jobs used it (It was not > Emacs). It's a much more positive experience when you're using it to improve your own quality of life, rather than someone else's business metrics!
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Sébastien Gendre writes: > Hello Tim, > > Thanks for your response and advice. > > I want to keep Org-mode as simple as possible. As you suggest. > > In the past, I ended up several times with a too complex Org-mode > workflow and stop using it because of that. That because, today, I want > to keep it simple. Usually, I apply a GTD workflow (or what I think it > is, I'm not an expert). > > As you say, I need to learn skills for project management. But the > project management methods we learned at school where to rigid. And, at > work, the method is more "do the job, stop thinking, be professional". > But it's, or was, the kind of job where you are asked to "not write test > to save time". I generally have bad experiences at work. Sadly, the software industry is full of some very poor middle managers who don't really understand the complexities of the software life-cycle. Too often, they focus on immediate deadlines and overlook long-term maintenance. How you deal with such situations is down to experience, confidence and where your own personal values lie. There has been more than one job I've left because the way management was running the project was poor and almost certainly going to lead to eventual failure. There has been more than one job interview where I've stated that if they are looking for someone to write code by the pound, I'm not there man. I will ask leading questions in the interview to evaluate what 'style' of development/management they use - for example, if they measure productivity by the number of lines of code you right in a day, I will thank them for their time and quietly walk away. > > To manage school big work, I think of managing them as projects. > > I want to apply a simple "Project" workflow: > > * Each project is a headline with the status "PROJECT" > * Each project have the deadline defined by the school work deadline > * Each project have a complete description with every info needed to work > * Each project have one or many tasks (as sub headlines with a status) > * Each task have a importance, time and effort estimation > * Each task have its own deadline, distributed along the remaining time > * When I set a task deadline, I look at its estimations and also other > projects tasks > * To create a new project, I use Org-capture with a template > > Every time I create a new project, it start with one task: "Planning the > project". With a deadline at 2 days max. The description of this task is > a checkbox list of thing to do when planning the project. > > And finally, 2 times per week, I got a repetitive task: "Review the > projects progress". With this, I should be able to adjust spending time > and effort. > All seems like a reasonable starting point. The key is to regularly review and refine your workflow. I would avoid the tendency to think you have to put everything into your workflow. For example, I would not have a task which says to review my tasks twice a week. Do you really need a task to remind you to do this twice a week? Do you really need to track that you have done this? I would classify such tasks as 'noise' tasks. They really don't perform any real purpose. It is similar to brain dead project policies which state things like "every function must have a unit test". Many functions don't need a unit test and forcing people to write pointless unit tests does more damage than not having them. A unit test needs to be a positive addition and deciding when it is or is not is part of what being a professional developer is all about. Likewise with project management. You don't want tasks for every simple thing you do. You want to record and track the important tasks. No tool is a replacement for using your brain - these are just tools and it is down to us to use them in an intelligent and efficient manner. Use org mode to make your life easier. If it isn't making it easier, then you are doing something wrong and need to review and re-prioritise.
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Eric, Thanks for your reply and advice. I will look at custom agenda view and clocking. But I have bad memory of clocking tools because of the way previous jobs used it (It was not Emacs). Eric Abrahamsen writes: > Sébastien Gendre writes: > >> Hello, >> >> I don't know if it's the correct place to ask it. If not, sorry to ask in >> the wrong place. >> >> How do you manage complex project with Org-mode ? >> >> I used Org-mode for several periods of time in recent years. It worked >> very well for short and day to day tasks. When only a few of theme have >> deadlines and when you have plenty of time to do them. >> >> But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects to do for >> the school. The kind of project who need several days to be done, with >> deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them the consequences can be >> disastrous. And generally, I have to many of these project in the same >> time and not enough time to do all the work. So, I also need to follow >> the progress of each project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to >> be stop for the benefit of another less advanced project. >> >> And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How >> to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time >> on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important >> appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these >> project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these >> projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project >> as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend >> most of the year without being able to use Org-mode. >> >> So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects >> with: >> * Lot of work to do (many days) >> * Short deadline (not enough time) >> * High importance (disastrous consequences in my future in case of fail) >> * Many of them in the same time >> * Progression need to be followed to chose where to sacrifice time to >> limit the damages > > Interesting questions! I have the same general problem of, when things > heat up too much, I stop using the Org agenda. It's quite the opposite > of how it's supposed to work, but I guess it's something about human > psychology. I'll be interested to see what people say in this thread. > > Some suggestions that come to mind: > > - Create custom agenda views for each project, providing an overview of > that project only, but use a single unified agenda view for each day's > schedule. Look at the per-project agenda to decide if/how to complete > it, but draw the action items into the unified schedule when deciding > how to spend your day. It should become evident pretty quickly what > you actually have time for. Projects are many, but there is only one > of you. > - Maybe consider using `org-trigger-hook' and `org-blocker-hook' to cut > down on TODO overwhelm. > - Use time estimates and then TODO clocking to more swiftly disabuse > yourself of unrealistic expectations. This plus a schedule agenda can > also help you make sure you stop work at a reasonable time and go do > something else. > - Say no to more work :) Looking at your solid-packed agenda for the > next day works wonders for saying no. > > Good luck!
