Can I get some advice on settup
I'm currently using Toodledo, actually that's not exactly accurate, I'm trying to decide between Toodledo and Nirvana but have been able to set up Toodledo the way I think would be right for me. I want to see if I can set up something similar with Nirvana.
My Current setup:
Folders:
All Tasks (default and can't change)
Actions
Projects
Waiting For
Someday/Maybe
Ticklers
Ideabox - I want something to drop ideas into without any tags, or folders, categories etc..
Blogging - Article and blog ideas
Appointments - I really want to have a category just for appointments so I could have an at-a-glance view
My Contexts:
Home
Business
Blogging
Personal
edu/training
I can't seem to get my head around setting this up in Nirvana. Also I can't find a way to add sub-tasks to tasks unless it's a project, am I missing something?
And lastly is there a away to link to my Google calendar?
Any help and advice would be appreciated :)
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2 Posted by Proximo on 23 Aug, 2010 09:48 PM
Bob,
The folders as you use them in Toodledo are a way to create the GTD list. Nirvana has the core structure of GTD already laid out so it takes less effort to set things up.
Next vs. Actions Folder
Next in Nirvana is the same as your Actions folder. All Next Actions are found here and you can choose to include Projects on the Next list. There is a major upgrade coming that will make the Next list way better but let's not get into that right now.
Nirvana already has the Project list, Waiting for list, Someday/Maybe list built for you.
Inbox vs. Ideabox
In GTD the inbox is your collection bucket of anything that comes to mind. Usually this is where all your thoughts and ideas go with no need for tags or details to be entered. This is done during your Processing stage in GTD.
I would say that the inbox in Nirvana is what you are using the Ideabox folder for.
Areas of Focus
First let me explain Areas of Focus. These are Uber Context that focus more on Locations or responsibilities. Tags are used for resource context such as @email or @call.
With that said, your Blogging folder would be an Area of Responsibility (AoF). When you switch to an AoF, the entire UI is filtered by task associated with that area only. This means all your list in the UI will only show task/projects related to that Area. In this example it would be nothing but "Blogging" activities.
Moving on to Context.
Home, Business, Personal, Blogging and edu/training could be considered AoF as well. They will filter your list to those specific areas. If you are at work or if you run a business, there is no need to see all your personal task or home related task. You switch to the "Business" AoF and now you only see the task/projects related to that Area.
So let's break this down.
Your AoF would be:
Home
Personal
Business
Blogging
edu/training
Your tags should represent your resource context. Here are some of mine.
Call
email
Internet
Office
agenda
errand
bills
chore
computer
read
When I arrive at work I change to my "Work" AoF. Now every list is filtered by task/project only related to that Area. Now when looking at my long Next list, I see that I have 150+ task. I can filter these further by using my context. Let's say in the mornings I like to start off slow and get some email done. I can filter by the Tag "email" and now I just further filtered my available task to a smaller list.
When you combine Time and Energy, you really start to see the power of GTD shine. I would highly recommend that EVERY task have Time and Energy set. This allows you to filter by Time, Energy, Context and Priority. This is what David Allen teaches. Priorities in GTD are not hard coded like other systems. Priorities are based on your Horizons of Focus but it's much simpler than it may sound.
Horizons of Focus
In GTD you consider what to work on by thinking of your Horizons of Focus.
50,000 = Life Purpose, Core Values.
40,000 = Vision.
30,000 = Measurable Goals
20,000 = Areas of Focus, Responsibilities
10,000 = Projects
Runway = Next Actions
I like to start from the bottom and work my way up. So when I have a list of things filtered by Time, Energy and Context. I am looking at a much smaller list than I started with and then I consider the 30,000 foot levels and above. How does the current list line up with my Goals, Vision and Life Purpose.
This does not mean you need to always work up to the 50,000 foot level when deciding what your priorities are. You only go as far up as it makes sense for you to decide what to do first.
You can read an example of how I go through this process in this post:
http://help.nirvanahq.com/discussions/gtd/43-wow-look-at-my-long-li...
The idea behind GTD is not to Get EVERYTHING done. It's to Get the important things done that you feel good about. That's why it's called Getting Things Done and not Getting Everything Done.
You start with your AoF, then start to filter by how much Energy and Time you have. From there you can start sorting your task by priority in order to decide what to work on, or you can filter further by context to work with an even smaller list of items.
Some times I filter by Time and Energy, then go from there. If I feel like further filtering by context at that time, I will do so.
Bob, I want you to make an observation here. I talked more about GTD than I did about setting up and tweaking your system. THIS is the power of Nirvana. GTD is simple and the UI should reflect that simplicity. In Toodledo I spent more time tweaking my complicated system that provided hundreds of options and did not get anything done. Nirvana is designed for GTD which allows you to focus on the doing.
I am sure others will jump in here, but I hope I got you thinking a little different than your Toodledo setup.
I will wait for your feedback and respond as needed.
Welcome to Nirvana by the way. I feel it's a far more productive application for getting things done.
3 Posted by bobwaltman on 23 Aug, 2010 10:47 PM
I understand everything you've layed out. I have to assume that some things can't be fully set up because not all functions are live yet such as Altitudes. But let me explain my IdeaBox a bit more.
My need for the IdeaBox is to use it strictly for articles and blog related posts. These are not necessarily ideas I'm going to ever get to or maybe not for a while or maybe tomorrow if the mood strikes to write. I need a completely separate category because I don't want to see those ideas in any other context or category, I would also like to use tags to drill down further. I may have an idea on WordPress one day and an idea on an Android phone the next. If I can't tag them it will just be mishmash of ideas for articles without any focus.
I understand that GTD is a way to get control of your life from a todo point of view. That may sound simplistic but it should be. Get the right things done at the right time and you should be able to further your goals. With that said my IdeaBox is not really part of that at least not the way I'm looking at it. The blogging category is not for articles in case your wondering. It has more to do with development and website ideas than the actual writing of articles that's also why I want to keep IdeaBox separate. The IdeaBox has to be stupid simple. I may get an idea while writing an email to a client or while coding a theme. To enter it into Nirvana has to be as quick as just a few seconds, Click on IdeaBox, write title, tag...Done, back to work.
Hope all that makes sense:)
4 Posted by Proximo on 24 Aug, 2010 03:20 AM
Makes sense bob. Make the ideabox an AoF to keep it separate from other task or you could just use a tag. As long as it's easy for you to achieve what you want from it.
If you choose to make Ideabox an AoF, you can then use tags to drill down further as you mentioned. Sounds like it should work fairly good.
5 Posted by bobwaltman on 25 Aug, 2010 08:25 AM
I'm getting it. I think I'm also getting hooked on Nirvana, finally a web app that "Gets It". So many others say they do GTD when they really don't. I don't like to discuss other apps in forums of any kind but Nozbe shouldn't even be trying to pull it off. It would have to be completely revamped with some useful features and by GTD standards.
Thanks Proximo for all your advice and thanks to Nirvana devs for keeping with GTD standards :)
David McLaughlin closed this discussion on 01 Feb, 2011 04:04 PM.