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-   -   Missing "ToDo" in "Due" area [A: Poster confused about how Due field works.] (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=24238)

morkafur 2012-05-19 02:41 AM

Missing "ToDo" in "Due" area [A: Poster confused about how Due field works.]
 
I have a to-do to water a new tree we got, but it's not showing up in the list when I click "Due".

I have the item set to recur every 1 day starting two days ago and ending in October.

I have the "due" list setup in preferences to show me anything that's due in the next week in the Due list.

So, why isn't this To-Do showing up?

This is really confusing and looks like a bug.

I can see the to-do in Planning Mode under Misc (since it's not part of a project), but it's not marked in any way like a due to-do would be.

Look forward to any suggestions....

Thanks,

-- m

Brian 2012-05-22 12:36 PM

It sounds like you have a due date in October set on that action. OmniFocus treats that as an item that starts in May and ends in October, not one that will repeat every day between May and October. When you check that item off completed, a new item will be generated with start and due dates one day later.

If you want the action to appear in the Due perspective, you'll want to change the due date to fall within whatever "Due Soon is in the next" period you've chosen in the Data pane of preferences. (For a task you want to do every day, you'll probably want matching start and due dates, with the former happening in the morning, and the latter sometime before bedtime.)

Hope this helps!

morkafur 2012-05-22 01:09 PM

[QUOTE=Brian;110646]It sounds like you have a due date in October set on that action. OmniFocus treats that as an item that starts in May and ends in October, not one that will repeat every day between May and October. When you check that item off completed, a new item will be generated with start and due dates one day later.

If you want the action to appear in the Due perspective, you'll want to change the due date to fall within whatever "Due Soon is in the next" period you've chosen in the Data pane of preferences. (For a task you want to do every day, you'll probably want matching start and due dates, with the former happening in the morning, and the latter sometime before bedtime.)

Hope this helps![/QUOTE]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

Wow, OF does not have the behavior I want at all!

I'll pass on OF. I don't want to modify how I work to be consistent with the software; it should be the other way around (at least configurably).

I would want to have a start date and end date and a repeat frequency. If the frequency (day a task repeats each week) is within the "Due" date number of days, then it should show up in the Due "soon" perspective. Period. If it doesn't, OF isn't the product for me.

"Things" works as I expect, though it's rather rudimentary and I'd rather use OF if it worked as I expected...

- m

wilsonng 2012-05-24 02:39 AM

[QUOTE=morkafur;110648]Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

Wow, OF does not have the behavior I want at all!

I'll pass on OF. I don't want to modify how I work to be consistent with the software; it should be the other way around (at least configurably).
[/quote]

But sometimes learning a method might be what the doctor ordered. Imagine if a medical doctor doesn't learn about new innovations in medicine by taking yearly courses for accreditation. The doctor would probably still be using outdated remedies that have been superseded by new remedies and groundbreaking innovations.

I used to think the ABC Priority method was awesome and I used it with my Franklin-Covey Planner. But after learning GTD and then fusing it with Master-Your-Workday-Now methodology, I've actually adapted and see projects/tasks with a different perspective. I could see how the ABC Priority method worked for me and where it failed.

Sometimes it doesn't hurt to try and learn a new methodology and seeing it in action. Otherwise we'll be stuck with something that we outgrow over time. Even software evolves over time. We'd still be stuck with MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 in 2012.


[quote]
I would want to have a start date and end date and a repeat frequency. If the frequency (day a task repeats each week) is within the "Due" date number of days, then it should show up in the Due "soon" perspective. Period. If it doesn't, OF isn't the product for me.
[/QUOTE]

Now Up-To-Date used to do that for me. I'd set up a repeating task on June 1 and end on July 1. I would see my calendar populate itself with that repeating task. Sometimes I would slide and just not complete a task. The task moves forward to the next day. But now my "Today" list shows two instances of that task (the overdue one from yesterday and today's due task). So that gives me more visual clutter. If I get lazy for one week, I'll have seven instances of this same task. With the current method, OmniFocus will only create a new task only when you have completed it. Less visual clutter.

I became mentally numb and just either ignored it or deleted yesterday's overdue and uncompleted task.

When I tried OmniFocus at first, I was also confused but quickly grasped this new concept where it would create the new task only on completion of the existing task. Visual clutter defeated and mental well-being vastly improved.

To remind myself to delete a repeating task, i just put another task item on the last day to delete it.

Due: July 1 - Delete repeating task: water the plants


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