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Quiliro, Thank for you reply and advice. :) Generally, I use the GTD workflow. Or what I think it is (I'm not an expert). I started with 3 files: * Tasks.org * Notes.org * Inbox.org Now, the file "Notes.org" is a folder. And inside I got a file per subject. I capture notes and tasks, with org-capture, that end in the file "Inbox.org". On my phone, I use Orgzly as a pocket inbox, for when I'm not in front of my computer. The files of Orgzly are sync with my PC using Syncthing. Everyday, at the end of the day, I review the inbox(s): * I do little tasks (< 3 min) * I complete the description of the other tasks and refile them (with org-refile) Everyday, at the beginning of the day, I look at the agenda (Org-agenda) to see what I need to do. If I have free time and still energy, I search for tasks to do in advance. This workflow work very well and ask few effort for managing it. But I never take the risk to use it for important project. But maybe it's an irrational fear. Maybe it would work. Based on suggestions in this mailing list, I take time to think about what define a work given by the school and what I need to do to accomplish them best. And I think of a simple "Project" workflow that can integrate with my actual workflow. I think this simple "Project" workflow will be: * Each project is a headline with the status "PROJECT" * Each project have the deadline defined by the school work deadline * Each project have a complete description with every info needed to work * Each project have one or many tasks (as sub headlines with a TODO/NEXT/DONE status) * Each task have an importance, time and effort estimation * Each task have its own deadline, distributed along the remaining time * When I set a task deadline, I look at its estimations and also other projects tasks * To create a new project, I use Org-capture with a template Every time I create a new project, it start with one task: "Planning the project". With a deadline at 2 days max. The description of this task is a checkbox list of thing to do when planning the project. And finally, 2 times per week, I got a repetitive task: "Review the projects progress". With this, I should be able to adjust spending time and effort. I think it would be simple and need only a few Org-mode configurations. And by doing like that, every time I look at the agenda, I will see what work I need to do every days. Task of each project or review of all projects. Quiliro Ordóñez writes: > Hello Seb. > > It is great that you want to use org for your planning. It is the best > tool I know of. Tim's advice sounds the best introductory one and > others even gave you advanced advice. Nevertheless, you never told us > how you use org and why it takes so much time for you. Perhaps you > could take less time to plan and more time to do, without completely > trashing the planning. Then you could increment the planning until it > proves to be more time consuming. At that point you can reduce a little > planning again. It is a tuning process. > > Happy Hacking! > > Quiliro
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Antonio, Thanks for your reply and advice. :) I looked at TaskJuggler and I see how it could help. But, by looking at the screenshot, I see too much information in the same time. And, as someone with difficulty to concentrating, I need more minimalist tools. But I will try it one time. Antonio Carlos Padoan Junior writes: > Hello, > > I'm not sure if I will help you with my advice, but I really appreciate > to use taskjuggler mixed with org-mode. There is somewhere in the web an > org-exporter to taskjuggler. I think recently a topic on this matter > appeared in this list. > > Taskjuggler can help you optimizing complex plannings and can be used in a > professional context. > > For sure you will need to invest some time on it but it is a good > middle-term investment. > > Good luck,
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Milan, Thank you for your reply and advice. :) Indeed, using deadline with longer in-advance warnings is a good idea. I completely forget this feature. Using priority and split big task is also a good advice. Today I pay attention to keep Org-mode as simple as possible. It was not the case in the past and few times I stopped using Org-mode because of that. Milan Zamazal writes: >> "SG" == Sébastien Gendre writes: > > SG> But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects > SG> to do for the school. The kind of project who need several days > SG> to be done, with deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them > SG> the consequences can be disastrous. And generally, I have to > SG> many of these project in the same time and not enough time to do > SG> all the work. So, I also need to follow the progress of each > SG> project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to be stop for > SG> the benefit of another less advanced project. > > SG> And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with > SG> Org-mode. How to do it, without failing a 6 days project because > SG> I spent to much time on something else and I have only 3 days > SG> left with 3 half-day important appointment I cannot cancel. I > SG> can't risk failing a single one of these project by trying. So, > SG> when I am in a period with a lot of these projects, I stop using > SG> Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project as fast as I > SG> can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend most > SG> of the year without being able to use Org-mode. > > Hi, I’d join the suggestion to keep things simple in the beginning. My > task flow is different from yours but in order not to miss really > important things, I use the following: > > - Deadlines, with longer