[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by kray

My mistake - I forgot to "clean up" and saw the action still there even though I'd assigned a future date.

Ah, that could explain it. There certainly are some cases where altering the contents of an existing view leads to slightly different results than bringing up the view again once the data has been altered.

Perhaps that's what I don't understand. It sounds like the "Start Date" is supposed to mean "I *cannot* do this action until this date/time has arrived" as opposed to meaning "this is the date/time I am planning on starting this action" (regardless of the reason why).

Yes, Start Date means "don't show me this item until the start date has arrived, I can't work on it until then", not "I'm planning to work on this at <start time>." OmniFocus (and its GTD inspiration) are not proponents of making schedules for the work you are going to do; rather, they help you choose the work you should do. Putting on a start date helps hide work you cannot do yet from your gaze, allowing you to choose from only actions you can do, which is more efficient.

See the problem is that most of my projects are parallel, but I've ordered the actions in the order I would like to perform them. I didn't make the project sequential because technically it isn't - there are no dependencies between actions for these projects. But at the same time, I'd like to see only the first action for each project so I don't have to contend with the visual clutter of all the other actions.

That's all reasonable, and as the program is generally intended to be used. When contemplating what to do next, are you looking at your actions in Project mode, or Context mode? It sounds like it might be the former, but for many situations, the latter is more effective. If you bring up a context mode view, grouped by project, showing next actions, I think you'll get what you want. Use the start date to indicate that a task or project is not available prior to that date.

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by Greg Jones

Bill, I still see nothing incorrect in what I wrote. What is the difference between what I said:
Only the next in list, remaining task in each project that is not blocked by a start date.

And what you said:
The next action shown for a parallel project is the first available action scanning down from the top.

The next in list task that is not blocked by a start date is the first available action, when scanned from the top.

A start date isn't the only thing that could block an action.

[Greg Jones]

Originally Posted by kray

I understand what you're saying... so "Start Date" ends up meaning "the date I want to take notice of this action"... maybe I can make that work; the downside is that if, say, I have one action that I think will take my whole day (start date today 9am) and another action set with a start date of tomorrow at 9 am and I get done early with my first action, the second action won't automatically show up and I'll have to go and "fudge" the start date (or remove it) in order to get it to show up...

If the actions are in the same project, the solution would be make the project, or the action group in the project sequential and do not assign a start date to tomorrow's task. Then when you check off today's task, the next task will become available. You don't need to assign a start date to every task to reap the benefits of start dates.

Using the painting example, here is a sample project where I want to apply two coats of paint to the walls, waiting 3 days between coats. The project is sequential and the first task becomes available tomorrow. As quickly as I check off one task, the next becomes available until I complete cleaning my brush and roller. At that point, nothing is available until February 5 when it is time to apply the second coat of paint.


In the case where the two day-long tasks are not in the same project and I have time left in the day (not likely!), I would switch the filter to Remaining to see what I can be working on for the balance of the day.

[whpalmer4]

Helpful tip from school of hard knocks (cats and kids department): put down drop cloth before opening paint!

The two coats of paint is a good example of something I've wanted for some time: the ability to specify a lead time between actions. If you could somehow say the second "Mix paint" action starts 3 days after you complete the first coat, then you wouldn't have to rejigger your schedule if you didn't start it when expected. You could make it a repeating action group for each coat, but you'd have to remember to stop after two coats :-)

[GrumpyDave]

Originally Posted by kray

I have one action that I think will take my whole day (start date today 9am) and another action set with a start date of tomorrow at 9 am and I get done early with my first action, the second action won't automatically show up and I'll have to go and "fudge" the start date (or remove it) in order to get it to show up.

If you're willing and able to work on the second task today if you have time, then it shouldn't have a start date of tomorrow. You should use start dates to push out tasks that can't be done right now even if you had nothing else to do.

[Greg Jones]

Originally Posted by whpalmer4

The two coats of paint is a good example of something I've wanted for some time: the ability to specify a lead time between actions. If you could somehow say the second "Mix paint" action starts 3 days after you complete the first coat, then you wouldn't have to rejigger your schedule if you didn't start it when expected. You could make it a repeating action group for each coat, but you'd have to remember to stop after two coats :-)

I'd really like to see this also-it would be a killer feature.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by whpalmer4

The two coats of paint is a good example of something I've wanted for some time: the ability to specify a lead time between actions. If you could somehow say the second "Mix paint" action starts 3 days after you complete the first coat, then you wouldn't have to rejigger your schedule if you didn't start it when expected.

I believe we have a feature request open on this. In case other interested parties read this thread, as always, emailing the support ninjas is the best way to indicate interest. Thanks! (And big thanks to Bill & Greg for being so helpful in this thread!)