Observations of a new Nirvana user
Hello,
First of all, I really like Nirvana so far...keep up the good work! I'm a GTD practitioner and I've been poking around with Nirvana for a few days now and have a few observations/suggestions:
--> "Today" could be simply considered to be "Next." This way your starred items are your next actions, period.
--> "Next" could be just simple "Actions" or "Action Lists." Let the starred "Next"/star function I explained previously highlight what's been determined as next, and the contexts, projects, area of focus, define the other details.
--> "Later?" Well...I've seen enough other posts about this...an on/off toggle or elimination would be great.
--> Scheduled (or Tickler) is OK. Due date items really should go on the calendar, though...or at least be synchronized with a calendar (say Gcal for example ;-)). It would also be nice of the "Scheduled" items start creeping up towards the top of the actions list as they come due. I wouldn't want the "scheduled" items (i.e. ticklers) to show up in the calendar though, only due date items...need to keep the hard landscape clear and concise.
--> The project tags item that Proximo made a video about would be very helpful.
Whelps...my $0.02.
Saludos!
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2 Posted by ssavan01 on 06 Sep, 2010 05:31 AM
That does seem to be a more efficient way to organize actions. If I thought of my "Today" tab this way it would solve a lot of the issues I am having with action planning for individual projects.
3 Posted by Proximo on 07 Sep, 2010 02:12 PM
Just some thoughts on here about GTD.
All your Single Actions are Next Actions by default because they don't require any additional steps to complete them. Having an Actions List and a Next List would go against the GTD principle as David Allen teaches it.
For some reason many people forget that single actions in GTD are all Next Actions. Projects have a particular Next Action because it has more than one step required to complete the project.
With the major update coming out soon, I think the Next list will finally start to work as it should. The Next list is where ALL Next Actions should live. This includes single task and a projects next action.
The Today list is nothing more than a Focus list of what you want to work on "Today". Although all your single actions are Next Actions, you can only work on one at a time and must choose from your Next list which task you will tackle in any given day. This is the idea behind the Today list. You star the next actions you want to tackle today and work from a filtered list that keeps you focused.
Not sure if this helped, but just wanted to point this out.
4 Posted by ssavan01 on 07 Sep, 2010 05:02 PM
Proximo, I am using Nirvana right now as humble2628 stated above simply because it solves the issue of where to put project actions that arent the next physical action.
I spoke with Kelly Forester about this aspect of GTD (shes the senior GTD Connect staff member) and she explained that Next Actions lists are meant for the next physical actions only. If they are indepenent actions (ie dont rely on the action before it to get done) then they also belong on the Next Action List. Howvever, if they are future next actions dependent on other actions completion before one can begin on them or future project actions then they belong in Project Support Material if you dont have list manager that can allow for inclusion of these kind of actions.
So by using the "Next" list as a place to store all of the sequential actions that I have determined cannot be started until actions before them are completed , I am able to avoid using a completely different list manager/ project manager for project action thinking.
Its not as though I am only tagging the first action on my projects action list , If , like discussed above there are actions listed that don't require a previous action to complete prior to starting it then it will also be starred and put into my Today tab.
My Today tab has all of my next physical actions, not actions that I can't do until I complete something else. David Allen mentions this as being a good way to go numb to the list.
I just started with Nirvana though and this method of action organizing probably will change as new updates are added. I;m still doing some reading on the Unified Next Actions list in development.
Thanks for your help Proximo, I have been reading your posts and watching your videos for about a week now, incredibly helpful!
5 Posted by Proximo on 08 Sep, 2010 03:35 PM
@ssavan01
Not sure if you realize it or not, but we both agree 100% with Kelly Forester. The new Unified Next list that will come out soon will do just that.
In your Project List, you can open a Project and select which task is your Next Action. Only this task will show up in the Next list. The Next list shows all single actions and only the Next Actions of Projects. During your weekly review or daily scans, you will only see the task that you can actually do something with.
The Today list is nothing more than a focused list of what you decided to tackle today.
Let's think of this with the new Unified Next List that will be part of the next release of Nirvana. If I have a Next list showing 75 task, this means that I have 75 Next Actions. Some of them are single task and some of them belong to a Project. This gives me one list to scan through when looking for what to do.