in-advance warnings when needed (e.g. “-3w” in > DEADLINE). > > - I use priority A for and only for stuff that is on risk of really bad > consequences if not handled ASAP. And I schedule such stuff to a > future date if it doesn’t make sense to work on it now for any reason. > > As for progress, I’d say that if you don’t know how far are you with > your short-term tasks and which of them require attention currently then > you might have a problem with your workflow. Maybe you are too > overloaded or you don’t split your time among the tasks appropriately. > Org mode is a good tool to implement support for different workflows but > cannot help if a used workflow doesn’t work very well for you. Again, > starting simple with Org mode and paying attention first to how you work > and how it could be improved generally might be a good idea (and a > life-long process for many of us). > > Regards, > Milan
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Tim, Thanks for your response and advice. I want to keep Org-mode as simple as possible. As you suggest. In the past, I ended up several times with a too complex Org-mode workflow and stop using it because of that. That because, today, I want to keep it simple. Usually, I apply a GTD workflow (or what I think it is, I'm not an expert). As you say, I need to learn skills for project management. But the project management methods we learned at school where to rigid. And, at work, the method is more "do the job, stop thinking, be professional". But it's, or was, the kind of job where you are asked to "not write test to save time". I generally have bad experiences at work. To manage school big work, I think of managing them as projects. I want to apply a simple "Project" workflow: * Each project is a headline with the status "PROJECT" * Each project have the deadline defined by the school work deadline * Each project have a complete description with every info needed to work * Each project have one or many tasks (as sub headlines with a status) * Each task have a importance, time and effort estimation * Each task have its own deadline, distributed along the remaining time * When I set a task deadline, I look at its estimations and also other projects tasks * To create a new project, I use Org-capture with a template Every time I create a new project, it start with one task: "Planning the project". With a deadline at 2 days max. The description of this task is a checkbox list of thing to do when planning the project. And finally, 2 times per week, I got a repetitive task: "Review the projects progress". With this, I should be able to adjust spending time and effort. I think it would be simple and need only a few Org-mode configurations. And by doing like that, every time I look at the agenda, I will see what work I need to do every days. Task of each project or review of all projects. Tim Cross writes: > Sébastien Gendre writes: > >> Hello, >> >> I don't know if it's the correct place to ask it. If not, sorry to ask in >> the wrong place. >> > > I think it is the correct place. This is a list for general org mode > discussions. Such discussions can be technical or about how to use org mode. > >> How do you manage complex project with Org-mode ? >> >> I used Org-mode for several periods of time in recent years. It worked >> very well for short and day to day tasks. When only a few of theme have >> deadlines and when you have plenty of time to do them. >> >> But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects to do for >> the school. The kind of project who need several days to be done, with >> deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them the consequences can be >> disastrous. And generally, I have to many of these project in the same >> time and not enough time to do all the work. So, I also need to follow >> the progress of each project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to >> be stop for the benefit of another less advanced project. >> >> And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How >> to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time >> on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important >> appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these >> project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these >> projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project >> as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend >> most of the year without being able to use Org-mode. >> > > The first thing I would say is that org mode is NOT going to solve your > problems of too many tasks with competing priorities in too short a time > period or mitigate the impact from missed deadlines etc. In fact, no > project management software can do this. > > Org mode is merely a tool which can help you manage tasks, deadlines, > schedules, priorities and project information. It can help you track > your tasks so fewer are overlooked/forgotten, it can help you manage > your deadlines and scheduling of time and it can help you manage > priorities and provide you with an overview of things that can alert you > to issues earlier, allowing for a wider range of mitigation > strategies. However, it is just a tool and how well you use that tool > will come down to experience and self discipline. > > >> So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects >> with: >> * Lot of work to do (many days) >> * Short deadline (not enough time) >> * High importance (disastrous consequences in my future in case of fail) >> * Man
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Arne,
Thank you for your reply and advice. :)
"Dr. Arne Babenhauserheide" writes:
> Do I understand it right that what you need is to track the time
> required to reach milestones, not following the *progress*?
