Methodology Question: Someday Lists
 

Hi all,

Now that I have OF on all my devices, it's time for me to dump my Personal tasks into it on top of my work tasks. I've set up respective folders to keep the work tasks and personal tasks easily separated, but one thing I'm toying with are "someday" lists. I have a system in place now, but I was curious about what the forums thought about it.

Here's the easy example, my "Books to Read" list. I have ton's of books just sitting around my house that I "plan on reading" but never do. So, in OmniFocus, I set up a SAL entitled "Books to Read" and entered the books. The rationale is that during my review, I can remind myself "hey, I haven't picked up that book in a while."

Here's the thing that is bugging me a little. For the context, I have all the items as "Read" as I have a ton of stuff to read for my work as well. This works well for work and the book I'm reading currently, but with the titles of all the books I WANT to read in the future, the "read" context is now very full. Should I put the books that I'm not currently reading in the "Waiting" context? Maybe use a Project instead of a SAL and list the books sequentially (having OF block the unread books)? Something else?

I look forward to hearing what you guys and gals have to say.

I tend to keep two single action lists for stuff like this. One of this lists is active, the other list is on-hold. I move items between lists to activate them or out hem on hold.

Lists
 

I've got several SALs named thing like "books", "movies and dvd", "eating out", "photography". All the individual books and movies just have the on-hold context of "list" so they're inactive.

If I decide I want to actually buy (or in your case read) a book just assign it an active context (but can just keep it in the same list) - then it shows up where i'll see it. Usually "errands - weekday" context for me, or maybe "home" for you if you've got the book already...

[QUOTE=curt.clifton;82969]I tend to keep two single action lists for stuff like this. One of this lists is active, the other list is on-hold. I move items between lists to activate them or out hem on hold.[/QUOTE]

Good idea.. I can implement something like that myself (as I have a similar situation for 'someday' items). I don't think that would work for the OP though, as he stated that he would like to see these un-read books popping up in his weekly review to remind him that he still has to read Book X, Y, Z etc. the weekly review doesn't show projects/tasks that are on hold and you can't change the view filter (Next Action, Remaining, All etc).

[QUOTE=IceWind;83012]Good idea.. I can implement something like that myself (as I have a similar situation for 'someday' items). I don't think that would work for the OP though, as he stated that he would like to see these un-read books popping up in his weekly review to remind him that he still has to read Book X, Y, Z etc. the weekly review doesn't show projects/tasks that are on hold and you can't change the view filter (Next Action, Remaining, All etc).[/QUOTE]

The Review mode on the iPad certainly does show on-hold projects. Not being able to hide them is my biggest gripe with the iPad app!

What I do with these when they come up in review is set my review interval to something like "Review every 25 years" and then mark reviewed.

[QUOTE=curt.clifton;83015]The Review mode on the iPad certainly does show on-hold projects. Not being able to hide them is my biggest gripe with the iPad app![/QUOTE]

Doh!.. Sorry.. I got mixed up with Forecast view on the iPad. You are right.

I have lists like that in an outliner (CarbonFin on my touch). I have an outline for movies to see, books to read, things to sew, etc. Things that can be done whenever, some for leisure, some mildly important.

Then in OF, I have the to do items, "Review to sew list (52/yr)", "Review to see/read (52/yr)".

In CarbonFin (which I recommend), I can organize each list however I want. By priority, subject, .... And of course, each item can be individually dragged as you wish, which is really nice.

I also do this for other outlines like my personal goals and shopping list. Have been doing this for about six months. Works well for me.

[QUOTE=curt.clifton;83015]The Review mode on the iPad certainly does show on-hold projects. Not being able to hide them is my biggest gripe with the iPad app![/QUOTE]

Heh. I would probably like an option, but I definitely normally want to see on hold projects. My current strategy is to have on hold any project I don't expect to work on this week. I review on hold projects and active and decide which ones will change status.

After awhile, I will push up the review frequency to monthly, then probably move them to an external system.

I have only really just started to use this seriously, so we'll see how it works.

My issue is that I do daily reviews of active projects that are due for review, and set a variety of review intervals based on prime numbers of days, e.g., 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, etc. This allows me to stay on top of fast moving projects, while preventing reviews from piling up on a particular day. I only review my on-hold projects that are due for review on a weekly basis. So, I want to be able to view or not view the on-hold projects in review mode.

I'm working on a desktop script to push forward the review dates of on-hold and pending projects. I'll share when it's working.