Once I decided on 5 to 6 task to tackle at the moment, I simply click on the star and have them added to my "Today List". Now I switch to my Today list and see only the 5 task that I picked from all my possible next actions. It's simply a focus list that prevents me from looking at the other 70 task while I work on them.
I think this setup is great and the new Unified Next List will allow us to do exactly what we are describing here.
Let's hope for the best and wait for the new update to go live.
As always, thank you for sharing.
6 Posted by ssavan01 on 09 Sep, 2010 02:38 AM
@Proximo
Thanks for clarifying on the Unified Next List in the works. When you said:
"In your Project List, you can open a Project and select which task is your Next Action. Only this task will show up in the Next list. The Next list shows all single actions and only the Next Actions of Projects. During your weekly review or daily scans, you will only see the task that you can actually do something with."
Is this something that is currently functional or a feature of the new next list? I'm new to Nirvana but if I create a project and add a new task, where do I select that it is a next action?
Thanks again
7 Posted by Steven Heidel on 09 Sep, 2010 05:21 AM
@Proximo
Would you envision this unified next list as having just the next action from all the projects (as in 1 action from each project) or all the actions in every project? Just curious, thanks.
8 Posted by Proximo on 09 Sep, 2010 05:58 PM
@ssavan01,
You can't select which task of a Project is a Next Action. What I described is part of the new update coming.
@Steven Heidel,
The new Unified Next list will only show the project task you marked as Next Action only. At least this is my understanding of what is going to take place.
Most projects only have one Next Action, but there are cases where you may have parallel task in a project that can both be Next Action and not dependent on each other. Most of my projects are sequential but I have some that are not. The new setup should allow the flexibility for both.
The idea is that only the Project task you select as Next Actions will show up in the Next list. All single task are Next Actions by default, so this will allow the Next list to only show what you can really work on.
The Unified Next List will allow you to remove Project headers and list all Next Actions in one list. This is great for sorting by priority and keeping the list uniform. Project related task in the Next List will have a link to the Project name just like in the Today list. This is something many of us have been waiting for.
9 Posted by Steven Heidel on 09 Sep, 2010 07:52 PM
Awesome, I'm glad that that's the way it is going to be setup. If all my project actions were shown together in the next list I would probably explode :P
10 Posted by haeffb on 10 Sep, 2010 01:31 PM
@Proximo - something that I realized some time ago, during the heat of the "UNL" discussion, but never actually articulated - the "Today" list is actually Nirvana's current "UNL". If you ignore the "Today" label, put all your single NA's into today, and star the project NA's, you would have your UNL.
You should be ignoring the "Next" list, just like you ignore/despise the "Later" list.
11 Posted by Proximo on 10 Sep, 2010 02:02 PM
@haeffb,
I agree with you. I created a video demonstrating how the UNL would work in the Next list. It would work just like the Today list.
The thing is that I want the UNL launched so that I can use the Today list as a filtered focus list of my activities for the day.
I do agree with what you are saying and this is what the UNL would look like.
Good observation.
Let's hope the UNL is done exactly in the same way as the Today list.
12 Posted by ssavan01 on 10 Sep, 2010 07:03 PM
Proximo,
Is there any sort of estimate on when the new Nirvana upgrade will take place?
13 Posted by Proximo on 14 Sep, 2010 08:52 PM
@ssavan01
I have no clue.
The last thing I heard from Elbert is that they are working on the new update and that it will be here soon.
What does soon qualify for? I have no clue about Canada, but in the USA it means in a short time frame. LOL Just kidding Elbert.
14 Posted by Chrissy on 14 Sep, 2010 11:23 PM
Am in desperate need of the Unified Next List and think it will answer many many challenges I'm having as described here.... hope its out really soon...
15 Posted by humble2628 on 21 Sep, 2010 02:03 PM
@Proximo: You make a good point about the single actions being NA's by default. I guess I was getting hung up on the idea of having a "Today" list because it reminds me of daily to-do lists in my Franklin Planner.
It's always confusing what name to give the method for drilling down to what needs to get done right now...Today, Focus, Priority, Next-next...lol. Maybe it should just be simply labeled "Starred."
I'm looking forward to the UNL; being able to see NA's for projects in the overall NA list will be very helpful.
Saludos.
David McLaughlin closed this discussion on 10 Feb, 2011 02:24 AM.