How I Use Things
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Transcript of How I Use Things
How I Use Things
goldencrisp87
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Focus Lists 2
Overview 2
Inbox 2
Next 3
Today 3
Scheduled 4
Someday 4
Projects 6
What is a Project? 6
Dependencies / Sequential Projects 6
Projects marked as Today 7
Project Templates 7
Repeating Projects 7
Areas 8
What is an Area? 8
Area or Project? 8
Repeating Items 9
Structure: Template & Iterations 9
How to Repeat? 9
Repeating Projects 10
Due Repeating Items 10
Tags 11
Tag Types 11
Tag Tips 11
Other Things Stuff 13
Due Dates 13
Due vs Scheduled 14
Teammates / Waiting For 14
Logbook 15
Trash 16
AppleScript 16
Related Topics & Other Rants 17
Weekly Review 17
Calendar vs Task Manager 18
Potential Feature: Automatically Checking Off Projects 18
Potential Feature: Time in Scheduled 19
Potential Feature: Time in Due Dates 19
Conclusion 21
Introduction
This is not a Things manual. I haven’t included explicit instructions on how to do stuff
that you’ve figured out how to do by playing around with the application (e.g.
creating a new task), but I've gone into a bit of detail for less obvious stuff (e.g.
creating a repeating project). The other type of stuff I've included is how I've
optimized Things for my workflow.
Why bother writing this, you ask? First, I'd like to share what I've learned about
Things. It can be overwhelming at first, and even when you get into it, there are
features that you never even knew about. I find myself regularly writing much of this
stuff in the Things forums. They’re a great place to get answers and bounce ideas of
each other, but it's not a place of consolidated or organized knowledge. I hope this
document can fill some of that void.
Second, writing this out has helped me clarify how I use Things. I’ve developed
various habits, both good and bad, and this document has helped me understand why I
do stuff the way I do. I’ve learned a lot from explaining what I do. As my 11th grade
math teacher said, “You haven’t learned something until you can teach it.”
Important: Each person is different. Each person will have their own way of
optimizing Things for how they work. The following is what I've found to be best for
me. While I'll be flattered if you take on some of these practices, by no means will I
be offended if you don't.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to talk, just post on
the Things forums. I'm sure to reply.
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Focus Lists
These lists are the core of Things. I'll explain them out of order, because that works
out to be most efficient.
Overview
Inbox is for collecting thoughts for later. At least once a week, I go through my Inbox
and sort items into the appropriate list (Next, Today, etc.).
Next is for stuff that there's a good chance I'll be doing this week. Each morning, I'll
check through this list and put items in Today, as appropriate.
Today is a subset of Next. I use it for tasks I plan on doing today.
Scheduled is for anything you can’t (or don’t want) to start before a certain date.
(Repeating items are also filed under Scheduled.)
Someday is for everything that I want to hang on to, but I don't plan to act on in the
next week. About once a week, I'll move a batch of items from Someday to Next.
Inbox
Inbox is for collecting any thought or idea that pops into my head during the day that
I might want to think about later. At least once a week (but usually every day), I'll
review the Inbox, clarifying the meaning of the item with myself and figuring out how
it's going to fit into my Things system (or other system, like password managers, etc.).
Most of these thoughts end up as tasks or projects, some go into 1Password, Evernote
or BusyCal, and some I just delete.
NB: When processing the Inbox, I am NOT doing all of the tasks in there. If the task
will take me less than two minutes, I'll do it right then, but if it takes longer, I just
make a task/project for it and drag it to Next, Today, etc.
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Next
Next is for the tasks and projects that I could potentially work on now. I keep this list
very slim by only keeping in it what I would like to work on this week. The rest goes
into Scheduled or Someday.
The order of tasks in the Next list is
1) Tasks not assigned to a project or area;
2) Tasks in projects. Projects are listed in the same order as they are in the
sidebar;
3) Tasks assigned to areas, but no project.
Today
Today is a subset of Next. Tasks that are marked in Today show up as yellow wherever
else you might see them (e.g. their Area). Each morning (or the night before), I go
through my Next list and mark as Today all the tasks I think I'll do today. All the tasks
scheduled for Today are automatically moved there as well.
