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How do you use your inbox? Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
We aren't quite ready to show you OmniFocus, but we love that there are so many people eager to give feedback. :) I've come up with a few questions on things we've been working on.

How do you use your inbox? An inbox in a software application can be very different from a physical inbox. Do you always want it visible?

If you mark an item in your inbox as complete and it has no project assigned, should it get filed away in a group of completed items with no project assigned? Is this something you would see yourself doing a lot?

Once you assign a project to an inbox item, should it immediately move out of the inbox or should it stay there until you move it manually? Maybe something like a process inbox command?

When entering items using QuickSilver or our Quick Entry dialog, do you expect all items to go into the inbox or should items with a project assigned bypass the inbox and go straight into the project?

Thanks for your feedback!!

Michelle
The Omni Group
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
How do you use your inbox? An inbox in a software application can be very different from a physical inbox. Do you always want it visible?
The inbox is not the most important thing to me. The next action list is what has my focus, so I'd like to have that list always visible. (Well, it doesn't have to be always visible, but it should be the primary/default view of the app, if that's what you mean.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
If you mark an item in your inbox as complete and it has no project assigned, should it get filed away in a group of completed items with no project assigned?
Sounds like the right behavior.

Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
Is this something you would see yourself doing a lot?
Yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
Once you assign a project to an inbox item, should it immediately move out of the inbox or should it stay there until you move it manually?
My preference is to have it moved automatically.

Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
When entering items using QuickSilver or our Quick Entry dialog, do you expect all items to go into the inbox or should items with a project assigned bypass the inbox and go straight into the project?
If I specify a project for a new item, I would expect the item to appear in the project, not the inbox.
 
How do you use your inbox? An inbox in a software application can be very different from a physical inbox. Do you always want it visible?
No, I want my inbox to be a place I go to for non-project assigned items only. It would be looked at when I'm analyzing items for inclusion with a project. Unorganized. Unassociated. Loose stuff. It doesn't need to be visible all the time. It's best if it isn't.
If you mark an item in your inbox as complete and it has no project assigned, should it get filed away in a group of completed items with no project assigned? Is this something you would see yourself doing a lot?
This is something I see myself doing a lot. There are lots of items not assigned to projects. I don't want to be forced to create a project.
Once you assign a project to an inbox item, should it immediately move out of the inbox or should it stay there until you move it manually? Maybe something like a process inbox command?
I prefer that it move automatically. I would settle for a process inbox command (but not with any pleasure).
When entering items using QuickSilver or our Quick Entry dialog, do you expect all items to go into the inbox or should items with a project assigned bypass the inbox and go straight into the project?
If a project can be assigned at the time of quick entry, I want it to go straight to the project.
Thanks for your feedback!!

Michelle
The Omni Group[/QUOTE]
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
How do you use your inbox? An inbox in a software application can be very different from a physical inbox. Do you always want it visible?
My inbox is my collection bin for loose ideas, tasks, notes and everything else I want out of my head and don't want to think about any further at the moment I write them down. It's vital for me - it actually is my virtual memory. Quicksilver is crucial, here. At least for me. I want to visit the Inbox only a few times a day, mainly morning and evening, to process the stuff that's there.

Quote:
If you mark an item in your inbox as complete and it has no project assigned, should it get filed away in a group of completed items with no project assigned? Is this something you would see yourself doing a lot?
Yes - sometimes at the end of the day some issues have vanished. Things that I regard as ASAP without project are also in my inbox and stay there. I hate programmes that force me through sheets in order to process an item. Keep it as simple as possible, is what I prefer.

Quote:
Once you assign a project to an inbox item, should it immediately move out of the inbox or should it stay there until you move it manually? Maybe something like a process inbox command?
I like how OOpro+kGTD does it now: upon synch, it moves into the projects. If "process inbox" means "file files from the inbox into their project categories and synch all the rest" - fine by me. I wouldn't like different commands for processing the inbox, and different commands for synching or "refreshing" and then a different command for synching. What could be handy: disconnecting synch from iCal sync. I have a calender widget, and hardly use iCal.

Quote:
When entering items using QuickSilver or our Quick Entry dialog, do you expect all items to go into the inbox or should items with a project assigned bypass the inbox and go straight into the project?
I'd like the item to behave the way I want it to behave - if I set it for a specific context or project, then it should go there. I'm perfectly capable of reviewing my projects outside of the inbox and detailing them further inside the project view/pane - no problem. I don't want to live in the Inbox though: Projects are ever so much more important. The inbox is a temporary storage for almost everything that needs processing; things that are clearly connected to projects - let them go to the project in one fell swoop and I'll deal with them there.

Thanks for reading!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
How do you use your inbox? An inbox in a software application can be very different from a physical inbox. Do you always want it visible?
I place everything there. Ideas. Clippings. Unprocessed information. Plans. It’s a big repository for gathering everything.
I’m actually starting to use my Desktop like that. Everything that is on my Desktop needs to be processed. Ideally my Desktop will be clean and empty at the end of the day, or at least at the beginning of each week :)

I don’t want it to always be visible. In fact, I don’t want to look at it that much. In terms of Omni Focus it may be nice to have a very small indicator just leeting me know whether I have 5 items or 50 in my Inbox.

Quote:
If you mark an item in your inbox as complete and it has no project assigned, should it get filed away in a group of completed items with no project assigned? Is this something you would see yourself doing a lot?
Yes. That works for me. Perhaps I would like to place a note or something for reference. Could we add notes to multiple items at once?

Quote:
Once you assign a project to an inbox item, should it immediately move out of the inbox or should it stay there until you move it manually? Maybe something like a process inbox command?
A Process Inbox would work for me. I’m thinking that I could assign an item to a project, and perhaps after looking at other items or due to a mistake I decide that it was not the appropriate project. For me it will be better to assign projects (and perhaps other options such as context, energy level, time, etc.), and then process the Inbox.

