Hi Step
To get clear, my question about standalone task was more about where do you
put them?
I mean I seem to have lots and lots of them. And in true GTD fashion I like
to go into "Capture" mode to just add them into my MLO system and get them
off my mind.
The problem then becomes where do you move them to?
I mean if you have the more complex your hierarchy the more time consuming
it becomes to physically move each trivial standalone task into the correct
part of the hierarchy - even if that hierarchy is only "role-goal". I have
7 roles and that's before adding a layer of goals!
To recap - do you bother to move them at all? Do you move them into the
correct role? Do you move them into the correct goal within that role?
J
On Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at 10:19:10 PM UTC, Stéph wrote:
>
> It's about time I sent a reply:
>
> b) I'm not sure I follow the question about standalone tasks. I don't
> always work from the view which groups tasks by their context (although it
> helps, if I'm making calls anyway, to check my list of tasks which are
> @call and to try to complete a couple of additional ones). A lot of the
> time I'm working from my role-goal-project hierarchy and just doing the
> tasks which have become important at the time or which are related to my
> project.
>
> c) I use hashtagged keywords in either the title or the note to help me
> find items in my list, by search terms or text filters. For example if I
> have a couple of tasks for which I'm @waiting for ?John Smith to contact
> me, I can run a search or a filter with the term "?John". This will filter
> out everything else which has John Smith's name in it and only show me
> those two tasks for which I'm waiting for ?John Smith to contact me.
> Likewise, if I'm trying to find my project for +Sheffield +water +treatment
> works, I can use the + symbol in my search term ("+Sheffield") and my
> search or filter will ignore anything else to do with the city of
> Sheffield. I find hashtags are quite helpful in this respect, but only if I
> have a small number of hashtag symbols and I use them consistently.
>
> Does that help, at all?
>
> All the best,
> Stéphane
>
>
> On Thursday, 22 February 2018 11:56:43 UTC, John . Smith wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Stephane
>>
>> A) Yes. I do like your concept of building goal into project hierarchy.
>> Excellent concept... will require further work & deep thought to implement.
>>
>> B) What do you do for standalone tasks?
>> I find physically *moving* tasks to be massively painful in MLO, whereas
>> allocating a context is trivial as I have them on hotkeys. Without hotkeys
>> I'm not even sure I would use an electronic system at all (as many on the
>> GTD world have pointed out there is much to be said for paper lists!).
>> I do take your point about needing to simplify my Contexts and I shall
>> keep watching myself to see which I can remove. Although what really
>> happens is that some of them only get added after a task has been on my
>> system for a while and are being reviewed a number of times... and again
>> whilst a task is being re-reviewed it's trivial to add/remove a Context.
>>
>> C) But I don't quite understand how you are using your keywords. Are you
>> putting the
>> #
>> +
>> ?
>> characters into the title of tasks? Or the body? Or using the Context-tag
>> field? Or what?
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> J
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thursday, February 22, 2018 at 12:03:00 AM UTC, Stéph wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello John,
>>>
>>> I use 1, 2, 4, 5a and 6a out of your list.
>>> I have a bit more hierarchy than you - Area of Life (four quadrants for
>>> me: personal, home, work or community) --> Role --> Goal --> Projects which
>>> fit in with the role or goal --> tasks to complete that project. Sometimes,
>>> with a big project, I group my tasks into project stages.
>>> I also identify my roles and goals with custom flags. I don't use the
>>> weekly/monthly/yearly goal fields.
>>> I set start date and due date and I bump my start date if I want to
>>> defer something.
>>> I try not to use any of the other fields, such as importance or urgency.
>>> I'm trying to minimise the time I spend on MLO and maximise the time I
>>> actually spend doing the tasks.
>>>
>>> I do use hashtag and other tag characters in front of key words: + to
>>> identify a project, ? to identify a person I need to speak with, && to
>>> identify a keyword as one of my roles. Hashtags are really good for
>>> filtering and searching.
>>>
>>> Now to your questions:
>>> a) A task or project is aligned to a particular role or goal when it's
>>> under that role or goal in my outline hierarchy. This helps me to watch
>>> progress towards a goal and to prioritise work which helps to achieve my
>>> goals.
>>> b) Yes, your list of contexts looks long and complex, so I imagine it
>>> takes up more time than you'd like, in order to maintain it. I can see how
>>> that makes it difficult to sort through the list and use it to prioritise
>>> your tasks and decide on the next step. In my case, only using contexts for
>>> GTD-style purposes, I only have a small number of contexts and it's quick
>>> to use those to group a few more tasks to when I'm in the relevant context
>>> (@calls, @errand, @office, @home...). My recommendation would be to remove
>>> the contexts which don't help you to decide what to do next and go for a
>>> simpler, lower-maintenance task management approach.
