Provide '2 minutes' effort and 2 minutes filter on list view
During my weekly review when I've reviewing actions I want to be able to do things now that only take 2 minutes or less - this isn't possible at the moment because the smallest effort is 5 minutes.
Compounding this problem is the fact that I can only filter out tasks that take 15 minutes or less in the list views.
I understand that GTD says if something takes 2 mins or less then do it now so why does it have to be put in to Nirvana at all? - there are times when something that takes so little time still can't be done now e.g. calling my accountant when I'm in the office, not very professional. So I do end up recording tasks that take 2 mins or less.
I may (or may not) have the opportunity to do some of them during weekly review - but to make this easy Nirvana 2 would need to support 2 min tasks and the filter option added to the drop down.
Currently I have to set to the smallest filter '15 mins or less' and manually go through to see if any of them are set as 5 mins - I then have to think 'is this 5 min task actually a 2 min task?' - if it is I then consider doing it there and then.
Kenny
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2 Posted by Proximo on 17 Dec, 2010 02:08 PM
@Kenny
Not trying to be all hard core GTD here because you obviously understand the 2 minute rule. Your example of how your 2 minute tasks show up in your list is very valid, but my only question is this.
Why does it matter?
If something takes 2 minutes or 5 minutes on your list, why would it matter to filter out the specific 2 minute task?
I would just filter by the shortest time slot allowed and visually choose what to work on like anything else. If a 2 minute task landed on your list that is labeled as 5 minutes, there is no law that says you can't finish a 5 minute task faster. Just like there is no law that prevents you from adding the 2 minute task in the first place.
2 minute task don't make it on my list, but I understand that some situations warrant the choice you made.
Having a 2 minute option for filtering would probably not be a good thing for a GTD software because it technically breaks an important rule. :-)
So here is what I am saying. If a 2 minute task makes it into your list for any reason. Why not just treat it like a 5 minute task? The idea of the 2 minute rule is to prevent you from adding things to your list that can be done very quickly, but if the task already made it into your list, why not mark it down as a 5 minute task. It's not like there is someone behind you with a GTD timer checking to see if you finished the 5 minute task sooner. Time is an estimate at best, so marking a 2 minute task as a 5 minute task should not be a big problem.
Keep it simple. :-)
"If you love something, let it go. If it returns, it's yours. If it does not, HUNT IT DOWN AND KILL IT"
3 Posted by josvandervoort on 17 Dec, 2010 03:39 PM
@ proximo
Is it OK for me to use some of your posts on my blog?
Jos
4 Posted by Proximo on 17 Dec, 2010 07:02 PM
@josvandervoort
As long as you correct my spelling and grammar. :-)
Just kidding. I have no problems with you doing that.
Share your blog address, so we can visit and send you traffic. :-)
5 Posted by josvandervoort on 17 Dec, 2010 07:13 PM
http://blog.dagaz-coaching.nl
I will be happy with all the traffic but the blog is in Dutch ... ...
Thanks anyway and of course i will give you due credit.
Jos
6 Posted by Proximo on 18 Dec, 2010 01:52 AM
@josvandervoort
Google Translation to the rescue. Your blog is now in English and I can read it just fine. lol
Nice Blog.
7 Posted by Kenny Grant on 20 Dec, 2010 09:07 AM
@Proximo
I think I see your point - let me answer your questions directly to see if I can elaborate (or realise myself I'm barking up the wrong tree!)
"If something takes 2 minutes or 5 minutes on your list, why would it matter to filter out the specific 2 minute task?" I differentiate between 2 and 5 minute tasks - I feel as though I have a good idea whether something really is 2 mins or is more like 5. Therefore to me 2 minute tasks are a different group to 5 minute tasks.
I see what you mean though - there is a lot of overlap between 2 and 5 minute tasks. If Nirvana would let me filter out the 5 min tasks then I'd be happy - but with the filtering as it is at the moment I not only get all my 2 and 5 min tasks in the view, but also the genuine 15 min tasks, which leads me to your next comment:
"I would just filter by the shortest time slot allowed and visually choose what to work on like anything else" That's what I want to do - but the short time slot filter is not short enough, it includes everything up to 15 mins. Surely the point of the system is to enable me to filter a given list to my current context, energy and time? Well if my time is less than 15 mins (often) I don't want to manually filter out the things that are less than 15 mins - this may sound trivial but for me the list could be very long and I want to see a fixed list that I know is relevant to my current context. We wouldn't want to filter a list and then manually ignore the 'errands' context would we? - for me that's the same thing...I want a correctly filtered list.
So in summary I agree with your '5 minutes should be the smallest time unit' point Proximo - but not being able to uniquely filter the 5 min tasks could be an issue for some?
8 Posted by Proximo on 20 Dec, 2010 03:02 PM
@Kenny,
Understood.
I agree that filtering by 5 minutes would be beneficial.
+1 from me. :-)
I am trying to get more accurate as I predict how long a task will take, but in many cases I miss the mark. There was a time when I would mark many task with a 15 minute time and it was more like 30 to 45 minutes. The idea is to get as realistic as possible. If I had 15 minutes of time left before lunch and was trying to see what I could do, I found that I was kidding myself with many of my predictions.
So if I had to lean one direction or the other, I now lean toward adding a little more time to the task. This way I don't get surprised with a 15 minute task that takes me 30 minutes. I rather work on a 5 minute task that takes 15. LOL
9 Posted by Kenny Grant on 21 Dec, 2010 09:13 AM
@Proximo
Ha ha yes I do the same - it's a shame Nirvana can't help with eternal misguided optimism!
David McLaughlin closed this discussion on 14 Feb, 2011 07:17 PM.