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I'm going to ask what may be perceived by some to be a silly or stupid question, but I am curious to know how everyone else uses flags. Under what circumstances do you flag a task? I'm not quite sure when to use it. I'm sure that everyone has different criteria, but I'd like to hear some different opinions.

Thanks in advance.
 
I have a "Core" context perspective that only displays available items with a due date or that are flagged.

Then I have an "All" context perspective that shows all available tasks.

I use the first to just show me important/urgent things - (I try to keep it under 10 items so it fits on an iPad screen), the second to show me all available tasks.

I have quite a few projects where the project itself has a due or is flagged so any task I add to those "important" projects appears in Core automatically, otherwise they appear in All by default.

I actually have two of each, one for work and one for home.
 
I have "Due Soon" set to two days on my devices; I use Flags for the stuff that's important but not urgent. "Stay on top of this, but it's not due for a month" kind of things.
 
I flag in two different ways:

* Next actions that I choose at a given review point to handle in a forthcoming, short, foreseeable time frame (a few hours), thereby marking them as Active actions

* Single step projects on hold that occupy the top level of each project folder and contain only a note, thereby marking them as Visions
 
I use them the same way Brian mentioned , flag the stuff that's " important " but not urgent , kind of a little bit of Covey principles mixed in with GTD, especially items that I know my boss will ask about again in a month or two .
Keeps them on your " radar " without using false due dates : )
 
My flag usage has varied over time. I'm a big fan of start dates, but many items will pass their start dates (or in the case of a sequential project, not have a start date) without being started, and thus my list of actions which could be worked is pretty lengthy. I have a "tickler" perspective that shows actions grouped by start date which provides a steady stream of new work inputs, many of which will get done in the day or two after they first appear. As I review the older material, either by looking backward in the tickler's field of view, or as I review projects, I'll flag items that I want to get done in the next few days, and projects that should get the bulk of my attention. Every morning I'll look at the items due that day, the items that start that day, and try to finish all of the former and many of the latter, then attempt to empty the flagged list. I'm experimenting with a forced purging of the flagged list by dragging the whole list to OmniOutliner at the start of the week, then checking back at the end of the week to see if there are items I didn't complete. Theory is anything that I didn't do after a week of being on the list probably either needs some refinement, reconsideration, or maybe I just put too much on the list.
 
I use flags as a "do today" marker. Each morning, or the night before, I look over my next actions and flag what I want to do today. Love to see a small list whittle down to nothing as the day goes on.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by titchywy View Post
I use flags as a "do today" marker. Each morning, or the night before, I look over my next actions and flag what I want to do today. Love to see a small list whittle down to nothing as the day goes on.
Yeah I love this approach and I use it myself too.

In my opinion, you should never use due dates UNLESS it's absolutely a deadline. Randomly assigning due dates or estimating due dates is a bad idea. You will end up changing due dates a lot when it's not working out as you might have planned, which defeats the purpose.

That's why I love the flagging approach. It is up to you to figure out what the best use of your time is. In Covey syntax, it's pro-active, non-urgetn, important, and for the long-term. You can flag what you want to complete today or this week.
 
I use flagging to mark tasks that I want to appear in my Today list.

Or I use flagging with start dates to automate my tasks to appear onto Today list on a certain date.
 
 


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