>>>
>>> I don't have the perfect system and what I do might not suit you, so
>>> really I should just wish you good luck with coming up with a system
>>> optimised to your needs.
>>>
>>> Stéphane
>>>
>>> On Wednesday, 21 February 2018 10:23:14 UTC, John . Smith wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hello
>>>>
>>>> How do you allocate tasks to specific goals to tasks?
>>>> How do you plan today's periods of time?
>>>>
>>>> i.e. For any given day, how do you plan which Contexts you are going to
>>>> do in which order?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> [I apologise in advance that this is so long. Partly I am trying to get
>>>> my own thoughts clear!
>>>> I've marked it up to make it easier to skim-read. ]
>>>>
>>>> *BACKGROUND*
>>>>
>>>> For any task like to know, some or all of the following:
>>>>
>>>> 1. What *Area of Life* it's in
>>>> ==> this I do through which MLO *Folder *I've put it in.
>>>>
>>>> 2. (If it's part of a larger project) what* major project *it's part
>>>> of
>>>> ===> this I do by
>>>> a) using a hierarchy
>>>> b) using the MLO *Projects* field in the parent task
>>>>
>>>> 3) "*Priority*" - what is the real-world Importance & real-world
>>>> Urgency
>>>> ==> I use the MLO *Importance *field, but because I find it too hard
>>>> to enter both values for all tasks
>>>> Importance means importance, except if it's importance is "max" in
>>>> which case it means must be done urgently, irrespective of importance!
>>>>
>>>> 4) "*Do today*" status
>>>> ==> I use the MLO *Star* field to flag up at the start of each day
>>>> what I want to take on today.
>>>>
>>>> 5). Different types of "contexts"
>>>>
>>>> A) What "*where context*"
>>>> i.e. Physically where must this be done
>>>> ==> Use of MLO *Contexts* field (e.g. @PC, @Office(paperwork), @Home,
>>>> @Errands...)
>>>>
>>>> B) What "*mood context*"
>>>> ==> I *also* use the MLO *Contexts* for this (e.g. @Calls,
>>>> @DeepThought, @LowEnergy ...)
>>>>
>>>> C) What "*task size*"
>>>> This helps me pluck any quick wins - low hanging task
>>>> ==> I *also* use the MLO *Contexts* for this ( @Quickies..)
>>>>
>>>> D) What "*time of day context*"
>>>> I only use this occasionally, but it can be important.
>>>> Normally tasks get done at the correct time of day depending on their
>>>> Area of Life
>>>> But sometimes a work task must be done during the evening
>>>> And sometimes a person task MUST be done during working hours
>>>> ==> I *also* use the MLO *Contexts* for this too (e.g. @Evenings,
>>>> @WorkingHours...)
>>>>
>>>> E) What resistance history?
>>>> For tasks that have been around too long, I also want to flag up
>>>> "Frogs" - harder/high resistance stuff (witness by the fact that I have
>>>> put
>>>> them off). I like to start the day with tackling one of these tasks.
>>>> This ALSO goes into the MLO *Contexts* field (e.g.@Frog)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 6) What "Executable Status" (when would I like see again & execute)
>>>> ==>
>>>> a) Partly I kick into the future (change MLO *Start Date* field) so
>>>> task disappears of Active view [GTD "Tickler" file]
>>>> b) Partly I also use the MLO *Context *field too [@Soon/Later,
>>>> @SomedayMaybe, @Bonus ]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *GATHERING MY THOUGHTS*
>>>>
>>>> So I am now using the MLO *Contexts* field for SIX different types of
>>>> thing:
>>>>
>>>> A) What "Where context" ==> (e.g. @PC, @Office(paperwork),
>>>> @Home, @Errands...)
>>>> B) What "Mood context" ==> (e.g. @Calls, @DeepThought,
>>>> @LowEnergy ...)
>>>> C) What "Size" is the task ==> (e.g. @Quickies )
>>>> D) What "Time of day context" ==> (e.g. @Evenings, @WorkingHours... )
>>>> E) What "Executable Status" ==> (e.g. @Soon/Later, @SomedayMaybe,
>>>> @Bonus )
>>>> F) What "resistance history" ==> (e.g. @Frog )
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> But I'm now running out of fields!!
>>>>
>>>> a) How does one track which personal GOAL any task is part of?
>>>> [Explanation: I do find by using task management software it's all too
>>>> easy to keep yourself busy executing lots of tasks... but it's not clear
>>>> WHY you are doing stuff. In fact it's very easy to do all the wrong stuff.]
>>>> ==> So I am really going to allocate Goals using the MLO *Context*
>>>> field, as well as for the other SIX things listed above?
>>>>
>>>> b) How (the heck) does one plan which Contexts I'm doing to do today
>>>> and in which order...
>>>> ...And hopefully tie in which task area part of those Context?
>>>>
>>>> J
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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