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Noob Needs
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LSPontoni |
Hiya. I just added this gadget in hopes that it will help me keep track of what I need to do, how, when, etc. Right now I have about 10 different tasks that I need to finish up and move on before I start all over again. How do you prioritize your lists? When do you add new tasks? What works for you? Appreciate your help and thanks alot!
Laurie |
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Qrystal |
I'll see if I can give you "the short short version" of what I do, because honestly, everyone's situation is different, and what I do might not be the same as what you figure out works best for you.
That said, I suggest starting slow. Since you just started using Toodledo, don't worry too much about all the different ways of looking at or organizing your tasks. After all, your task management system is supposed to help you actually DO the things on your list!! So, forget about folders, goals, tags, context, and status for now. All you need to start is the stuff that will let you decide what you should be DOING next. Here's the few things I suggest setting at first: - Is there a Due Date or Due Time for the task? If so, set it, but if not, don't worry about it. - Is there some time until you are actually going to start the task? Toodledo can hide the task for you until then, if you set a Start Date. (You may need to turn on this option in your Account Settings, if you think you'll use it.) - Choose the Priority of the task: if it's not urgent, don't set it to Top (3) or High (2) Priority. Most tasks are probably Medium (1) or Low (0). Some are so low priority that you don't even need to see them right now (-1). - Give the task a really good name, and fill in some details or steps in the Notes field if there's more to be said about it. (Perhaps start brainstorming things like Folders and Goals, if you want, but just keep the thoughts in notes for now so you don't get too carried away organizing.) Now go to the Main view, and click on the Hotlist tab. Click Sort, and select Importance as the first sort parameter (leave the others at "auto"). PRESTO! Right before your eyes, you have a list of just the most relevant of your tasks, sorted by how Important they are, which is a measure that takes into account the current date, due dates, and priority levels. If you've got a lot of tasks on this list (if you only have 10, you're lucky!) you might want to select just a few to actually work on at a time, for sanity's sake. You can click on the Star for a few chosen tasks at the beginning of your work session, and then just keep the Starred list open while you work. Go back to the Hotlist if you need to find more tasks to do! Eventually, you'll want to decide what to do with Folders, Contexts, Goals, and Tags, and how you do so is completely up to you. The forums and helpfiles have some good ideas, check them out! Lastly, I've got one exception to the "go slow" rule: always add your "To Do" items as quickly as possible to your list! Then you know it's there, and you won't be worrying about it as much. On that note, it is very useful to have someplace to put tasks in a hurry, so you don't need to think too hard about it, you can just add and run (via twitter, Jott, the Firefox add-on, or directly through the web interface). This is often called an Inbox. I use No Folder as my Inbox, and I make sure to take some time every so often to make sure there aren't any tasks just sitting around in No Folder; this is usually called Processing your tasks. Hope this helps you and other Noobs who want to know where to start! :) Edit: I just realized that I should mention that I use Show Tasks as: Multi-line (which can be changed in Account Settings). I don't like Grid view, but a lot of people do. I'll write more about that some other time... This message was edited May 29, 2008. |
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gregor |
very nice post, thanks from a noob! :)
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