Well, what I want by "follow the progress" is to see:
* How many work I have done
* How many work remains to be done
* How many time left
* How many time other project need
I want to avoid spending to much time on a project sufficiently finished
to the detriment of another project. Or, if no project can be finished,
do enough of work to have a not so bad grade.
As you suggest, having milestone with their own deadline seems to be a
great idea. A better idea that having one big task for representing an
entire project (like I wanted to do). I will try using effort
estimation. But I will avoid customizing too much Org-mode. In the past,
I ended up several times with a too much complex workflow.
I think I will make a "Project" workflow. Something simple:
* Each project is a headline with the status "PROJECT"
* Each project have the deadline defined by the school work deadline
* Each project have a complete description with every info needed to work
* Each project have one or many tasks (as sub headlines with a status)
* Each task have a importance, time and effort estimation
* Each task have its own deadline, distributed along the remaining time
* When I set a task deadline, I look at its estimations and also other projects
tasks
* To create a new project, I use Org-capture with a template
Every time I create a new project, it start with one task: "Planning the
project". With a deadline at 2 days max. The description of this task is
a checkbox list of thing to do when planning the project.
And finally, 2 times per week, I got a repetitive task: "Review the
projects progress". With this, I should be able to adjust spending time
and effort.
I think it would be simple and need only a few Org-mode configurations.
And by doing like that, every time I look at the agenda, I will see what
work I need to do every days. Task of each project or review of all
projects.
"Dr. Arne Babenhauserheide" writes:
> [[PGP Signed Part:Undecided]]
> Hello Seb,
>
> It sounds like org-mode can be a great fit.
>
> Sébastien Gendre writes:
>> But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects to do for
>> the school. The kind of project who need several days to be done, with
>> deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them the consequences can be
>> disastrous. And generally, I have to many of these project in the same
>> time and not enough time to do all the work. So, I also need to follow
>> the progress of each project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to
>> be stop for the benefit of another less advanced project.
>
> Do I understand it right that what you need is to track the time
> required to reach milestones, not following the *progress*? So following
> progress seems like it would take more mental bandwidth than needed.
>
> You could have one org-mode task (headline) per milestone, with a
> DEADLINE (org-deadline), and then SCHEDULE (org-schedule) appointments.
>
> To track how much time you will still need, you can use org-set-effort.
> I did that at work for a while to train to get better at estimating. By
> having the effort in a clocktable I could see progress *when needed*.
> Hitting R in the org-agenda shows the clockreport-mode and you can see
> the Effort in the agenda by setting
> (org-agenda-clockreport-parameter-plist (quote (:link t :maxlevel 2
> :properties ("Effort". For a while I had the clocktable active by
> default.
>
> You can also add that to the column-mode (org-columns) to get a quick
> overview for a file (leave with org-columns-quit). Customize:
> (org-columns-default-format
>"%25ITEM %TODO %3PRIORITY %TAGS %17Effort(Estimated Effort){:} %CLOCKSUM")
>
>> And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How
>> to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time
>> on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important
>> appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these
>> project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these
>> projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project
>> as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend
>> most of the year without being able to use Org-mode.
>
> I found that org-mode is the only organization tool for which using the
> tool actually reduces the time I need for organization. That works by
> taking notes in org-mode, too, and keeping it simple.
>
> What I do:
>
> ** Custom starting point: agenda-with-kanban
> A function to show the agenda it besides the Kanban table. I start
> each day and after each larger break by hitting F12. It shows me the
> agenda and entry points into my work. This enables me to stay focussed.