Once I fill up my Today list, I'll order it based on how I expect my day to go. This extra
bit of processing in the morning greatly reduces the time I take between tasks. I can
just move on from one to the next without having to re-process my entire Today list.
Because of this, I don't have the “Group to-dos in the Today list option” enabled.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to sort the tasks.
Sometimes I need to break up Today for ease of visualization. For example, if I'm
flying home, I'll put a “-------Fly Home -------” task in order to visually break up the
day, If it's clear I'll need to do some things before my flight, etc. Admittedly this isn't
pure GTD, but during the day it helps me see how I'm progressing. (See Calendar vs
Task Manager section.)
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Other times I do the opposite. For example, with Spring Break, I'll just have my Today
list represent the entire week. That’s because I often see breaks like that as one long
relaxing day (and my break’s task list is usually short enough not to be
overwhelming!).
Scheduled
I think of scheduling a task as setting a start date. (NB: Start date does not need to be
the same as a due date! See ‘Due vs Scheduled’ section below.) If there's a task/
project I can't do (or don't want to think about) until a certain day, then I schedule it.
This method keeps it out of my Next list, which is what I look at when looking for stuff
to do after I've finished my Today list. The less clutter in Next, the better. Why bother
reviewing a task/project, only to realize that you can't act on it yet? That's what
Scheduled is for.
There are two options for Scheduled Tasks:
• Move to Today - Moves the task/project to Today (which, by definition, means Next
as well). I use this option for tasks/projects that can begin on a certain day.
• Highlight - Keeps the task/project in Scheduled, but on the scheduled date, the
task/project becomes red. Also, in the sidebar next to Scheduled, there will be a
red number indicating how many tasks/projects are highlighted. I use this option for
reminders, such as “Waiting For”, because I don't want these kind of tasks cluttering
my Today list.
NB: The highlight option does not exist in Things for iPhone or iPad. If you sync to a
mobile device, all Scheduled items will convert to Move to Today.
Someday
Someday is for anything and everything that I want to hang on to, but I don't plan to
act on in the next week (before my next Review). Each week, I review this list for
tasks to put into Next for the week. (Using tags like "Review weekly" and "Review
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monthly" can help with tasks that you only want to look at every so often. See Tags
section.)
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Projects
What is a Project?
A Project is a list of tasks. That's it. Nothing complicated. It's how you use them that
can make them complicated.
For me, a goal/result that I want to achieve that will take multiple actions to
complete becomes a project. (To turn a task into a project, drag it to the Projects
focus in the sidebar.) If you don't feel the need to list out all the steps, then don't.
The objective is to get stuff off your mind. You should write out as much detail as you
need to accomplish this, but no more.
I don't use projects for lists of items related by type, such as “Phone calls”. I use tags
for those. (See Tags section.)
Admittedly, projects are needed for some workarounds. For example, if you use
Things as a list manager (e.g. “Inspirational Quotes”), you could make this list a
project (with each quote as a task) and keep it in Someday.
Dependencies / Sequential Projects
If the tasks in a Project must be performed in a certain order, I leave the first one in
Next (or Today, as appropriate). All the others I put in Someday. This will greatly
reduce the clutter in your Next list. When you check off that first item, I'd do a quick
check to see what's the next task, and promote it to Next. Unfortunately, there's no
way to automatically do this, as of yet. If I can do multiple actions now, I have all of
them in Next. I leave the ones I can't do yet in Someday.
Other users have Things display only one next action in Next view (View>Next Action
Steps>1). With this method, when you have a sequential project, you collapse it so
that you only see the first available action. Parallel projects are left uncollapsed, so
that you can see all available tasks of the projects. Personally, I find this method
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limiting because there's no way to show two next actions of a ten-step project, for
example. It might work for your needs though.
Projects marked as Today
You can mark a project for Today by either dragging it to Today (in the sidebar) or
having it Scheduled to ‘Move to Today’. You’ll know a project is marked as Today
because its checkbox (to the left of the project title in the Projects focus) will be
yellow.
When a project is marked as Today, all of its tasks go to Today. The project, however,
does not. (This is a GTD thing. You can’t “do” a project, you can only do tasks
associated with it.) Any new tasks you create in that project will be automatically
marked as Today, too. If you un-Today any of the tasks in the project, the project will
be un-Today’ed.
