How do you use flags?

[ksenia]

Hi,

I wonder how do you people use "flagged" option in the application? It's not a part of GTD system, AFAIK.
I tried to flag "very important" tasks, but it quickly gets out of control, depending on my opinion on "very important" at a particular moment :)

Any advices are appreciated.

[BwanaZulia]

Well, "importance" isn't GTD at all so I have never been about giving my tasks priority or flagging not sure I would do this in OmniFocus either.

I use them in Mail so I can quickly go through a 100+ emails, flag the ones I need to deal with and get to Inbox Zero (I use smart folders).

BZ

[brianogilvie]

I've been using flags to mark my most important tasks for the day. I limit them to what I can reasonably get done during the day and still have time for doing other tasks. The next morning I review them and choose a new set of most important tasks. (Leo at Zen Habits has a good post on the concept of daily most important tasks (http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/purpose-your-day-most-important-task/).)

[ksenia]

I've been using flags to mark my most important tasks for the day. I limit them to what I can reasonably get done during the day and still have time for doing other tasks. The next morning I review them and choose a new set of most important tasks. (Leo at Zen Habits has a good post on the concept of daily most important tasks (http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/purpose-your-day-most-important-task/).)
Thanks, great link! Never saw this site before... lot's of interesting stuff there. Diving in :)

[fideli]

I've been using flags to mark my most important tasks for the day. I limit them to what I can reasonably get done during the day and still have time for doing other tasks. The next morning I review them and choose a new set of most important tasks. (Leo at Zen Habits has a good post on the concept of daily most important tasks (http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/purpose-your-day-most-important-task/).)
I would love to use the flags for my MITs (I love that article) but the Flagged view shows all the tasks (completed, next, available, remaining, etc). I wish that Flagged view wasn't in the same filter option as the rest of them, but instead was a checkbox on the edge of the filter ribbon (or something along those lines). That way I can view all my available tasks, or all my flagged available tasks. I Sent Feedback about this a few days ago.

[Craig]

I would love to use the flags for my MITs (I love that article) but the Flagged view shows all the tasks (completed, next, available, remaining, etc). I wish that Flagged view wasn't in the same filter option as the rest of them, but instead was a checkbox on the edge of the filter ribbon (or something along those lines). That way I can view all my available tasks, or all my flagged available tasks. I Sent Feedback about this a few days ago.

I agree that the placement of the "Flagged" filter is not intuitive. I would have expected it (and I think it would be more easily used) in the grouping or sorting filters to the left.

[brianogilvie]

I see your point. Since I use flags as a kind of super-next-action, it's easy enough for me to check off a task and then turn off the flag. But if you use them for something else, it might make sense to have it as a grouping or sorting option.

[spnyc]

i use flags like several people here, like brianogilvie's "super-next-action". what i really wish is that when you select "show flagged items" that you don't see completed items. IMHO completed actions should only be seen if you select "show completed actions"

[whalt]

I've been using the flag for my daily check list as well and I agree that the filtering options stink. The filter bar is a cute idea but this issue highlights it's real weakness as compared to a smart folder type solution, namely multiple criteria. Perhaps if they put a little "+" button at the end which you could click to add multiple levels of filtering then maybe that would solve it so that you could say filter by available AND then by flagged or any other set of complex criteria you choose. But then it would become even more of a hassle to keep recreating the filtering system you need for a particular view. Perspectives may sort this out but they're nowhere near there yet. It seems like the developers are jumping through quite a few hoops to come up with an alternate metaphor for the well developed smart folder concept which many people are already using effectively in other programs. I wonder why that is.

[curt.clifton]

I've been using the flag for my daily check list as well and I agree that the filtering options stink. The filter bar is a cute idea but this issue highlights it's real weakness as compared to a smart folder type solution, namely multiple criteria. Perhaps if they put a little "+" button at the end which you could click to add multiple levels of filtering then maybe that would solve it so that you could say filter by available AND then by flagged or any other set of complex criteria you choose. But then it would become even more of a hassle to keep recreating the filtering system you need for a particular view.

What if the drop-downs in the filter let you command-click to select multiple criteria? That would be quite powerful and likely very easy to use. (I actually just tried it to see if the Omni wizards had already snuck that in. No dice...yet.)

[whalt]

What if the drop-downs in the filter let you command-click to select multiple criteria? That would be quite powerful and likely very easy to use. (I actually just tried it to see if the Omni wizards had already snuck that in. No dice...yet.)
I suppose but it still seems like a rather limiting and non-inuitive UI. It still leaves the problem of having to reset it all the time or wait for Perspectives to get sorted out but then it's still functionality that's split into two seperate interfaces. A smart folder seems a bit easier to manage and has the added benefit of reusing UI that people are already comfortable with. As Steve Jobs would say, "What if you could find your most important tasks just like you find your favorite songs in iTunes?" Oh, that and "Boom."

[Lizard]

What if the drop-downs in the filter let you command-click to select multiple criteria? That would be quite powerful and likely very easy to use. (I actually just tried it to see if the Omni wizards had already snuck that in. No dice...yet.)
Another issue here is how exactly would the combined filters work? If two criteria were selected, would your action have to match both filters to be displayed? Or would matching either one be enough?

[whalt]

Another issue here is how exactly would the combined filters work? If two criteria were selected, would your action have to match both filters to be displayed? Or would matching either one be enough?
Again this is an area where a smart folder with it's pulldown selector for matching "any" or "all" would be superior.

Just to remind everyone of the kind of interface I'm talking about, here is the edit dialog from Mail.app for a smart mailbox.
http://homepage.mac.com/whalt/smartmbx.png

[curt.clifton]

Another issue here is how exactly would the combined filters work? If two criteria were selected, would your action have to match both filters to be displayed? Or would matching either one be enough?

It seems like the "any-all" choice is straightforward for each of the drop-downs:


Project/Context Kind. Besides the All choice, the other choices are mutually exclusive, so an "any" match would have to be used.
Grouping. Multiple selections here would just givenmultiple levels of grouping, e.g., first by due date than by folder.
Sorting. Multiple selections would yield a multi-key sort
Task Kind. Many of the individual choices here already build. For example, next actions show for the next, available, remaining, and all filters. "Completed" is mutually exclusive with the other task-status selectors besides "All", so again an "any" match would have to be used. (I'm assuming that "Flagged" is moved to its own filter capsule as suggested.)
Duration. For similar reasons as Task Kind, this would be an "any" match. For example, I might use this to show all my 5 minute tasks, plus tasks that don't have a duration--just in case I decide one of them is a quickie.


Whalt and others, please don't take my advocacy of extending the filter ribbon as an argument against Smart Folders. I think they would be a great addition, especially since they could include plain text searches and other things that are beyond the capability of the filter ribbon. But I also like the filter ribbon for ad hoc searches. Multiple selects in the ribbon would make it even more "ad hockey". :-)