How do you use durations?
 

Has setting durations been helpful for you in using OF to get things done?

If you've used duration estimates , do you use them with or without a start date? End date?

Do you use them in any context? Only some contexts?

Do you use them in any project? Only some?

What about perspectives?

Are there perspectives you've created that you find useful for
1) ENTERING duration estimates;
2) REVIEWING actions' duration estimates to decide which actions to perform?

If you do NOT use durations, are there other tricks you find more useful?

Inquiring memes want to know...

Hey Flexattend, long time no tango :-)

I use the duration field mostly to mark off quick things, in conjunction with a context mode perspective I call "Quick Dash" which groups and sorts by due, selecting only those actions which are 5 minutes in duration or less. I do not put durations on the bulk of my actions; most with durations are probably repeating or template-based projects. I find it useful to have a list of quick and usually easy things to choose from when I'm feeling lazy or stuck or time-constrained -- I can possibly do something off that list and advance some project a little bit, and maybe after doing one or two of them I'll have built up some momentum and will continue on.

I do have a perspective that pulls out actions that don't have an estimate set in the hopes that I'll put in estimates, but I only use it when looking at the Quick Dash doesn't show anything appealing. Generally, the only actions with durations are the quick ones, or (infrequently) I'll have some project where I need an idea of how long the whole thing will take, and I'll put in durations to remind me.

As you might expect from the above, I use durations independently of start/due dates.

Another way of looking at it is that I make just enough use of the duration field to prevent me from using it for some other nefarious purpose, like a priority field :-)

Duration as a daily flag
 

I use duration as a daily flag. During my weekly review, I flag task that I need/want to get done the following week. At the beginning of the day, I use a perspective to pull up flagged and due (and about due) tasks. From that list, I assign a duration of 5m to indicate a task I want to complete that day. Then I use a perspective called daily to display only 5m tasks.

Don't use it at all, sorry to say. Have not found a good use and it makes capture a little harder which I don't like.

BZ

I use it all the time, only in my head and not written down in the time column, when I review the short list of Next Actions and pick the one to do with the time I have.

[QUOTE=pjb;70721]I use it all the time, only in my head and not written down in the time column, when I review the short list of Next Actions and pick the one to do with the time I have.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that is more like it.

I know how long something will take, but don't need to capture that (something DA does not talk about).

BZ