I use this for when there’s a specific goal that I want to get done Today. As long as the
project is marked as Today, I know all the actions will be as well.
Project Templates
Many people want project templates that they can easily recall for future use (e.g.
“Setup New Client X” project). What I do is have copy sitting of the project in
Someday (as to not clutter my Next list). When I need a copy of the project, I just
duplicate the template, and drag to wherever I need it.
For some, template Area might be needed to de-clutter their other areas. Others
might like to leave the template in its appropriate Area. Yet others might want to
have a “template” tag. I haven't found one method to be far more efficient than the
others.
Repeating Projects
See “Repeating Projects” section under the “Repeating Items” chapter.
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Areas
What is an Area?
I think of Areas as the different hats that I wear in life. For example, “Gardening” and
“Finance Manager at XYZ Corp” are typical examples of Areas. Within areas, you can
store associated projects and tasks. This is nice because it adds a layer of sortability
to Things. If you want to see all the stuff associated with “Religion”, it's easy to view
with Areas.
Some people use a “Miscellaneous” area for all the tasks that otherwise would just
“float”. For me, I don't bother. I see these unassociated tasks in their appropriate lists
(e.g. Next) anyways.
Area or Project?
An oft-asked question is whether something is an area or a project. For me, the
distinction lies in accomplishability. If there's a goal or result you'd like to see, it's
probably a project. If it's an ongoing realm of your life, it's probably an area.
Typically, my areas change no more often than a couple times per year.
Because projects can't be placed within projects, some find that larger projects end
up working better as areas. That way, you can have another layer in the
organizational system. I prefer not to do this because it tends to clutter my Areas list.
Instead, I have placeholder tasks within the main project for sub-projects. For
example, If the main project is “Open new office building”, I would include tasks for
“buy furniture” and “update contact info with clients”. I would then have projects for
both of these, each with their own sub-tasks.
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Repeating Items
Structure: Template & Iterations
Things lists repeating items under the Scheduled focus. Each item listed is a template.
When the trigger date comes about, a standalone copy of the template as it exists at
that moment is placed in Today. Updating these copies (iterations) will NOT affect the
template. You can check off an iteration, but not a template.
I’d actually prefer to have a separate focus. Repeating and Scheduled tasks have
nothing to do with each other, except that they’re both setting items up for the
future.
Check this out for crazy: you can schedule an iteration for a future date. (You’ll end
up with both listed under Scheduled, but you can tell the difference because the
iteration will have a checkbox, and the template will have a loop icon.)
How to Repeat?
There are three kinds of repeating: Every X, After Completion, and For iCal Events.
Every X - If you need to do something every Monday, or the last Thursday of every
month, this is the option for you! This will create an iteration in Today on the days
you listed. Note, under every option except “daily”, you can click the + icon to get
another row. This is useful for when you need to do something every Tuesday and
Friday, for example.
After Completion - If you want to do something every so often, this is the option for
you! Things will create the next iteration X days/weeks/etc. after the previous one
was checked off. For example, I have “Get haircut” a repeating task that shows up 5
weeks after completion. If I wait an extra week to get my haircut, the next iteration
will still show up 5 weeks after I get my haircut (not 4 weeks). This is useful for when
you don't want iterations stacking up in Next.
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For iCal Events - This option creates an item based on iCal events of a particular
calendar. This is useful when potentially irregular activities require stuff to be done.
For example, if you’ve got your kids’ soccer schedule and you want an “Organize
carpool” task for each practice and game, set up a repeating task for that calendar.
Repeating Projects
Projects can repeat, too. To make a project repeating, go to the Projects focus in the
sidebar, find the project, then Items>Make Repeating... (Command-Option-R). This
CANNOT be done from the Active Projects list in the sidebar. Few users have
discovered this functionality because it's so tucked away.
Due Repeating Items
One option for repeating items is auto-including due dates on the iterations. The
dialog box for this is rather confusing, so I'll explain it. After you’ve set up your
schedule of repeating, you decide whether you want the item to be created or due on
the days in that schedule.