>
> ** One planning file
> I have a single file for
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Matt, Thanks for your reply and advice. :) I already use Org-mode since a few years and it work great with little tasks. Tasks that take a few hours maximum. My workflow is GTD, or something very close (I'm not an expert of this subject). My concern was more for school works that need many days. I don't want to see, too late, on my agenda, a work to do. Like seeing 3 days before the deadline that I need to do a 5 days work. It never append because, when I got a lot to do for school, I stop using Org-mode to don't take the risk. So, in reality, I don't know if it will append. Maybe it's an irrational fear. But, because I often got a lot of work to do for school, I spend a lot of time not using Org-mode. Matt writes: > On Mon, 28 Feb 2022 20:43:47 -0500 Sébastien Gendre wrote > > > > And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How > > to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time > > on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important > > appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these > > project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these > > projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project > > as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend > > most of the year without being able to use Org-mode. > > It sounds like you have a lot going on! If none of what you need to do > explicitly requires Org, you may have to scale back what you learn > about Org to fit the time you've got. Give yourself permission to > accept that the time you have right now for Org isn't what you want. > (I hope that's because you're learning lots of other cool things in > school.) In situations like these, I like to do just a little each > day. Maybe that means reading one paragraph a night before bed. It > sounds like you're really excited about Org. (If you are, you've come > to the right place. The people here love Org :) Reading about Org > would be something fun to look forward to each night. You might be > surprised at how motivating that one little paragraph can be! Working > through the manual in this way will give you a good overview of how > Org can be used and what you personally might use Org it for. > > > So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects > > with: > > * Lot of work to do (many days) > > * Short deadline (not enough time) > > * High importance (disastrous consequences in my future in case of fail) > > * Many of them in the same time > > * Progression need to be followed to chose where to sacrifice time to > > limit the damages > > > > I will be happy to read them. :) > > My suggestion is to not try something new on anything that has a tight > deadline. Org is new to you and learning things takes time. This is > all normal. Life will throw a lot at you. Some times all I get is 20 > minutes at the end of the day. Some days, I get nothing at all. This > is because I've filled my life with other cool things, like a partner, > a house, friends, etc. If I get to spend some time doing something I > think is worthwhile (like trying to help a fellow Org enthusiast), > that's time well spent in my book. > > Isn't there some saying that goes like, "every avalance starts as a > snowflake?" Read a little, experiment a little, and over time, you'll be > surprised at how much you've learned. You'll get there!
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Seb. It is great that you want to use org for your planning. It is the best tool I know of. Tim's advice sounds the best introductory one and others even gave you advanced advice. Nevertheless, you never told us how you use org and why it takes so much time for you. Perhaps you could take less time to plan and more time to do, without completely trashing the planning. Then you could increment the planning until it proves to be more time consuming. At that point you can reduce a little planning again. It is a tuning process. Happy Hacking! Quiliro
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
> "SG" == Sébastien Gendre writes: SG> But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects SG> to do for the school. The kind of project who need several days SG> to be done, with deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them SG> the consequences can be disastrous. And generally, I have to SG> many of these project in the same time and not enough time to do SG> all the work. So, I also need to follow the progress of each SG> project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to be stop for SG> the benefit of another less advanced project. SG> And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with SG> Org-mode. How to do it, without failing a 6 days project because SG> I spent to much time on something else and I have only 3 days SG> left with 3 half-day important appointment I cannot cancel. I SG> can't risk failing a single one of these project by trying. So, SG> when I am in a period with a lot of these projects, I stop using SG> Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project as fast as I SG> can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend most SG> of the year without being able to use Org-mode. Hi, I’d join the suggestion to keep things simple in the beginning. My task flow is different from yours but in order not to miss really important things, I use the following: - Deadlines, with longer in-advance warnings when needed (e.g. “-3w” in DEADLINE). - I use priority A for and only for stuff that is on risk of really bad consequences if not handled ASAP. And I schedule such stuff to a future date if it doesn’t make sense to work on it now for any reason. As for progress, I’d say that if you don’t know how far are you with your short-term tasks and which of them require attention currently then you might have a problem with your workflow. Maybe you are too overloaded or you don’t split your time among the tasks appropriately. Org mode is a good tool to implement support for different workflows but cannot help if a used workflow doesn’t work very well for you. Again, starting simple with Org mode and paying attention first to how you work and how it could be improved generally might be a good idea (and a life-long process for many of us). Regards, Milan
