Thanks for this. I also really like Tasks. Do you find sometimes they are a bit buggy - e.g. sometimes don't tick off when you click them, or you tick them off and they reappear later? is that a known issue?
Yes. I have this happen. They know about it and it looks like the page loses its refresh after a certain amount of time. Tasks complete but don't always disappear. A refresh or switching to another screen and back again works. I'm hoping they fix this.
Jon - I agree with your view that one system doesn't fit all. Everyone has different ways of working and managing information. My current workflow practice (I hesitate to call it a "system") has bits of GRD, some PARA, thoughts from EN Consultant Stacey Harmon, and ideas from a TMI Time Management course that my firm sent me on more than 3 decades ago (back in the Filofax era - ore mobile phones and access to the web wherever!)
The comments in this chat support my belief that Evernote is so flexible to be able to be used with anyone's workflow.
As for Tasks - I have Recurring Tasks - which are mainly reminders of regular payments or income, of meetings, subscription renewals and the like. So, e.g. I'll have a Note set up for bank account with the recurring payments and income set up as Tasks within it.
Then there'll be the Activity Tasks within a "Project" - like William Powers' comment, within my Project Control Note I'll list the various activities with checkboxes, then as each activity becomes actionable, it'l be converted to an Evernote Task. Depending on the "Project" I might set some Milestone Tasks within the Project Control Note as well.
I'm looking forward to the improvements in the Daily Notes function promised as I think that will enable me to manage things even better - giving me a better focus for the day's activities.
Jon, you win my award for being the smartest guy on the internet today. Why? Your declaration that "we all have different jobs, and even if we had the same jobs, we'd all do them differently." Yes, of course! I appreciate you showing us your workflow. Mine is different. There is no right or wrong, and I regret buying the GTD book and believing there was one way to do things.
Learning about all these various techniques, through books or online videos & tutorials, even "Taming The Trunk", ultimately help in continuously developing and refining your own technique.
Maybe by the time I'm to old to use a computer I will finally have developed the perfect workflow LOL
You appear to keep most of your tasks in the "Things to do" notebook.
When or why do you put them in other notebooks?
I am curious as to why you keep the task list open in a web browser. Is it to avoid searching for it when you work other notes? I do think it's a good idea.
Also, I like to keep links in my Daily Journal to the other notes that on work on that day.
Yeah. Most general tasks in my "live" Evernote stay in either a "Work" or "Personal" list.
I sometimes have separate lists for a client and a project so If I need a task for a specific job I put it there.
The main reason for having tasks open is so I can see them all day and add new tasks without navigating away from my notes. I use the main desktop app to do most of my work. The visual side of things is a help for me.
My task system is similar to yours, but I don't have "Work on Project X" because that's just too vague for me. I really want my task list to be exactly what I'm aiming to accomplish that day.
Plus, Project X might have some tasks that must be done that day, and if I end up not getting to Project X for some reason, I will have really screwed up.
So .... I put all my tasks in checkboxes like you do, but at the start of every day I will go into all my active projects and convert the tasks I'm aiming to do that day from checkboxes to tasks, which is pretty easy to do. If it's really critical I do a task that day, I will put a "0_" in front of the task so when I sort my tasks by title, the most critical tasks are on top. If the resulting list looks unrealistically long, I'll convert the least essential tasks back to checkboxes.
Nice way of doing it. One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that every task for me has a due date so if there is someting inside a project that needs to be done today then it becomes a proper task and will show on the list.
Doesn't happen a lot ofr me as most of my work is long term or ongoing projects.
Thanks for this. I also really like Tasks. Do you find sometimes they are a bit buggy - e.g. sometimes don't tick off when you click them, or you tick them off and they reappear later? is that a known issue?
Yes. I have this happen. They know about it and it looks like the page loses its refresh after a certain amount of time. Tasks complete but don't always disappear. A refresh or switching to another screen and back again works. I'm hoping they fix this.
Jon - I agree with your view that one system doesn't fit all. Everyone has different ways of working and managing information. My current workflow practice (I hesitate to call it a "system") has bits of GRD, some PARA, thoughts from EN Consultant Stacey Harmon, and ideas from a TMI Time Management course that my firm sent me on more than 3 decades ago (back in the Filofax era - ore mobile phones and access to the web wherever!)
The comments in this chat support my belief that Evernote is so flexible to be able to be used with anyone's workflow.
As for Tasks - I have Recurring Tasks - which are mainly reminders of regular payments or income, of meetings, subscription renewals and the like. So, e.g. I'll have a Note set up for bank account with the recurring payments and income set up as Tasks within it.
Then there'll be the Activity Tasks within a "Project" - like William Powers' comment, within my Project Control Note I'll list the various activities with checkboxes, then as each activity becomes actionable, it'l be converted to an Evernote Task. Depending on the "Project" I might set some Milestone Tasks within the Project Control Note as well.
I'm looking forward to the improvements in the Daily Notes function promised as I think that will enable me to manage things even better - giving me a better focus for the day's activities.
Daily note improvements coming soon. Looking forward to the change.
Jon, you win my award for being the smartest guy on the internet today. Why? Your declaration that "we all have different jobs, and even if we had the same jobs, we'd all do them differently." Yes, of course! I appreciate you showing us your workflow. Mine is different. There is no right or wrong, and I regret buying the GTD book and believing there was one way to do things.
I don't think you should regret buying GTD...
Learning about all these various techniques, through books or online videos & tutorials, even "Taming The Trunk", ultimately help in continuously developing and refining your own technique.
Maybe by the time I'm to old to use a computer I will finally have developed the perfect workflow LOL
One thing I got from GTD was the collection aspect of it. I collect in one or two places and then organise after.
Yeah I've tried forcing systems for years and always failed.
There are always many different ways of doing something the right way!
Jon, where is the best place to actually ask you a question?
You can reply to the email that arrives and I think there's a DM feature in the chat function.
https://www.tamingthetrunk.com/chat
You appear to keep most of your tasks in the "Things to do" notebook.
When or why do you put them in other notebooks?
I am curious as to why you keep the task list open in a web browser. Is it to avoid searching for it when you work other notes? I do think it's a good idea.
Also, I like to keep links in my Daily Journal to the other notes that on work on that day.
Yeah. Most general tasks in my "live" Evernote stay in either a "Work" or "Personal" list.
I sometimes have separate lists for a client and a project so If I need a task for a specific job I put it there.
The main reason for having tasks open is so I can see them all day and add new tasks without navigating away from my notes. I use the main desktop app to do most of my work. The visual side of things is a help for me.
My task system is similar to yours, but I don't have "Work on Project X" because that's just too vague for me. I really want my task list to be exactly what I'm aiming to accomplish that day.
Plus, Project X might have some tasks that must be done that day, and if I end up not getting to Project X for some reason, I will have really screwed up.
So .... I put all my tasks in checkboxes like you do, but at the start of every day I will go into all my active projects and convert the tasks I'm aiming to do that day from checkboxes to tasks, which is pretty easy to do. If it's really critical I do a task that day, I will put a "0_" in front of the task so when I sort my tasks by title, the most critical tasks are on top. If the resulting list looks unrealistically long, I'll convert the least essential tasks back to checkboxes.
Nice way of doing it. One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that every task for me has a due date so if there is someting inside a project that needs to be done today then it becomes a proper task and will show on the list.
Doesn't happen a lot ofr me as most of my work is long term or ongoing projects.
Love how everyone does it differently.