The Secret Weapon VS GTD & Evernote for Windows (David Allen)

[CalS 5,280]

On 4/22/2016 at 1:57 PM, mruseless said:

Thanks! 

Interesting, I have the search syntax saved into Evernote and looked at it before writing my post.

 https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208313828

Search by reminder is not listed on that page.

I've found stuff like this before, places where the EN staff has multiple pages that have inconsistent information.

Thanks again

In essence there are only three values upon which to search:

1. reminderorder: - does the note have a reminder, dated or not
2. remindertime: - what is the date for the reminder
3. reminderdonetime: - when was the reminder marked as complete

You can code a date in as a value, use day as value for today, or * for all.  All searches are from the parameter forward.  So remindertime:day -remindertime:day+1 -reminderdonetime:* yields today's dated reminders (all reminders from today on without reminders from tomorrow on without completed dates).  As far as I can tell reminders are working per spec in Windows.

[mruseless 15]

Yeah that's why I use notebooks instead of tags. I had some trouble with tags a while back, lost trust in them for my todo list.

[CalS 5,280]

I don't remember when it was exactly that EN fixed the day parameter in reminder searches, but from that point on it has worked fine, for me anyway.  Tags/Notebooks really never got much in the way relative to reminder dates.

[mruseless 15]

13 minutes ago, csihilling said:

In essence there are only three values upon which to search:

1. reminderorder: - does the note have a reminder, dated or not
2. remineertime: - what is the date for the reminder
3. reminderdonetime: - when was the reminder marked as complete

You can code a date in as a value, use day as value for today, or * for all.  All searches are from the parameter forward.  So remindertime:day -remindertime:day+1 -reminderdonetime:* yields today's dated reminders (all reminders from today on without reminders from tomorrow on without completed dates).  As far as I can tell reminders are working per spec in Windows.

This is helpful, thanks!

[CalS 5,280]

You are welcome.

[jolee61 5]

What a great thread!

Thanks to Malc, Gazumped, and all not mentioned for keeping the GTD/EN/TSW discussion alive.

I penned the manifesto to share an epiphany I had several years ago, and am happy that it (and personalized versions) have helped so many take control of their world.

I have no pride of authorship, and also suggest you take what works for you, customize as desired,  and, as Malc suggests, keep it simple.

I know that the site could be enhanced, updated, etc. though at 900 pending actions (down fro m1500) that notion is still deferred to "Someday"...

 

Jeff

[Vineyard Paul 0]

On 9/7/2016 at 3:51 AM, jolee61 said:

What a great thread!

Thanks to Malc, Gazumped, and all not mentioned for keeping the GTD/EN/TSW discussion alive.

 

 

No Jeff,

 

thank you...

 

Cheers

VP

[tavor 668]

After reading @HeyMalc's blog post and this very informative thread, I am considering moving task mgmt to EN (currently use Remember the Milk for task mgmt and EN for info storage).

How do those of you using tag-based task mgmt in EN deal with repeating tasks? For example, in RTM, there are various repeating options, such as:

• repeat every [day/week/month/year/etc]
• repeat after [x days/weeks/years]

"Repeat every" example: Let's say I want a task to repeat every day such as checking a physical tickler file. If you tag it 1-Now and in the morning, you check the physical tickler file, how do you modify the task to reflect the fact that you completed the task for today and have it show up tomorrow?

"Repeat after" example: Let's say I want to work out 2 days after my last workout. I guess I could use reminders and change the date. But how would I deal with it using tags?

[DTLow 5,736]

13 minutes ago, tavor said:

How do those of you using tag-based task mgmt in EN deal with repeating tasks?

There are no "repeating tasks" features in EN

I use EN for my task management
My template for my daily journal has a current task section
- I have some repeating tasks hard coded
- For other tasks, I use the copy-links feature

I use reminders as a start-date for tasks
Again no repeating feature
I could script this on my Mac, but I simply reset the reminder date each time

[CalS 5,280]

No direct solution I am aware of using tags only for repeating tasks..  

I use tags and reminder dates for task management in EN.  Repeating tasks are a combination of the two.  I add the tag !Recur to a note to designate any repeating tasks, be they daily, weekly, monthly, annually or whatever.  I modify the reminder date after each use.  I use saved searches to manage the process, mainly !1 Today and !2 Late.  