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello, I'm not sure if I will help you with my advice, but I really appreciate to use taskjuggler mixed with org-mode. There is somewhere in the web an org-exporter to taskjuggler. I think recently a topic on this matter appeared in this list. Taskjuggler can help you optimizing complex plannings and can be used in a professional context. For sure you will need to invest some time on it but it is a good middle-term investment. Good luck, -- Antonio Carlos PADOAN JUNIOR GPG fingerprint: 243F 237F 2DD3 4DCA 4EA3 1341 2481 90F9 B421 A6C9
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Sébastien Gendre writes: > Hello, > > I don't know if it's the correct place to ask it. If not, sorry to ask in > the wrong place. > I think it is the correct place. This is a list for general org mode discussions. Such discussions can be technical or about how to use org mode. > How do you manage complex project with Org-mode ? > > I used Org-mode for several periods of time in recent years. It worked > very well for short and day to day tasks. When only a few of theme have > deadlines and when you have plenty of time to do them. > > But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects to do for > the school. The kind of project who need several days to be done, with > deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them the consequences can be > disastrous. And generally, I have to many of these project in the same > time and not enough time to do all the work. So, I also need to follow > the progress of each project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to > be stop for the benefit of another less advanced project. > > And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How > to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time > on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important > appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these > project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these > projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project > as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend > most of the year without being able to use Org-mode. > The first thing I would say is that org mode is NOT going to solve your problems of too many tasks with competing priorities in too short a time period or mitigate the impact from missed deadlines etc. In fact, no project management software can do this. Org mode is merely a tool which can help you manage tasks, deadlines, schedules, priorities and project information. It can help you track your tasks so fewer are overlooked/forgotten, it can help you manage your deadlines and scheduling of time and it can help you manage priorities and provide you with an overview of things that can alert you to issues earlier, allowing for a wider range of mitigation strategies. However, it is just a tool and how well you use that tool will come down to experience and self discipline. > So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects > with: > * Lot of work to do (many days) > * Short deadline (not enough time) > * High importance (disastrous consequences in my future in case of fail) > * Many of them in the same time > * Progression need to be followed to chose where to sacrifice time to > limit the damages > That list is almost an exact match for the job criteria on the last job I applied for, which highlights the point these are individual skills which need to be learned, primarily through experience and not something which can be solved by a software tool. Such tools can help ensure things don't fall through the gaps during busy stressful projects, can help you assess how much work needs to be done and where corners will need to be cut or deadlines changed, scope reduced or quality decreased. At some point, you have to make a call as to what you will manage in your org-mode files. Too much or too detailed and too much time will be spent gathering and managing the data. Too little or insufficient detail and decisions on what has to be sacrificed are likely to be misguided or wrong. Unfortunately, there is no formula to calculate this. It will depend on the environment, types of projects and individual experience and preferences. The key to using org mode to manage projects is largely about incremental refinement. You start by defining a plan on how to use org mode, you then implement that plan and start using it. You then review how well it is working at some point and take the experience to that point, both positive and negative, into a new cycle, starting with a new plan (refined plan), implement, use review and continue this cycle (probably indefinitely, but likely with longer cycles). In general, I would recommend the following - Start simple. Don't try to do everything all at once. Org is extremely flexible with a lot of built-in functionality. Trying to use all of it all at once is likely going to make it a burden rather than an aid. - Start with a default org-mode configuration. A mistake I've seen people make many times is to immediately start by configuring new and complicated TODO states or complicated capture templates or extensive tag hierarchies and complex priority levels. Avoid the temptation to over engineer your requirements. Use the default configuration for a time and then evaluate things and decide where to make some small changes. - Don't let the tail w
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello Seb,
It sounds like org-mode can be a great fit.
Sébastien Gendre writes:
> But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects to do for
> the school. The kind of project who need several days to be done, with
> deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them the consequences can be
> disastrous. And generally, I have to many of these project in the same
> time and not enough time to do all the work. So, I also need to follow
> the progress of each project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to
> be stop for the benefit of another less advanced project.