I don't have due dates for any ‘after completion’ repeating tasks/projects. Frankly, it
doesn't really make sense to me how you could have a due ‘after completion’ item. If
the “deadline” is movable (because it's after completion), then it's not really due, is
it? Beware of due date inflation! (See ‘Due Dates’ section.) (The only exception I can
think of is getting a multi-stage vaccination. That's pretty rare, though.)
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Tags
Tag Types
Tags are incredibly versatile. You can use them for practically anything. Tags can be
assigned to any task, project and area. Set up the tags in the tags window (Command-
Shift-T). You can filter by tags from the top of any screen within Things. (Note:
there’s no Boolean filtering (e.g. Or, Not) yet, just “And”-type filtering.) For me, tags
fall into two main categories: Contextual and Organizational.
Contextual - What do I need and where do I need to be in order to complete this task?
At the office? My spouse? 30 minutes? These types of tags come in handy when you
want to see what you're able to do right now. Just filter down with what you have
(e.g. Office & 30min) and you'll see what you have to do!
Organizational - How might I like to filter these tasks? For example, I have a ‘Money’
tag that allows me to see all my upcoming financial transactions. I also have ‘Email’
and ‘Phone’ tags, because I find myself wanting to do these kinds of tasks in a clump.
Tag Tips
• If it takes two minutes or less to get to a new location, I just use one tag for the
whole place. No need to over-complicate things.
• Delete tags of meaningless contexts. For example, if you always carry your wallet
with you, there’s no need for a ‘Wallet’ tag on the task “Pay George $40”. Many
people find ‘Online’ is becoming one of these meaningless contexts.
• Delete unused tags. There's a big difference here between assigning tags and
filtering by them. If you never filter by a certain tag, it means you're not using it.
Just get rid of it! (Thanks to salgud for this tip!)
• When assigned to a project or area, the tag is auto-inherited to the project/area’s
sub-items. This can save keystrokes if all the tasks in a certain project need to be
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done at the office, for example. Tagging areas can be nice if you’d like to filter your
focus lists by area.
• Use tag hierarchy. In the tags window, you can organize your tags into folders. This
will save space in the tag bar at the top of the main Things window.
• Use keyboard shortcuts to assign tags. Set the keyboard shortcuts in the right part of
the tags window. Then you can assign tags to tasks and projects without going into
edit mode. Just select the item, then press the key combo. You can even do Shift-
letters. For example, for me ‘e’ means email, and ‘E’ means Ernie.
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Other Things Stuff
Due Dates
A due date is when something is really really actually due. (i.e. Something bad will
happen if I don't get the task/project done by then.) Being due means that Things
turns the task/project red, so it really gets your attention.
I am EXTREMELY strict with setting due dates. An "ooooh, I really should clean my
room this weekend"-type task does not have a due date in my system. Yes I'd like to
get it done, but it's NOT actually due on Sunday. (I might schedule it for Sunday if I
don't think I'll get around to it before then, though.) On the other hand, if my
girlfriend is coming over for dinner Sunday, maybe cleaning my room is actually
due. :)
To add a "show in today" date means that I still want to keep it in Next until a
particular day, but also that I want to take action before the task is truly "due." For
example, I must buy a birthday present for my brother by Saturday because that's
when the party is. I set the due date as Saturday, but I really would like to buy the
gift before the day of the party. In this case, I'd set the "show in today" field to 7 days
before. When it shows in Today using this method, the due date part of the task turns
red, but still says "3 days left."
During the day, I know I must hit all the red items in my Today list. I'm planning on
getting all the yellow tasks done, but if I don't, oh well, it doesn't kill me. I know,
however, that if I don't get a red task done, I'll have to renegotiate with myself.
This red/yellow system also helps because if I start to run out of time in a day, I can
look at all the red tasks to get a sense of what MUST be at least looked at /
renegotiated with myself. This system only works for me because I'm very minimalistic
about what I have as red. The vast majority of my Today list is yellow, so the red ones
really stand out.
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Due vs Scheduled
This is a topic that often confuses those who are new to Things. Scheduled is
essentially setting a start date for an item. A due date is an end date (hopefully!). See
the Scheduled and Due Dates sections for more info.
