Sequential Projects & the UNL
Firstly - well done on getting out the new functionality. I do indeed have a 'bazillion' contacts and the scroll bar is fantastic! :-)
I have a question about the items that show in the UNL from sequential projects though.
By specifying a project as sequential rather than parallel, I am saying that I can only do 1 task at a time and the order in which the tasks appear in the project dictate the order those tasks need to be completed.
For example:
A Sequential Project
- Task 1
- Task 2
As a result of my designating this project as "Sequential", I cannot do Task 2 until Task 1 has been completed. If Task 1 is in the 'Waiting For' category, is it therefore not logical that NO action for that project should show in the UNL, as Task 2 is not actionable until after the completion of Task 1?
Also, whilst I understand that this is just one stage along a development path in terms of nested projects / tasks etc (as stated by David M in another thread recently), I also have to say that I'm of opinion that lots of projects will have a mix of sequential AND parallel actions.
Having said this, I'm completely aware that it must sometimes be really annoying when you guys work really hard and release new features and then people post an 'Oh......I don't think THAT'S right at all!' type message, so I'm sending much appreciation and gratitude to you all at the same time as saying......well.......I don't think that's quite right!
:-)
2 Posted by MarcinGTD on 13 May, 2011 02:11 PM
Noticed same thing:
Sequentiall Project:
1 task (waiting for)
2 task (call)
Task no. 2 will show up in list even thou its dependant on task no .1 happening first (hence sequence of events)
3 Posted by Neil on 13 May, 2011 02:28 PM
I agree - I tend to create a "normal" task as well for every Waiting for that is effectively the next action, so I see the waiting for task on my waiting for list, but the normal task on the Next list. A bit of a workaround.
4 Posted by Proximo on 13 May, 2011 04:39 PM
Chris Webb did a fantastic job of pointing something out while still appreciating the efforts on Nirvana's end.
So here is my observation while keeping a smile on my face.
Parallel project mode is useless to me because I will never have a Parallel only project. I may have projects that are only sequential in nature, but if I have Parallel task in a project, it will always be a combination of sequential and parallel task in that project.
I could not imagine a project with zero structure and a bunch of Next Actions showing on the Next list when in reality is not the case. Some task will be parallel in nature but not all of them.
So with this said, I need a way to change ALL my projects from the default Parallel nature to the more realistic Sequential nature.
I can't seem to find a way of choosing my default and I don't want to manually click on hundreds of Projects to change them to Sequential mode.
By the way, Projects in sequential mode look and work great.
I also want to say that the "UNL" is something I have been wanting for a very long time and I wanted to applaud everyone at Nirvana for making this happen.
Now we have a true Next Actions list that shows all Next Actions on a single list that is sortable by priority, regardless if it's a standalone task or a project task. This is obviously only true if you are using the Sequential mode for your Projects since the parallel mode will show task in the Next list that are not Next Actions. :-(
So THANK YOU very much for this update. If you could provide a way for me to change all my Projects to sequential mode, I will be even happier. If I must do this manually to hundreds of Projects, then I guess I need to start clicking like a mad man.
I also need a way of making all my new projects "Sequential" by default.
Hopefully this is a stepping stone into having a combination of sequential and parallel task in a project. To be honest, I do have a need for making some of my task in projects parallel in nature, but I COULD live with just the sequential mode in my efforts to keep things simple for me. Unfortunately, some projects simply need a combination of both types and I will just deal with it the best way I can.
Now it's time for me to go SLAP somebody.
WE HAVE A "UNIFIED NEXT LIST" PEOPLE. Line up at my office for a slap fess.
Support Staff 5 Posted by Elbert McLaughlin on 13 May, 2011 05:35 PM
First, thanks for the feedback! This was a long time in coming, and we're breathing a collective sigh of relief for finally getting this thing implemented (albeit about a decade later than intended).
@chris - Yes, the skipping over a Waiting task onto the next Next task in a sequential project is a bug. Or more specifically, an unintended side-effect of pushing UNL live before completing another feature that was in the pipeline. (does anyone else detect the irony in this?)