Do I understand it right that what you need is to track the time
required to reach milestones, not following the *progress*? So following
progress seems like it would take more mental bandwidth than needed.
You could have one org-mode task (headline) per milestone, with a
DEADLINE (org-deadline), and then SCHEDULE (org-schedule) appointments.
To track how much time you will still need, you can use org-set-effort.
I did that at work for a while to train to get better at estimating. By
having the effort in a clocktable I could see progress *when needed*.
Hitting R in the org-agenda shows the clockreport-mode and you can see
the Effort in the agenda by setting
(org-agenda-clockreport-parameter-plist (quote (:link t :maxlevel 2
:properties ("Effort". For a while I had the clocktable active by
default.
You can also add that to the column-mode (org-columns) to get a quick
overview for a file (leave with org-columns-quit). Customize:
(org-columns-default-format
"%25ITEM %TODO %3PRIORITY %TAGS %17Effort(Estimated Effort){:} %CLOCKSUM")
> And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How
> to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time
> on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important
> appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these
> project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these
> projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project
> as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend
> most of the year without being able to use Org-mode.
I found that org-mode is the only organization tool for which using the
tool actually reduces the time I need for organization. That works by
taking notes in org-mode, too, and keeping it simple.
What I do:
** Custom starting point: agenda-with-kanban
A function to show the agenda it besides the Kanban table. I start
each day and after each larger break by hitting F12. It shows me the
agenda and entry points into my work. This enables me to stay focussed.
** One planning file
I have a single file for all my tasks. That keeps working
surprisingly long. Once a year or so it needs some cleanup to become
faster again.
** Kanban Table at the top
I have a kanban table. It shows as most important information the
tasks I am doing right now. If I am doing more than three work-tasks
at the same time, it’s warning sign that I’m becoming inefficient.
With this I start every day in org-mode by clicking on the link of the
project from the kanban table to get to its notes (which I also track
in org-mode). See
https://www.draketo.de/light/english/free-software/el-kanban-org-table
→ https://hg.sr.ht/~arnebab/kanban.el
** Capture tasks for Projects
Projects have as many tasks as I need to track. At work they are
usually Stories (3-5 days). Nowadays I create new tasks by using
org-capture templates with one template per larger project and one for
bugs, but I used to just use two templates (which might be a
better fit for you):
- (i) task to start immediately and
- (l) task to start later
** Setup
(with-eval-after-load 'org
(setq org-agenda-custom-commands
'(("o" "Agenda and TODOs"
((agenda) ; nil ((org-agenda-compact-blocks
nil)(org-agenda-block-separator ?-)(org-agenda-overriding-header "")))
(tags-todo "-notodo-TERMIN" ((org-agenda-block-separator ?-)))
(tags "KANBAN" ((org-agenda-block-separator ?-)
(org-agenda-compact-blocks nil)
(org-agenda-overriding-header ""
(defun my/org-agenda-show-kanban ()
(interactive)
(save-excursion
(search-forward ":KANBAN:")
(org-agenda-goto)
(org-narrow-to-subtree)
(show-all)
(fit-window-to-buffer)
(widen)
(recenter-top-bottom 0)))
(defun agenda-and-todo ()
(interactive)
(org-agenda nil "o")
(delete-other-windows)
(my/org-agenda-show-kanban)
;; desktop systemsettings shortcuts: map f12 to
;;emacsclient -e '(progn (show-frame)(agenda-and-todo))'
(global-set-key (kbd "") 'agenda-and-todo)
> So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects
> with:
> * Lot of work to do (many days)
> * Short deadline (not enough time)
This is something to fix. Also outside org. Always feeling like having
to
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Sébastien Gendre writes: > Hello, > > I don't know if it's the correct place to ask it. If not, sorry to ask in > the wrong place. > > How do you manage complex project with Org-mode ? > > I used Org-mode for several periods of time in recent years. It worked > very well for short and day to day tasks. When only a few of theme have > deadlines and when you have plenty of time to do them. > > But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects to do for > the school. The kind of project who need several days to be done, with > deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them the consequences can be > disastrous. And generally, I have to many of these project in the same > time and not enough time to do all the work. So, I also need to follow > the progress of each project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to > be stop for the benefit of another less advanced project. > > And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How > to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time > on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important > appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these > project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these > projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project > as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend > most of the year without being able to use Org-mode. > > So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects > with: > * Lot of work to do (many days) > * Short deadline (not enough time) > * High importance (disastrous consequences in my future in case of fail) > * Many of them in the same time > * Progression need to be followed to chose where to sacrifice time to > limit the damages Interesting questions! I have the same general problem of, when things heat up too much, I stop using the Org agenda. It's quite the opposite of how it's supposed to work, but I guess it's something about human psychology. I'll be interested to see what people say in this thread. Some suggestions that come to mind: - Create custom agenda views for each project, providing an overview of that project only, but use a single unified agenda view for each day's schedule. Look at the per-project agenda to decide if/how to complete it, but draw the action items into the unified schedule when deciding how to spend your day. It should become evident pretty quickly what you actually have time for. Projects are many, but there is only one of you. - Maybe consider using `org-trigger-hook' and `org-blocker-hook' to cut down on TODO overwhelm. - Use time estimates and then TODO clocking to more swiftly disabuse yourself of unrealistic expectations. This plus a schedule agenda can also help you make sure you stop work at a reasonable time and go do something else. - Say no to more work :) Looking at your solid-packed agenda for the next day works wonders for saying no. Good luck!
