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-   -   Feature Request: task prioritization! (http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=3836)

curt.clifton 2007-07-17 02:33 PM

[QUOTE=Weasel]
I guess there would be a way to achieve this with tons of contexts and filters, but then I will need another list (OO checklist?) to make sure I checked all possible configurations.

If everyone keeps on talking about the fail-safe system, for me a system like that allows me to [B]not forget important stuff without making me spend excessive time on checking the various possible list configuration[/B].[/QUOTE]

I actually do use OO checklists for Morning Review, Evening Review, Weekly Review, Monthly Review, and Bi-annual Review. Periodic reviews to keep your system working are a key tenet of the GTD approach. You can get some benefit of GTD without doing them, but the benefits multiply when you have all the pieces.

The key is the definition of "excessive time". I probably spend about 30 minutes a day on daily reviews (10 in the evening and 20 in the morning). My weekly review probably takes an average of an hour. I don't consider that time excessive at all; in fact, it is essential.

brianogilvie 2007-07-17 10:51 PM

[QUOTE=curt.clifton]The key is the definition of "excessive time". I probably spend about 30 minutes a day on daily reviews (10 in the evening and 20 in the morning). My weekly review probably takes an average of an hour. I don't consider that time excessive at all; in fact, it is essential.[/QUOTE]

Very good point. It's taken me a long time to learn that I need to plan around half an hour at the end of my day to review what I've done--not just in terms of what remains to be done, but also how well I've done it and anything I could do better the next time (or need to fix this time). OmniFocus could use better tools for this, though Perspectives, once they are more robust, could help a lot.

LizPf 2007-07-18 06:19 AM

[QUOTE=BwanaZulia]Look at a list of 5 calls and you will know instantly which one you need to do first and you will.
[/QUOTE]

This is my thought — if I can tell which activity is highest priority today, I should still be able to pick it out of a list 3 days from now.

Priorities ARE important — but do they need to be written down? I'm not so sure.

GeekLady, using your 3 phone calls example, you know the call to Steve is lowest. But of the other two, one takes 3 minutes and the other takes maybe 20. If you have 5 minutes for phone calls right now, you have time to set up the appointment but not deal with voice mail h*ll at the insurance company.

I'm beginning to realize that I need enough contexts -- and supplementary info such as duration, dates, etc. to be able to view my stuff in little tiny groups. Then I can focus in on the tiny group that fits my needs right now, and do the task that jumps out at me in that group, without being nagged by others. If I have enough supplementary data, I don't need priority.

Which is not to say you don't need it.

--Liz

GeekLady 2007-07-18 07:26 AM

Indeed, but I did specify in my example that I had the time to make any of those 3 calls.

Perhaps a more complicated example is in order. I'm a research technician. At the lab, I have, at any one moment, a minimum of 20 active projects. I also do not have the priviledge of setting my own priorities - my PI sets my priorities (and these can change hourly depending on his mood anyway). But my PI's priorities as a researcher differ from my own priorities as his lab manager. Part of my job is to make sure the lab will keep running, that the computers all continue to work, that we have enough supplies for experiments, etc. But this part of my job is essentially invisible to my PI, he notices if it isn't done, but only because it interferes in what [I]his[/I] priorities for me are - that I assist the post docs and students in their research projects.

It is easy to remember and focus on what my priorities are. It's harder to focus on other people's priorities (especially when they change frequently), and this is where the ability to prioritize tasks and projects would be extremely helpful for me.

[QUOTE=LizPf]
GeekLady, using your 3 phone calls example, you know the call to Steve is lowest. But of the other two, one takes 3 minutes and the other takes maybe 20. If you have 5 minutes for phone calls right now, you have time to set up the appointment but not deal with voice mail h*ll at the insurance company.[/QUOTE]

BwanaZulia 2007-07-18 08:47 AM

[QUOTE=GeekLady]Indeed, but I did specify in my example that I had the time to make any of those 3 calls.

Perhaps a more complicated example is in order. I'm a research technician. At the lab, I have, at any one moment, a minimum of 20 active projects. I also do not have the priviledge of setting my own priorities - my PI sets my priorities (and these can change hourly depending on his mood anyway). But my PI's priorities as a researcher differ from my own priorities as his lab manager. Part of my job is to make sure the lab will keep running, that the computers all continue to work, that we have enough supplies for experiments, etc. But this part of my job is essentially invisible to my PI, he notices if it isn't done, but only because it interferes in what [I]his[/I] priorities for me are - that I assist the post docs and students in their research projects.