@proximo - Yes, being able to make projects sequential by default via settings is a great idea. And to address batch updating a bunch of projects in one shot, this will be addressed (sadly not in time for you today) when we fix the right-click context menu to be able to apply changes to a series of selected items. You'll be able to lasso select all of your projects then right click -> sequential. This is something I miss from N1 for general context assignment as well... hopefully will get to this soon.
6 Posted by James on 13 May, 2011 05:39 PM
Just FYI - it only took me about 10 minutes to go through my 95 projects and right click each one to decide if it should be sequential or parallel. I used it as a mini-review.
Or just wait till you do your Friday review and do it then. You will be clicking on each project anyway. :-)
thanks again Elbert and team!
James
7 Posted by MarcinGTD on 13 May, 2011 05:48 PM
@Elbert
make it not skipp waiting for, but also not skipp scheldued stuff.
Some times we cannot take action until designated day (like throwing a birthsday party) so there is no point to show on next action list the tasks that are follow ups to the firs, scheldued one
Support Staff 8 Posted by Elbert McLaughlin on 13 May, 2011 05:57 PM
@marcin - you are correct. i should have been more specific in my initial post. what you describe is exactly as we intended. we just got a little trigger happy and pushed the build live before dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's.
9 Posted by MarcinGTD on 13 May, 2011 06:36 PM
@Elbert
Is ok. In fact it's much better to push broken content than not update at all. With updates like this we know you are moving in the right direction and its great for the morale of the userbase :D
10 Posted by Ken on 13 May, 2011 09:12 PM
Nicely done! Kudos to N2 team.. clinking my glass to ya. It's gotta be 5:00 somewhere ;-)
11 Posted by david-drake on 13 May, 2011 09:13 PM
Yes -- this is wonderful! Congratulations Nirvana team!!
-David
12 Posted by Proximo on 13 May, 2011 09:45 PM
@Elbert,
Brother, I am so freaking happy right now, I will click on each project to change them over and wait for the default "Sequential" option when it's ready.
Thank you SOOOOOO Much for this update.
Love it.
13 Posted by syafiig on 15 May, 2011 06:34 PM
Loving this update!
By the way, is Nirvana the only digital GTD system that supports sequential projects?
14 Posted by Proximo on 16 May, 2011 03:56 PM
@Syafi,
I am not going back on the Interwebs to check for sure, but I would say MOST GTD systems our there support sequential projects.
The Sequential nature of projects is what David Allen talks a lot about in his book, although he does mention that you may need to identify all Next Actions which is basically a parallel task in a project.
David is not as clear about parallel projects as he is with sequential but he does recognize them both in his book.
Most GTD applications support sequential projects by default because just about every Project in the world requires some sort of structure to follow.
Having sequential and parallel support in the same project is the way to go. I don't see any value in a Parallel only project because I would never have a project with zero structure. Maybe it's just me. :-)
Most of mine are sequential so this is what I want the default to be for me. I am so JACKED about the UNL that I don't think much about the lack of combo projects. ROFL
15 Posted by Ryan on 17 May, 2011 03:47 AM
100% agree Proximo.
16 Posted by Jake on 18 May, 2011 08:42 PM
Adding to thew kudos here, the unified list is very much welcomed!
As a thought- i am guessing we are headed toward being able to flag individual tasks in a sequential-type project to share "next status" is that correct?
Support Staff 17 Posted by David McLaughlin on 20 May, 2011 09:14 PM
@Jake - I'm going to post my thoughts shortly over here...and it's my opinion only at this point because Elbert & I haven't managed to sit down & talk out the "how" yet that makes the most sense both functionality & technically. He might have a better idea :-)
http://help.nirvanahq.com/discussions/suggestions/968-projects-allo...
18 Posted by Kenny Grant on 27 May, 2011 07:47 AM
+1 on Proximos comments - I too can't really use parallel at the moment as I don't have 'parallel projects', I have parallel tasks within a project. Similarly it's rare for me to have 'sequential projects' - I have sequential tasks and often parallel tasks within the same project.
I seem to remember @Neil R suggesting an elegant solution some time ago around how this could be implemented?
Good start though Nirvana team - many thanks for sticking with this and listening to us. Hopefully we can build from here
Kenny