How to Replicate "Today" list in OF
 

I bounce back and forth between Things and OF mainly because of Things' Today feature. It is just so nice to be able to quickly go through my lists and decided "These are things I would [I]like[/I] to get done today," and then be able to sort them in the order I want to get them done. Has anyone found a decent workflow for recreating this functionality in OF?

I don't want to set due dates (these aren't things that are actually due today, just things I [I]want[/I] to get done to day).

How are people accomplishing this? Do you use flags? Start dates?

Thanks

Using "Due or Flagged" works well for this. Then flag tasks you want to put there manually, and due/overdue will show up automatically. You can then group by whatever you want: Context, project, due date, etc.

The only thing you can't currently do is sort them manually in context mode. However, you do have some control over this by the order the actions appear in project/planning mode.

Personally, I don't find the lack of manual sort to be an issue since I usually sort and execute by context or project. But I can see how someone might want a manual sort capability. There's been discussion of this before and I'm sure Omni has a feature request open on it. If you're interested, you should send them feedback to "vote up" the feature.

-Dennis

The "due or flagged" comes close but isn't quite there. First off, it isn't available in Projects mode (seems odd). Second, there is no way to filter out actions that have a start date in the future. So, if I flag an action but set a start date for tomorrow, I don't want it to show up in the list until tomorrow.

If I filter by Start Date then the actions I have deferred at least move to the bottom, but I really want to see these actions grouped by project. Any ways around this?

[QUOTE=gdevore;76318]Second, there is no way to filter out actions that have a start date in the future. ... Any ways around this?[/QUOTE]

Have you tried you setting the status filter to only display "Available" actions in context mode?

-Dennis

That's the problem. "Due or Flagged" is a status filter setting. So you either have "Due or Flagged" or "Available" where what I want is "Due or Flagged AND Available".

[QUOTE=gdevore;76320]That's the problem. "Due or Flagged" is a status filter setting. So you either have "Due or Flagged" or "Available" where what I want is "Due or Flagged AND Available".[/QUOTE]

Oh, I see. You must not be using the 1.8 sneaky peek build. That beta version moved "Due or Flagged" out of the Status filter. IIRC, it's now under the Flagged filter (not in front of my Mac to check).

So if you don't want to try the sneaky peek (which, incidentally, has been very stable for me), you can at least take solace in knowing that the feature is coming soon.

-Dennis

[QUOTE=gdevore;76320]That's the problem. "Due or Flagged" is a status filter setting. So you either have "Due or Flagged" or "Available" where what I want is "Due or Flagged AND Available".[/QUOTE]

In 1.8 you definitely have this.

OF is streets ahead of Things in functionality and configurability but so many users still come back to this problem... the list of what they want to do Today. The problem is that OF is fantastic at Getting Ready To Get Things Done, but not so great during the What Am I Doing Now stage. Without a complete GUI revamp (hoped for in version 2?), the simplest way around this problem in version 1.9 would be to add further customisation to the Availability Filter to include "Started or Due"
I gather that many of us are using Start dates to determine what to do now or soon and Due dates of tasks with specific deadlines. The problem with the current filtering options is... if I want a list of Actions that have a start date on or before Now, my options are limited to Grouping or Sorting by Start and then ignoring (closing) the Group called "Start any time". It means I cannot have a list or Perspective grouped or sorted by other parameters.
I would suggest a "Started" filter that includes only items that have any Start date or a Start date that is now or past but not future. Also an Availability Filter called "Started or Due".
It does get complicated when you add Available, Remaining and/or Next Action to the mix but I don't mind a lot more Available Filter options with each possibility - or having each one configurable by Prefs. It would be better than the current situation.
This should not apply to Projects because they may have been started but that doesn't mean you want to do the Actions within them now or today.

The other "Today" and "Started" functionality required is whether people want Actions with started dates prior to today to roll over... ie, to have them automatically update to today's date at midnight. This was available in Now Up-to-Date's to do list and it came in handy. It might offend some purists but it could be optional by configuration through an off/on default in Prefs and individual control through Action Inspector.

And to complete the Today/Started elements so attractive to Things users, there should be a menu command, keyboard shortcut and toolbar icon called "Do Today" or whatever that sets or changes a selected Action's - or, more importantly a selected number of Actions' Start Date to today's date and now time. It is really cumbersome to have to go to the Action Inspector and click on the Start date field and write Today or Now all the time.

I know a lot of people rely on Flagged for this sort of thing but that should be reserved for special items that demand special attention. What I want to do now or today is about whether I want to start that Action. Until OF has some kind of differentiation between Actions that have started but not finished (ie are in progress) as opposed to a tick box that is either completed or not, then I think Start Date is the best option we've got.

Your thoughts?

[QUOTE=watchit;76344]Without a complete GUI revamp (hoped for in version 2?), the simplest way around this problem in version 1.9 would be to add further customisation to the Availability Filter to include "Started or Due"
[/QUOTE]

"Started or due" would be nice, but I might prefer "Started and due". On very busy days, I have "evening tasks" starting in the afternoon that I don't need to see yet. I do agree, though, that there is certainly room for a lot in the availability filter - i.e. both of these.