Re: How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
On Mon, 28 Feb 2022 20:43:47 -0500 Sébastien Gendre wrote > And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How > to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time > on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important > appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these > project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these > projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project > as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend > most of the year without being able to use Org-mode. It sounds like you have a lot going on! If none of what you need to do explicitly requires Org, you may have to scale back what you learn about Org to fit the time you've got. Give yourself permission to accept that the time you have right now for Org isn't what you want. (I hope that's because you're learning lots of other cool things in school.) In situations like these, I like to do just a little each day. Maybe that means reading one paragraph a night before bed. It sounds like you're really excited about Org. (If you are, you've come to the right place. The people here love Org :) Reading about Org would be something fun to look forward to each night. You might be surprised at how motivating that one little paragraph can be! Working through the manual in this way will give you a good overview of how Org can be used and what you personally might use Org it for. > So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects > with: > * Lot of work to do (many days) > * Short deadline (not enough time) > * High importance (disastrous consequences in my future in case of fail) > * Many of them in the same time > * Progression need to be followed to chose where to sacrifice time to > limit the damages > > I will be happy to read them. :) My suggestion is to not try something new on anything that has a tight deadline. Org is new to you and learning things takes time. This is all normal. Life will throw a lot at you. Some times all I get is 20 minutes at the end of the day. Some days, I get nothing at all. This is because I've filled my life with other cool things, like a partner, a house, friends, etc. If I get to spend some time doing something I think is worthwhile (like trying to help a fellow Org enthusiast), that's time well spent in my book. Isn't there some saying that goes like, "every avalance starts as a snowflake?" Read a little, experiment a little, and over time, you'll be surprised at how much you've learned. You'll get there!
How do you manage complex project with Org-mode
Hello, I don't know if it's the correct place to ask it. If not, sorry to ask in the wrong place. How do you manage complex project with Org-mode ? I used Org-mode for several periods of time in recent years. It worked very well for short and day to day tasks. When only a few of theme have deadlines and when you have plenty of time to do them. But, as a student, I regularly have big and important projects to do for the school. The kind of project who need several days to be done, with deadlines too soon, and if you fail one them the consequences can be disastrous. And generally, I have to many of these project in the same time and not enough time to do all the work. So, I also need to follow the progress of each project to choose which is sufficiently advanced to be stop for the benefit of another less advanced project. And I don't know how to manage this kind of projects with Org-mode. How to do it, without failing a 6 days project because I spent to much time on something else and I have only 3 days left with 3 half-day important appointment I cannot cancel. I can't risk failing a single one of these project by trying. So, when I am in a period with a lot of these projects, I stop using Org-mode and concentrate on doing these project as fast as I can. And because I often have this kind of project, I spend most of the year without being able to use Org-mode. So, if you have any suggestion on how to manage, in Org-mode, projects with: * Lot of work to do (many days) * Short deadline (not enough time) * High importance (disastrous consequences in my future in case of fail) * Many of them in the same time * Progression need to be followed to chose where to sacrifice time to limit the damages I will be happy to read them. :) Best regards - Seb