Quote:
When entering items using QuickSilver or our Quick Entry dialog, do you expect all items to go into the inbox or should items with a project assigned bypass the inbox and go straight into the project?
I think that I would like to have the discipline of using the Inbox. I don’t use QS, though.

Quote:
Thanks for your feedback!!

Michelle
The Omni Group
And remember that you can always change the paradigm. What will make me a safer driver? Having an airbag deployed when I crash, or having a sword pop up instead of an airbag? :D
If I don’t get my Inbox empty every day, all remaining items should be permanently deleted without any option to recover them. That would really force me to have more discipline (Just kidding, but keep it in mind for next April Fool’s :D )
 
Inbox: I have five inboxes, two physical (work/home office), two email (work/home) and one that is in kGTD. I currently only use my kGTD inbox as a place to throw ideas using Quicksilver, really tasks or projects.

I don't want to see my OmniFocus Inbox all the time but I want to easily be able to get things into it. When I want to process my inbox, I would like it to be easy to take tasks/items and make them into projects, assign them to projects and contexts, etc. Quick processing is most important.

When I mark something complete in my inbox, it has usually been assigned to a project and a context so it naturally gets archived.

I would like things to immediately leave the inbox once assigned BOTH a project and context. Like reading an item in RSS or deleting something in mail.

If something is assigned both a project and a context it should go right to that project, skipping the inbox all together. The only reason things sit in kGTD Inbox today is that it needs to sync first (hopefully no manually syncing on OF).

At the end of the day, it is about being productive which means touching things once, getting them automatically in and out of the system and making sure the actual "doing" is more important than the "processing".

BZ
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
How do you use your inbox? An inbox in a software application can be very different from a physical inbox. Do you always want it visible?
My (computer) inbox functions to catch every scrap of thought or idea. Mostly this occurs in a setting where I do not have the time/energy at that moment to process it with task assignation, priority, etc. As a result, it tends to be pretty big. I look at it twice daily - at the start and at the finish - for processing. I would like a reference/link to the inbox to be always visible. A number in parenthesis to show the number of items would be nice but not a major need. But I emphatically want it visible only on command. (Keyboard command and the reference link.)

Quote:
If you mark an item in your inbox as complete and it has no project assigned, should it get filed away in a group of completed items with no project assigned? Is this something you would see yourself doing a lot?
Yes. Yes.

Quote:
Once you assign a project to an inbox item, should it immediately move out of the inbox or should it stay there until you move it manually? Maybe something like a process inbox command?
Yes.

Quote:
When entering items using QuickSilver or our Quick Entry dialog, do you expect all items to go into the inbox or should items with a project assigned bypass the inbox and go straight into the project?
For me, assigning a project is not the same as fully processing an item in the inbox. There are times when the item, on reflection, turns out to be a collection of items, or several sub tasks. I would prefer that it stay in the inbox until I move it to a project.

Peter
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by michelle
How do you use your inbox? An inbox in a software application can be very different from a physical inbox. Do you always want it visible?
Its a catch-all folder, which includes papers that I need to read, downloads, and files that have no current home
Quote:
If you mark an item in your inbox as complete and it has no project assigned, should it get filed away in a group of completed items with no project assigned? Is this something you would see yourself doing a lot?
Absolutely. I have lots of "!Single Tasks" (in kGTD-speak)
Quote:
Once you assign a project to an inbox item, should it immediately move out of the inbox or should it stay there until you move it manually? Maybe something like a process inbox command?
Automagically would be best. There is no reason for completed/processed items to be in an inbox -- makes no sense
Quote:
When entering items using QuickSilver or our Quick Entry dialog, do you expect all items to go into the inbox or should items with a project assigned bypass the inbox and go straight into the project?
The latter, similar to the current kGTD QS input:
"go to the store > Sunday Dinner @ errands"
 
I suspect you are getting the idea that an inbox is supposed to be empty (just like we are supposed to eat enough vegetables). I agree.
One other behavior I would like is the ability semi-intelligently parse items I drop on it. Dropping a file or link to the Focus icon in the dock should create an entry in the inbox with the link (preferably for me) tucked away where it belongs. You could then choose to tidy up later by assigning the item an action, context and a project.
Once I drag an item to a project, I would expect it to move there, not copy.
Frankly, I usually have an idea for a project when I enter an action (I have a few broad "projects"), so I don't often use the inbox for routine entry. It's most definitely a staging area.
 
For me the inbox is a place for collecting my thoughts to get them out of my mind. It is not a place that I look to to find my next actions. I would like to be able to easily find my inbox when I have thoughts to get out of my head.

Once stuff is in the inbox I leave it there until I am ready to process it. When I process it, I assign each thought a context and a project. Processed in this way it is ready to move out of the inbox. Thus for me I would like it to move when I confirm that I have chosen the right context and project which I guess would be like a "process inbox" command.

As I do not do the items that are listed in my inbox I would not ever need to mark one off as done. I do items that have been processed (assigned to a project and context) and are on my context lists of next actions.

If I enter the item along with its project and context using Quicksilver or the quick entry dialog it does not need to go to the inbox because I have already processed it. Therefore it should go straight into the project. However I don't see myself using this capability often as I have found that the more I separate collecting from processing the more I am free to clear my mind. I can just put the thoughts into the inbox and take the time to process them later. It is really a two stage process.

The logic of ThinkingRock where there is one screen for collecting thoughts and another for processing works for me and cleanly separates the two steps. As I tend to do lots of things at the same time this separation of the steps is a real beneficial discipline for me.
 
 


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