Teammates / Waiting For
There are two Things features you can use to track your ‘Waiting For’ tasks.
• Teammate - You can add any task in any focus list (or project) to a person. Then you
can filter all your tasks for that person by clicking their name in the sidebar. NB: you
can assign a task to only one teammate. NB: Teammates don't sync to the iPhone or
iPad versions of Things.
• Tags - Very versatile and you can use them for just about anything. You can do a
global search for all items with a particular tag from the bottom right search bar.
Solution 1: Use one Teammate for each person you want to track and a 'Waiting For'
tag. When you meet with a person, you can just click on their name and see tasks/
projects you've assigned to their name. You can filter down this list by clicking the
'Waiting For' tag.
Solution 2: Use tags for each person and a Teammate named 'Waiting For'. (Set this up
by making a dummy Address Book entry, importing it into Things, then deleting it.)
You can do a global tag search to find tasks for a specific person. You can also include
the name of the person you're waiting for in the task title.
1 is nice because you've got your list of people right there, but the list can take a
huge bite out of your sidebar (it's collapsable, though). 2 could be of benefit if you
want a 1-click way to see all the things you're waiting for, and use people-context
tags. Also, 2 allows you to "wait for' anyone, without setting them up as a Teammate.
I actually use method 2 and add people's names into the title of the tasks. I also have
tags for the most common people I deal with: boss, girlfriend, parents, etc. As always,
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each person’s situation will lead them to a different solution. (e.g. If you have
constant people you’re working with (and waiting for), method 1 might be better.)
I also keep my Waiting Fors out of Next as much as possible. I put them in either
Scheduled or Someday, depending on how urgent they are. If I don't care when it gets
back to me, it goes in Someday, which I review weekly. If there's a specific date I want
to follow up, I'll use Scheduled. I also will put in due dates, as appropriate.
When I need to follow up with someone, I often don't bother making a 'follow up' task.
I'll just put the waiting for task in Today. I know that it means "follow up". If the
situation
Logbook
I log completed items daily (and automatically). I don’t like the log immediately
option because if I accidentally check off a task, it'll disappear. I know I can just
Undo, but if I'm only using the mouse, it can be a hassle. Sometimes I'll log manually
throughout the day if it's cluttered with done tasks, but typicallyI like to see what I've
accomplished.
When I first started using Things, I just let my logbook grow and grow. It caused sync
to take a long time, and it even corrupted my library a couple times. (CC was a great
help in fixing those issues!) Since then, I've been using the Things Logbook Cleaner
script (available on the wiki). I have a “Run Things Logbook Cleaner” repeating task
set to 1 week after completion. I save the text files for reference.
Try running the Things Logbook Cleaner script. http://culturedcode.com/things/wiki/
index.php/AppleScript:_Tidying_up_Things%27_Logbook
It will archive your ancient logbook items to a text file, then move them to the Things
Trash. (I also recommend emptying the trash afterwards.)
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It can take a few minutes, but it's well worth it. I used to run it each week to prevent
slowdowns, but a release in mid-2010 seemed to alleviate the slowdowns, so I've
stopped using the script.
I don't use the Logbook Cleaner Script anymore. CC released an update last year that
sped up Things when using a large database.
Trash
I empty the Trash every few weeks. No rhyme or reason to it.
AppleScript
I don't use it. I'm generally engaged enough in my task list that I just enter/edit things
manually. There are plenty of Things users well-versed in AppleScript. As always, the
forums are the best place for your questions.
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Related Topics & Other Rants
Weekly Review
I'll be honest up-front: I don't do my review weekly. I should. I know I should. I don't.
So sue me. I find that with mini-reviews throughout the week, I'm able to stay on top
of everything. I only end up needing to do a full review when I'm getting antsy about
my task list, which works out to be about every three weeks.
I've set up a repeating project (1 week after completion) with the following steps. I
try to go over the entire GTD process: collect, process, organize, review. (Doing is
done later, obviously.)
During this process, sometimes I don't even bother doing tasks that will take 1-2
minutes. I find that with keyboard shortcuts, I'm better off just adding these tasks to
Things, and doing them in a bunch later.
Here's the steps I have in my repeating project:
• Review last 2 weeks. Looking back at my calendar, I catch follow-up type tasks. Into
the Things inbox (via the quick entry panel) they go.
• Review the next 6 weeks. Same idea, but looking at the future, I'll often notice
events I need to prep for.
• Process GMail inbox. I process each email, adding tasks to Things as I go. I love using
the Quick Entry + Autofill for this. Project support documents get filed away in
Things Folders (jazzaround.net).
• Process physical inbox. Same as above. Project support documents get their own
folder in my physical system.
• Process Things Inbox. I define next actions, make projects, apply tags, move tasks to
their appropriate project/area, and create projects as needed. To do this, I first
drag items from the Inbox to the Areas in which they belong. (This gives me a good
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opportunity to ask myself, “Why am I doing this?”) Then in each Area, I drag any
tasks that need to be projects to Projects in the sidebar, add tags to tasks, and then
use the arrow keys to quickly navigate in/out of each project and review its
contents.
• Review the items in Scheduled set for the next couple days. Sometimes it turns out I
can deal with these items sooner than expected.
• Review Next tasks/projects in each Area. Going through these tasks in detail, I often
adjust, tag, move, delete, etc.
• Review projects that aren't in an area. Same thing.
• Review tasks that aren't in a project or area. Same thing.
• Review Someday. I move items to Next, Scheduled as needed.
Calendar vs Task Manager
In my garage, I have hammers for nails, screwdrivers for screws, etc. I have a similar
breakdown for tools for my productivity: Things for tasks, BusyCal for timed items,
Clock app for alarms...
If something needs to be done at a particular time, I use my calendar. If it can be
done at any time, it goes in Things. Search the forums for gobs of discussion on this
topic.
Potential Feature: Automatically Checking Off Projects
I believe projects should not automatically be checked off. The reason I want to do it
myself is that it's my last chance to ask myself, "Is this goal completed? Can I move
past this project now?"
Often times, it would be convenient for the project to be marked off automatically.
However, in the cases in which I do have other tasks remaining before the project is
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complete, it's very very important that I have that chance to double-check the project
before it gets automatically whisked away by Things. (I find this especially true for
projects which I have only a bookmark-style next action, instead of having a list of
every single item related to a project.)
Basically, I want to be the one who decides what gets deleted from my Next list and
off my plate, not Things.
Potential Feature: Time in Scheduled
I would rather not have tasks popping up throughout the day telling me "I'm actionable
now!" The reason I like having all my scheduled tasks show up at once is so that I can
perform my mini-daily-review all at once, knowing that I'm planning out my whole
next day. If Things was withholding information about my next day, I wouldn't be
thrilled. (Yes I could check Scheduled, but then that defeats the purpose of never
having to look in Scheduled.) I'm ok with leaving a task in Today in the morning even if
I know I'm going to get to it til the afternoon.
Potential Feature: Time in Due Dates
I'm trying to visualize how I would use due times, and I think that having a task say
"Due at 5pm" doesn't really do me a whole lot of good. Sure, it might be nice to have
that information handy in a separate field (instead of notes or the title), but how will
it change my workflow? I already have my Today list sorted by expected completion
order (thanks to my mini-daily-review). I guess it could show "Due in 1 hour", etc.
Because I so sparingly use due dates and red, though, a red "Due Today" is enough for
me to recognize a task's urgency. (And because of my mini-daily-review, I'm well
aware of a tasks due time, so that's not so much an issue.)
Adding due times also opens another can of worms with the "Show in Today" option. If
you add the granularity of "hours/minutes before", you get into the problem of tasks
showing up in the middle of the day like I described above. This is certainly disruptive
to my daily workflow because I'll have to be constantly reprocessing my list.
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I admit though, that it would be nifty if the task was already in my Today list, and
turned from yellow to red at 4p if it's due at 5p, for example... That seems gimmicky
though...
I'm willing (and would love) to be wrong on this one. I just can't see how the minimal
benefits would outweigh the consequences. (As opposed to how the added
functionality of mixed projects clearly outweighs the only minimally increased
complexity.)
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Conclusion
Although longwinded, this is more or less an overview of how I use Things. I hope it
has helped you think about how you use Things and how you can optimize it for your
life. I know it has for me!
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