[Suggestion] Option to remove "due" and "star" from next
I would like an option not to display "due today" and starred items in next actions list.
reason: less visual clutter (it is distarcing) and above all: I don't want/need to re-consider items that are already due (have to do them) or that I have already decided upon.
2 Posted by Proximo on 25 Oct, 2011 06:25 PM
Marcin,
Unless I am going crazy. I though this was an option back in the old days of N1.
I agree that showing the Starred items on the Next list is redundant. If a task has a "due date" of today. It will also be in the "Focus" list which makes it redundant to show in the Next list.
hmmmm..
I guess I agree. :-)
Make it at least an option.
+1
3 Posted by MarcinGTD on 25 Oct, 2011 07:39 PM
yes it was
Gief back!
Support Staff 4 Posted by David McLaughlin on 27 Oct, 2011 01:30 AM
Well, that sounds good on the surface, but then if Focus tasks are not in the Next list...
1) They won't show in the UNL view if the next task(s) in line is/are focused; what do we show? first non-Focused task (could be the 3rd, 4th, etc, task.down the list) or none at all?
2) They won't show as the next task in the sequential next actions view; what do we show? again - the first non-Focused task (could be the 3rd, 4th, etc, task.) or none at all?
3) it will look like those tasks had disappeared from the project task list when you look at the Grouped by Project view - so you lose the full view of the project.
N1 only had one way to view Next -- so it was easy to separate Focus tasks out without skewing the whole picture -- now, not so much.
David
5 Posted by Proximo on 27 Oct, 2011 03:14 AM
I guess I never add Focus to a task that belongs to a project unless it was the next action. This means that only that task was showing in the next list anyway and when i add a star it's removed from the next list but not the project view.
hmmmm
6 Posted by Folke on 23 Nov, 2011 12:21 AM
I have thought of this from a slightly different angle, and then stumbled upon this thread, so I'll add my two cents here:
1a) Reordering of the Next list (UNL)
What if there were a button for reordering the Next list such that all the Focus items go on top and in the same order as in the Focus list.
Or, perhaps even better, if there were an optional setting for automatic mirroring of the order within the Focus portion of both lists, such that if you reorder the Focus items on one of the lists they will automatically have the same internal order on the other list.. This would probably save some work rearranging both lists and/or make it easier to regain orientation when we switch between lists.
1b) Filtering of the Next list (UNL)
What if there were a button for temporarily hiding the Focus items from the Next list. This would make it easier to locate and hand-pick suitable Next items (especially if 1a above is not implemented). The hiding should probably only remain in effect until you explicitly press "unhide" or "revisit/refresh" the page by clicking Next in the left navi.. This is almost the same idea that MarcinGTD proposed, but with the important distinction that it is not a setting, just a temporary filter.
2) Better visual focus in the Focus list
In my opinion the yellow stars and red checkboxes are more disturbing in the Focus list than in the Next list, because in the Focus list all tasks all have such markers and these tasks all need to be done, so there is no need to highlight that fact as such. They are both a bit redundant and glaring here - especially the big fat red marker that draws your attention to any ordinary task that happens to be due today.
I would like to reserve the red color (the "warning" color) for overdue items, and I would not mind to also have a temporary red marker for "new arrivals", i.e. tasks that have popped up automatically from the Schedule since my last visit to the Focus list. This "new arrival" marker should go away immediately when I either reorder that item or revisit/refresh the Focus list via the left navi.
How about a medium-dark gray color for "starred" and normal gray base color for the due/overdue checkboxes, but with just a small yellow marker for due today and a small red marker only for overdue/warning?
3) Left navi task counts
For the Focus list task count I think the red color should be reserved for overdue tasks and for any new tasks that have popped up in the Focus list automatically since my last visit to it, for example things that were scheduled.
For the Inbox I would like to add a red count for new items that I have not seen, i.e. items that have come into the inbox since my last visit to it.
7 Posted by Proximo on 23 Nov, 2011 05:20 PM
@Folke,
You listed many ideas above and I have to say that I like most of them. The only one I am not sure about is the 1b) Filtering of the Next list. It makes sense but not sure if it's the best implementation for the masses. I personally would like to simply not show any of my task in Focus list while in the Next list. Don't get me wrong, I would take the filter vs. nothing. :-)
Everything else sounds like great ideas to me. Never though about the Star in the Focus list being redundant but you make a good point. :-)
This is why input is so important.
Thanks
8 Posted by Folke on 24 Nov, 2011 10:52 AM
Proximo, I am glad I am not alone :-)
Some other related things that I have thought about, but which I forgot to mention above, are:
Scheduled tasks not necessarily in Focus
I have reflected upon the very way scheduled tasks pop up in Nirvana. Currently, they pop up in the Focus list, and I support that for practical reasons. The Focus list is short, so you tend to notice these new arrivals more easily in the Focus list than if they would just pop up quietly in the Next list . But strictly speaking, they should actually appear in the Next list only. The task has now become eligible for action, but therefore should not automatically be seen as needing to be done any sooner than any other task in the Next list. But by having the new arrivals appear under Focus you are more likely to notice them, and can immediately un-Star them if you don't want to do them now. So this is all fine by me, but:
If the system I described in my last post above were to be implemented - I am referring to the warnings for new arrivals - then these scheduled actions could be handled more properly. They could go into the Next list without the Focus star, just like they should, but with a red "new arrival" marker so that they are easy to find, and in the left navi there could be a red task count for these new arrivals, too. More consistent, definitely. Closer to core GTD spirit, I believe. And probably more practical, too.
Example: The Star itself, but in red color, could be used as the new arrival marker. The user would acknowledge seeing the new task by either dragging-dropping it somewhere or by clicking its star. Thereafter, clicking the star would put the task in and out of Focus, just like today. (It would not be possible to put it back into the red "unnoticed" state.). Please notice that there is is no conflicting use of the star marker here. As soon as the task has been noticed the star's color would reflect the focus state.
Due and Overdue not necessarily in Focus
This probably goes against the grain of common analytic thinking, but I don't think it is either against GTD or against common actual practice. Let us say I have promised to give somebody a call during a particular week some time ahead. I would then put down the Monday of that week as the scheduled date to become a Next action, and put down the Friday as the due date. OK? Then let us say I am overworked or sick or whatever and I miss the deadline. It is already Tuesday of the following week and I have heaps of other things I must do even more urgently than make that call. Personally I prefer to keep the due date intact, because it carries information about my original promise (the external expectation) but I do not want it on my Focus list until I decide I will actually do it.
If implemented in Nirvana, this would mean something like: