Quote:
Originally Posted by hypotyposis
JorBru, with all due respect for your specific workflow needs, I'm part of the bunch that is very much pro-this "reactionary workflow". And I'm amused -in a good way- by this description of David Allen's system; which I do not think by any means is the only one available; however, it is nominatively the one OF is attached to; there's other apps that might be more appropriate to the type of workflow you seem to be applying.
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I wouldn't want to take the "reactionary workflow" away from you :-)
Just want to have the option to be pro-active.
I'm an adherent to David Allen's system, so I definitely understand the value of being able to answer the question "What can be done at this moment {in this context, etc.}".
It's just that the ability to plan ahead is also important.
OF already can capture time required to perform a task, context, start and due dates, etc. In my mind, there is little that is missing.
One "missing" feature is a way to plan for the future (as part of, say, a weekly review). I think David Allen would agree that some thought about when a task is to be completed is part of the process. To the extent that I have captured Context and Estimated Time data for action items, the system could tell me when I have an impossible plan (either because it requires more than 24 hours in a day, or incompatible Contexts, such as being in Boston and Chicago on the same afternoon).
Not recognizing those impossible plans means not realizing that Action due dates might not be met. As the work day/week wear on, there are inevitable disruptions to the plan - the sooner that the implications of such disruptions are understood the better. Often, the most important tasks to be completed are important not because their due date is approaching but because their Context is available now and will not be available again in sufficient time for a downstream task to be completed.
I appreciate that it is difficult to add capabilities without cluttering the tool - but there is opportunity here also.
Ultimately, I would like weekly and daily reviews to keep OF sufficiently up-to-date that it can provide me with a one page (iPad screen) summary of my day - displaying Calendar info from iCal in one column, and Action Items in another column. (before anyone tells me that Action Items do not belong on a calendar, please know that I understand that - however, on any given day, the objective is to manage time between hard landscape and things that need getting done. thus, two columns: one with time slots, and one that is a list).
This "Hot list and Appointments" page could be refreshed whenever new info is available (and thus would not require clerical management of lists beyond what happens in the course of daily and weekly reviews and the checking-off of completed items).
I don't see a conflict with GTD here. Rather, I see this as a more complete implementation of Allen's vision. The ability to find tasks that can be done in the current Context is very important (as a reaction to unexpected change in plans), but we also need to know when we have "scheduled" mutually exclusive Contexts - or even just to know what Contexts must be achieved to keep moving forward.