It is easy to remember and focus on what my priorities are. It's harder to focus on other people's priorities (especially when they change frequently), and this is where the ability to prioritize tasks and projects would be extremely helpful for me.[/QUOTE]

I think you just gave a perfect example why actually recording and managing priorities is a mistake. They are constantly changing, are too numerous and possibly blinding because of their complexity.

Your mind has the great ability to scan a small list (context) and pick from there what the biggest priority is.

BZ

GeekLady 2007-07-18 12:06 PM

You're making the assumption that 1, priorities are so dynamic that by the time I've recorded a change, they've changed again; 2, that I [I]can[/I] pick out the tasks most important to someone else from a LONG, not short, list of things that need to be done. I have no short lists in the lab.

I just don't always remember which things are super important to my boss. That's why I find priorities so useful - otherwise, I [B]will[/B] forget something. It'll be in my list, but I won't get to it as quickly as the boss expects, because I don't recognize it as a priority.

If I'm going to be able to trust my system, it has to hold on to the things that I will otherwise forget, and one of the things that I forget, that I know I forget, is how important different tasks are to my boss. It imposes a certain amount of hassle on me, but much, much less hassle than forgetting to email some results to the postdoc that left the lab 2 years ago and is just now getting around to publishing his paper on my sweat blood and tears.

[QUOTE=BwanaZulia]I think you just gave a perfect example why actually recording and managing priorities is a mistake. They are constantly changing, are too numerous and possibly blinding because of their complexity.

Your mind has the great ability to scan a small list (context) and pick from there what the biggest priority is.

BZ[/QUOTE]

We can go around like this all day. If we base these things purely on personal preference, my use for priorities is just as valid a reason for including them in OF as your non-use is for excluding them.

Lecter 2007-07-19 12:30 AM

Given flags, due dates and drag and drop ordering, OmniFocus has more prioritization than a project/context system (aka GTD) needs. Using those three items, the arrange function allows you to sort and prioritize on the fly, allowing your productivity to flow as rapidly as needed.

Just my 2¢.

Jim

GeekLady 2007-07-19 04:21 AM

[QUOTE=Lecter]Given flags, due dates and drag and drop ordering, OmniFocus has more prioritization than a project/context system (aka GTD) needs. Using those three items, the arrange function allows you to sort and prioritize on the fly, allowing your productivity to flow as rapidly as needed.

Just my 2¢.

Jim[/QUOTE]

1. You cannot drag and drop order in context.
2. You can't sort by flags, only choose to see just flagged items or all items.

I was using flags for priority markers until they moved it to it's own filter.

curt.clifton 2007-07-19 04:56 AM

I'm already on record as unopposed to adding priorities to OF, but want to better understand what you're saying here.

[QUOTE=GeekLady]
1. You cannot drag and drop order in context.
[/QUOTE]

You can, however, reorder whole projects in project view. I organize my projects by life roles, but one could create folders in project view based on relative priority. For example, all the highest priority projects could go under the Highest Priority folder, which you would put first in the project listing. Then if you view contexts as Unsorted, the actions from the highest priority projects will come first.

[QUOTE=GeekLady]
2. You can't sort by flags, only choose to see just flagged items or all items.

I was using flags for priority markers until they moved it to it's own filter.[/QUOTE]

I don't understand what you're saying here.

Why would moving flags to their own filter cause you to stop using them as priority markers? It is true that you can't sort by flags. (I've submitted a feature request for that). But moving flags to their own filter makes them more powerful than when they shared a filter with action availability.

dhm2006 2007-07-19 05:46 AM

[QUOTE=GeekLady]You cannot drag and drop order in context.
[/QUOTE]

I also am not opposed to adding priorities to OF.

However, I didn't realize until reading Curt's post that we can sort in context view (or even see/set the View Bar in context view for that matter), but since we can sort by name in the context view, why couldn't you reorder things in context view simply by adding a priority number to the beginning of the action names and than sorting by name? That seems simple enough. Anything PI wants gets "1" and would sort to the top of the list.


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