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Nested tasks don't inherit due dates Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I've some problems with due dates.
Since I like to split my tasks in subtasks, and I don't want to be overwhelmed by projects, I just nest subtasks under a main task. I think its one of the most powerful features of OF, totally lacking from competitors. In the past I'd used OmniOutliner to do the same, but of course in task management OF is the winner.
My problem is that the main task doesn't inherit the due date from the nested, active subtasks. Of course I'm talking of sequential tasks.
Since the due date is not inherited, the main tasks cannot be sorted by date, making it hard to see the most urgent main-tasks (that again contain the most urgent nested sub-tasks)
Hope I'd been clear enough.
Do you have any suggestion to do this, or is it something missing from OF101?
 
Ok, I've in some way fixed this. I've changed every task in a project, then collected thm under a single folder. Maybe I was misunderstanding the OF model: subtasks are just a visual way to organize to-dos, but the real brick here is the single project. And projects can be collected with folders and context, on which I can focus and so avoid the mess of too many tasks in the same window.
so:
- Main list
- > Folder
- >> Project
- >>> Tasks

and not:
- Main list
- > Project
- >> Tasks
- >>> SubTasks

So, I have some last words on this kind of problems...
DEAR FOLKS AT OG, I REALLY THINK IT'S TIME TO HAVE A GOOD EXPERT TUTORIAL FOR OF!!!
Video, PDF or interative Flash is your choice. I cannot loose so much time to find the best way to use OF.
This problem doesn't exist in more simple tools, like Things and others, but with OF a tutorial can really make the difference between an happy and a leaving customer.

Bye
Enrico
 
When you say you don't want to be overwhelmed by projects, are you saying you have too many tasks displayed, so you use subtasks to avoid that situation? You also say the project is sequential - in this case you should only have the "first" task showing if you display your tasks correctly, in context mode. Is this not happening to you?
 
There is one trick to avoid getting swamped by too many projects and that is to set them to on hold. I didn't do that much at first. Here is what I do now.

At the beginning of every week I ask myself if it is realistic that I will attempt to do that project this week. If not, I set it to on hold and the review date to next week. After a week I reevaluate that project.
 
That's exactly what I do. Of my roughly 150 projects (over 400 actions total), more than half are on hold at any given time. Sometimes, I make a project active, complete some actions, and then put it back on hold because its relative priority has changed.

Another useful habit is using the focus feature to narrow in on just one folder in planning mode. Only actions from that folder will show up in context mode too. This makes it easy to clear personal items from view while I'm at work, for example.

I use very few due dates, certainly fewer than 10 total.
 
 


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