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today status - feature request Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
No, Craig, the big problem with "available" is that OF defines Actions without any start date as "available". I have hundreds of Actions without start dates. I don't want to be forced to allocate start dates to get around a problem that could be so easily fixed. If there was an on/off check box in Preferences that enabled a user to define "available" as only those Actions with Start dates, then your suggestion could get around the problem, but "available" is also affected by whether a Project is Parallel or Sequential or Singles. I think it should be a Perspectives option.

Last edited by watchit; 2010-06-09 at 01:26 PM..
 
i think i'm wanting something different than just a due date today action list.

i want something which gives my confused mind an idiot list of things i want to do today, and a syntax for them. if i'm feeling particularly stupid or unfocused, it helps me to have a simple list of what i want to do and the order i want to do them in.

-breakfast
-shower
-site development 1 hour
-meditate
-grocery shopping
-call logo designer
etc.

these are a combination of outcome and process oriented activities, not all of which would be in an omnifocus list already.

the today feature is already available in cc things, and it works great - reordering of today items is easy, and it lets me forget about everything else. what's next? oh yeah, there it is...

i don't see a feasible workaround in omnifocus, and don't see why such a feature would be detrimental to any other workflows. using the OF flags doesn't give me the ability to order flagged items manually - flagged items is a context view, not a projects view.

"today" status is the single feature which makes me keep wondering when cc will get their cloud syncing act together... (well, that and the fact that omni are so damned slow at integrating their products eg omnifocus and omniplan for starters.)

Last edited by elektroglide; 2010-06-12 at 01:54 AM..
 
I usually make such a list on paper, often using these forms from "Printable CEO".
 
I have an idea for an applescript that would allow moving context view actions into a user-defined order but just haven't gotten around to looking at it closely. My idea is that if your actions are ordered by project in context view, you could have an applescript that would look at the action that is above it and make the minimum change necessary in the project outline to move that action up one slot. It might be just moving the action up in the project view, or moving the action's group, or moving the project up a bit.
 
elektroglide, I am not suggesting a "due" date action list... I see "start" dates as the mechanism within OF to determine what is done "Today" - if an action hasn't started then it isn't ready to be done today (or earlier). Due dates are entirely different. A start date is for actions that you have decided, for whatever reason, to be done once that date (and time, if you want to be specific) has been reached. A due date is for actions where the date is set by an outside force, not just your own arbitrary decision. It is due because there will be consequence if you don't complete the action by that date (and time)... eg: a key meeting, an expiration of a discount, a flight, whatever.
I hate to harp on about it (but I will ;) - the easiest way to make a Today list within the current OF architecture is for Omni to create an option within Perspectives to only show Actions/Projects with a start date on or before "now". This should be accompanied by a more easy method of marking actions/projects with a start date/time of "now".
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by elektroglide View Post
i don't see that it would disrupt anything in gtd or OF to have a today status feature...
Today lists are a form of prioritisation. You're saying that these items are more important than anything else based on some arbitrary measure which may not be valid when you come round to doing the task. There may be a perfectly valid reason why you CAN'T do the task when the time comes, but you will feel bad about not being able to do it.
Also there may be other tasks that you are able to do but they won't get done because they aren't on your today list.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchit View Post
I see "start" dates as the mechanism within OF to determine what is done "Today" ... A start date is for actions that you have decided, for whatever reason, to be done once that date (and time, if you want to be specific) has been reached.
I think you have this a little backwards. Strictly speaking start dates are for tasks that you CAN'T do until a day in the future. They are a means to hide tasks because they can't be done yet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by watchit View Post
I hate to harp on about it (but I will ;) - the easiest way to make a Today list within the current OF architecture is for Omni to create an option within Perspectives to only show Actions/Projects with a start date on or before "now". This should be accompanied by a more easy method of marking actions/projects with a start date/time of "now".
What you are describing sounds like "Treading Water"
http://kouroshdini.com/2009/04/23/ho...advanced-user/

Giving a task a start date of the day you want to do the task is the same as giving it a due date for the same reason.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by henry View Post
Giving a task a start date of the day you want to do the task is the same as giving it a due date for the same reason.
henry, if what you are saying is true, then why does OF have start dates and due dates... why not just one date?
I don't have anything backwards... the fact is the app treats each one quite differently.
The problem I have with the way OF treats start dates is that it does NOT hide actions for which a start date has not been set so Perspectives are littered with hundreds of actions unless I hide each and every one of them with an arbitrary future start date.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchit View Post
why does OF have start dates and due dates... why not just one date?
Start date is there to allow you to reduce clutter by hiding actions that cannot be accomplished until some other event occurs. An off-the-top-of-my-head example: a "reserve a new iPhone" action couldn't be accomplished before today, when Apple allowed folks to reserve them. Showing the action before then means just makes it harder to find actions that I can actually work on.

Due date is there to allow you to say "this action must be done before some date". Example: while you can pay your taxes on April 16th here in the states, you're far better off if you do so on the 15th, when they are due.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchit View Post
both a menu command and toolbar button to make the Start date of all selected Actions "now"
I don't think there's enough demand for a separate menu item, though folks can certainly request one by emailing the support ninjas.

You can use the inspector to add a start date of Today to multiple items at the same time. Select the ones you want to start today, type "tod" into the inspector field, and the selected items will all get the value.
 
 


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