[vanderwal]

One missing element to kGTD is a time visualization. When I move a due date I don't have a view of other things this action may impact. I would love a view of what I have in OmniFocus by time (requires estimating time of tasks) and priority/importance with time visualization. I often have little idea of the amount of stuff I have stacking up against a deadline. I need to know when to delegate or more a task or project out a week or month.

Some of the time visualization in OmniPlan could be helpful, or a link to OmniPlan possibly (OmniPlan has different emotional meaning as it is more formal than possibly is needed). A calendar view of meeting and call actions (or whatever a user prefers).

A built-in calendar view in OmniFocus would be helpful, which could sync or publish to iCal. This view could be more flexible than standard time blocks and with some work could be used to input and flow around interruptions. I really would like a stack of time estimated tasks with their priority/importance and allow me to understand I don't have 26 hours that day to actually get all of the tasks done on that day.

[SpiralOcean]

Just want to throw in my vote for this.

[Hoff]

I agree - it would be great to be able to see some sort of calendar view of a project, but I would keep it really simple and link to Plan if more of that kind of power is needed. I'd like to think of Plan as the full project managment solution, and Focus as the task/personal solution.

My caution comes from having looked at many project management apps - hoping to use them for my GTD system. There is usually way too much overhead to use them fluidly. Gantt charts, work time estimates, resource scheduling - those are all the kinds of things that a big project needs, but not the 95% of projects (especially if "project" is defined as ">1 task") that I work on.

Though having said that - it would be very nice to have a couple simple fields to estimate time. I too would like to be able to plan my day by easily seeing the amount of time I imagine my tasks will take. It would also be great to be able to compare my estimates to how much time I actually took. I'm always underestimating time - and that might help me fine tune.

[tacartwright]

Originally Posted by Hoff

Though having said that - it would be very nice to have a couple simple fields to estimate time. I too would like to be able to plan my day by easily seeing the amount of time I imagine my tasks will take. It would also be great to be able to compare my estimates to how much time I actually took. I'm always underestimating time - and that might help me fine tune.

I would be happy with a single time estimate field. It could be optional. To further simplify, it could be “bucketized” — instead of allowing any time (in minutes) to be entered, it could be a (user-definable) drop-down of durations. Something like “Quick (minutes)”, “Medium (ten of minutes)”, and “Long (hours)” would be sufficient for me. Then you don’t have to worry as much about accuracy and recording actuals.

Thoughts?

— Tim

[pjb]

Originally Posted by tacartwright

... Something like “Quick (minutes)”, “Medium (ten of minutes)”, and “Long (hours)” would be sufficient for me. ...— Tim

Me too.
-Paul

[yucca]

Me too! And before someone rains on this parade, no! iCal integration is not what we are referring to!

[michelle]

Originally Posted by tacartwright

I would be happy with a single time estimate field. It could be optional. To further simplify, it could be “bucketized” — instead of allowing any time (in minutes) to be entered, it could be a (user-definable) drop-down of durations. Something like “Quick (minutes)”, “Medium (ten of minutes)”, and “Long (hours)” would be sufficient for me. Then you don’t have to worry as much about accuracy and recording actuals.

Thoughts?

— Tim

Currently there is a time estimate field in the task inspector. There is also a column for time estimates. In the future, we'll have UI to hide this column if you don't want to see it. Right now we only allow hours and minutes in the field. If you type 3 days, it will be converted to 24 hrs (because it assumes 8 hr days). We realize this isn't ideal and we're trying to come up with a solution. Also, there is an option to sort tasks by time estimate in the filter bar. This isn't fully implemented yet, but when it is you'll be able to see all tasks that are less than one hr, less than 30 min, etc.

[joelande]

Originally Posted by tacartwright

I would be happy with a single time estimate field. It could be optional. To further simplify, it could be “bucketized” — instead of allowing any time (in minutes) to be entered, it could be a (user-definable) drop-down of durations. Something like “Quick (minutes)”, “Medium (ten of minutes)”, and “Long (hours)” would be sufficient for me. Then you don’t have to worry as much about accuracy and recording actuals.

Thoughts?

— Tim

There already is a duration field.

EDIT: Oops sorry, didn't notice that was an old post

Me too! Please, please do something like this.

[queenofspades]

please count me in