How to have it REALLY filter on "started"
 

Hello.

I'm trying to create a perspective in Context view that filters based on started. The problem is, it will show Next Actions that have no start date in Context view, since their Projects have a start date. It seems like I should just be able to get actions in Context view that have some value in Started, when I filter on Started.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Robin

The app assumes that anything set on a parent row applies to the child - if a project needs to be delayed until some future date, it's assumed that the actions need to as well. That's what you're seeing there...

Years of working on this app have kinda trained me to think the way it does, but if you describe the kind of view you're trying to create, we may be able to come up with an alternative approach.

Is the intent that the project can't start until some future date, but some of the actions it contains can be worked on immediately? If so, setting an earlier start date on those row(s) would be my suggestion. If both the action and the project have a start date assigned, the earlier of the two will be used.

My take is that Robin wants a view that shows only actions which have their own explicit start date set. The only reason I could come up with for wanting such a view is to check for potential "progress gaps" in a project, or more specifically to find out what the next thing is that you're waiting to do after you've exhausted the supply of things that can be done at any time.

[URL=http://img413.imageshack.us/i/screenshot20100709at437.png/][IMG]http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2178/screenshot20100709at437.png[/IMG][/URL]

With Robin's proposed view, one could spot the actions such as "Some task ..." which are going to be unavailable until some future date once the stuff that can be done now is all done. Sort of a ersatz critical path diagram? Maybe Robin will help us out instead of letting us twist in the wind :-)

Hi folks! sorry for wind-twisting, it was not intentional.

So, some more background... I have projects that I don't want to think about until a certain date, hence the start date. I also have actions in single-action lists that have a start date (and some actions that don't).

Ideally, I would like a view that only shows those actions (not projects) that have an explicit start date. That way, when it's time for me to pay attention to those tasks, I can focus in on them.

As for the projects, I think the workaround of putting the start date on the first action in the project is okay. It would be best for a sequential project, but it's not ideal for a parallel project, but nonetheless, I can do that.

Maybe I'm using start date the wrong way? I feel like I have so many next actions, I need a way to focus on which ones to do next that gives me a smaller number than just everything that's next. That's why I use start date, especially with single-action lists.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Many thanks,
Robin

[QUOTE=RFBriggs;79917]
Ideally, I would like a view that only shows those actions (not projects) that have an explicit start date. That way, when it's time for me to pay attention to those tasks, I can focus in on them. . .

Maybe I'm using start date the wrong way? I feel like I have so many next actions, I need a way to focus on which ones to do next that gives me a smaller number than just everything that's next. That's why I use start date, especially with single-action lists.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Many thanks,
Robin[/QUOTE]

Yes, this is exactly the way I would like to use OF (at least some of the time). I would be very pleased to have this available as a Perspective.

Any chance for a convenient option for this?

Thanks!
Ray

[QUOTE=RFBriggs;79917]I feel like I have so many next actions, I need a way to focus on which ones to do next that gives me a smaller number than just everything that's next.[/QUOTE]

Most folks use flagging to capture some subset of their actions that are currently important to them. Would that work in your case?

Another tactic is to use a "tickler" perspective, context mode grouping by start date and closing all the groups except the one for items starting today. You can make a similar one grouping by due date to show you those items which have an imminent deadline. In the morning, you have a look at the urgent perspective, knock them off, switch to the tickler perspective to knock off anything starting today which seems appropriate (making it less likely that you'll see it again in the future on the urgent view), then work the flagged items. If you've installed them as toolbar icons, it's easy to rotate through those views. When you save a perspective, if you have the Expansion box ticked, it will remember which groups were open.

If you finish off the stuff you've got on your plate for today, it is easy to cast the net a bit wider by opening up another group in the view, whether that be tasks recently turned available but not yet done, or items due in the next day or week, etc.

[QUOTE=Brian;80281]Most folks use flagging to capture some subset of their actions that are currently important to them. Would that work in your case?[/QUOTE]
Hi Brian,

I use flags all the time, when I go through in the morning and see what's next that I want to get done today. The start date feels different to me: It's a way of putting things on hold that I don't have to look at every day and decide about. So, I'm not sure they start date and flags have the same function for me.

Thanks!
Robin

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;80283]Another tactic is to use a "tickler" perspective, context mode grouping by start date and closing all the groups except the one for items starting today. You can make a similar one grouping by due date to show you those items which have an imminent deadline. In the morning, you have a look at the urgent perspective, knock them off, switch to the tickler perspective to knock off anything starting today which seems appropriate (making it less likely that you'll see it again in the future on the urgent view), then work the flagged items. If you've installed them as toolbar icons, it's easy to rotate through those views. When you save a perspective, if you have the Expansion box ticked, it will remember which groups were open.

If you finish off the stuff you've got on your plate for today, it is easy to cast the net a bit wider by opening up another group in the view, whether that be tasks recently turned available but not yet done, or items due in the next day or week, etc.[/QUOTE]

Exactly what I'd like to do, and exactly why I started this thread. When I group on start date, I get items that have no start date, but their project containers might, so it it hard to see what's really going on. Also, there is no way to filter out of that view actions that have no start date.

So, let's say I have something that started a few days ago. I would need to go into the tickler view and expand each of the groups to see what's what, and then I would see items with no start date, since their contain projects had the start date. To me, this is confusing, but hey, I get how to work around it.

Thanks.