[LizPf]

I'm experimenting with a third solution.

I just downloaded a program, Alarm Clock S.E., that lets me run a batch of different things at a set time. My goal is to come downstairs, open my PowerBook, and while I fix breakfast, have ACSE:

- log into my wireless network
- download my mail
- start my Internet radio station
- Open Firefox to my Freecycle Moderation page
- Open my OmniFocus Review checklist [this is an Applescript application I cobbled up]
- Open GCal so I can look at my calendar
- any other morning tasks I've forgotten.

If this works, I'll avoid falling into my "let's see if any cool stuff came through on my e-lists, instead of getting work done" trap.

--Liz

[Lightstorm]

Curt,
How long does your daily review take each morning? Thanks.

Originally Posted by curt.clifton

For this to work, your daily review needs to include looking at projects due for review. In Project View I just change the grouping setting to Next Review to see these projects.

I keep a Morning Review checklist in OmniOutliner. Here's what that checklist looks like:

- [ ] Process Email
- [ ] Empty In Box
- [ ] Empty In Folder
- [ ] Review Today's Calendar
- [ ] Empty OmniFocus Inbox
- [ ] Review active projects
          Step through Active Projects due for review today
    - [ ] Any projects to put On Hold or move to someday/maybe? (Be
          draconian)
    - [ ] Any projects that are stuck?
        - [ ] Planning/clarity needed?
        - [ ] True next action identified?
        - [ ] Attach purpose, "success looks like", etc.
                  See GtD for notes on this.
- [ ] Review Next Actions Lists
    - [ ] “Urgent” perspective
              Group Available Actions by Due Date
    - [ ] ”Important” perspective
              Group Available Actions by Context, Show only flagged
    - [ ] What important but not urgent thing will you do today?
- [ ] Read Bible
- [ ] Pray

[curt.clifton]

Originally Posted by Lightstorm

How long does your daily review take each morning?

It's highly variable, depending on how many items are in my various in-boxes and how many projects are due for review. It also depends on how much time I have for the review. Some days are crazy busy, so I just do a cursory review looking for fires or potential fires. I'd say on average I spend about 10-15 minutes on my morning review.

[mmblum]

Curt, if you're out there, a question about this tip...

Originally Posted by curt.clifton

One tip, if you set review frequencies using prime numbers you can reduce the likelihood of multiple project reviews piling up on the same day. My active projects have review frequencies of 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, or 17 days. My on-hold and someday-maybe ones have review frequencies of 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, ... weeks.

Are you saying that if you just choose review frequencies with some quasi-random variation from the prime numbers on this list -- in other words, mix up those that require frequent-but-not-daily review among 2-3-5 and those that require review less often among 11-13-17 -- they will, over time, tend not pile up on the same day?

I'm about to invest in big mega-all-project review in an effort to build a daily/weekly GTD/OF review process I can stick with. Your notion of spreading out the active project review to an everyday, little-bit-at-a-time process seems reasonable. I'm just want to make sure I don't review everything today, only to see it all show up for review next Monday morning.

By the way, thanks for sharing your own system here and elsewhere on these boards. It helps me to build and play with your perspectives, if only to see what OF can do and how the various customization features work.

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by mmblum

Are you saying that if you just choose review frequencies with some quasi-random variation from the prime numbers on this list -- in other words, mix up those that require frequent-but-not-daily review among 2-3-5 and those that require review less often among 11-13-17 -- they will, over time, tend not pile up on the same day?

I'm not Curt, but I can tell you that the least common multiple (LCM) of two prime numbers is going to be the product of those two numbers. So if you have two projects with review frequencies of 2 and 11 days, respectively, every 22 days they will end up being reviewed together. Contrast that with the case of review frequencies of 2 and 10 days, where every 10 days they will be reviewed together (because the LCM of 2 and 10 is 10), and you can see the difference.

You will also get the same effect if you choose a pair of numbers that are relatively prime, for example 4 and 7. 7 isn't prime, but has no factors in common with 4. If you do something every Monday, and something else starting on that same Monday and every 4th day thereafter, a quick check of a calendar will show that it will be 4*7=28 days (4 weeks) before those two activities happen together on the same day again.

I'm about to invest in big mega-all-project review in an effort to build a daily/weekly GTD/OF review process I can stick with. Your notion of spreading out the active project review to an everyday, little-bit-at-a-time process seems reasonable. I'm just want to make sure I don't review everything today, only to see it all show up for review next Monday morning.

Remember, you can always adjust the date of the next review and/or the period between reviews for an individual project if things seem to be "bunching up" too much, or the attention needed changes. Doing any sort of regular review process gives you a big leg up over not doing them!

By the way, thanks for sharing your own system here and elsewhere on these boards. It helps me to build and play with your perspectives, if only to see what OF can do and how the various customization features work.

Yep, after I first read Curt's post detailing his perspectives, I not only added many of them to my own workflow, I also went back and read every thread where he'd posted! It was time well spent. Of course, he's a fairly prolific poster, so it will take much longer to do that now than when I did it :-)

[whpalmer4]

One more thing to help smooth out the review workload:

Say you've got a bunch of stuff that you want to review every 2 days, and a bunch that you want to review every 3 days. Every 6 days, all of it will be due for review, and other days you might not have any to review. If instead you split each bunch over the number of days in the review cycle, the workload is smoother. For purposes of illustration, let's say you have 40 items with a 2 day review, and 30 with a 3 day review.