There are some notes i just want to review on a monthly basis.  So I add !Monthly tag to them and I have one note tagged with !Recur and !Monthly and a reminder that says look at your !Monthly tag.  Click on the right diamond next to the tag in the note header and all the !Monthly notes appear.  I reset the date each month.  Same for !Weekly.

I use ! as a prefix in my TSW and reminder searches such that they appear at the beginning of saved search and tag lists.  Really comes in handy if you have the left panel closed in the windows version and can use the icons in the ribbon.  Also provides quick access with the IOS version.  FWIW.

49 minutes ago, tavor said:

"Repeat every" example: Let's say I want a task to repeat every day such as checking a physical tickler file. If you tag it 1-Now and in the morning, you check the physical tickler file, how do you modify the task to reflect the fact that you completed the task for today and have it show up tomorrow?

If I wanted to record when I had completed the task I would add a table to the note (maybe columns of date, completed, and notes) and time stamp in the completed cell.  But I would still use the same reminder with a !1 Today search as above.

59 minutes ago, tavor said:

"Repeat after" example: Let's say I want to work out 2 days after my last workout. I guess I could use reminders and change the date. But how would I deal with it using tags?

Really the same answer as the first question, no straightforward tag solution, so I would use reminders and change the dates.  For my workouts though, I have a note per session to record exercise, reps, weight, etc..

[tavor 668]

TSW uses a !Daily tag. Anyone familiar with how this tag is designed to be used? Is this what TSW uses to tag recurring daily tasks (as opposed to tagging them 1-Now)?

[DTLow 5,736]

26 minutes ago, tavor said:

TSW uses a !Daily tag. Anyone familiar with how this tag is designed to be used? Is this what TSW uses to tag recurring daily tasks (as opposed to tagging them 1-Now)?

Add the tag as a shortcut.  Running it gives you a  list of your daily  tasks.

A combined 1-Now !Daily search gives you a list of tasks for the day

[tavor 668]

8 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Add the tag as a shortcut.  Running it gives you a  list of your daily  tasks.

A combined 1-Now !Daily search gives you a list of tasks for the day

Is the idea to tag daily recurring tasks with !Daily to distinguish them from non-recurring tasks you want to do today, which are tagged 1-Now?

[DTLow 5,736]

Just now, tavor said:

Is the idea to tag daily recurring tasks with !Daily to distinguish them from non-recurring tasks you want to do today, which are tagged 1-Now?

Nothing is cut in stone; you're free to modify the process to what works for you

Each morning, you could add 1-Now to your !Daily tasks, and then remove !Now as they are completed, or use the combined search.

The important thing is that you have the tasks identified so you have that flexibility

[tavor 668]

Yes, I understand there is lots of flexibility in using EN. My question is what did TSW have in mind by creating both !Daily and 1-Now tags? Surely there was some intent there, not just "let's create a bunch of tags and users can use them however they want".

[DTLow 5,736]

33 minutes ago, tavor said:

Yes, I understand there is lots of flexibility in using EN. My question is what did TSW have in mind by creating both !Daily and 1-Now tags? Surely there was some intent there, not just "let's create a bunch of tags and users can use them however they want".

You can watch the videos     http://www.thesecretweapon.org

TSW had a very high level mindset view of the !Daily tag, instead of the gritty tasks you have to repeat every day.

• Things that you want to do to make yourself a better person; like work out, compliment your spouse...
  You may ask, What is the !Daily tag for? This is reserved for those items you are working to habituate into your life. It really could be called “Make this a habit!” It could be something like Check your attitude! Or 30 Sit Ups! Or Tell kids/wife they are great! Anyone who’s studied how to create a new habit knows that it takes about 21 days of constant repetition before it’s ingrained. So !Daily is for the little things we remind ourselves of and do that matter the most. It isn’t for “brush your teeth” since that’s already routine. But it might be for “floss!” if you’re needing to finally make that a habit. !Daily is the first context we review each morning to get going on the right foot.
   
• Too high brow for me, I apply the tag to tasks I have to do daily; like water the plants, feed the kid...

!Now is definitely tasks for the current time frame 
There's a set of tags  1-Now  2-Next  3-Soon  4-Later  5-Someday  6-Waiting

[tavor 668]

32 minutes ago, DTLow said:

You can watch the videos     http://www.thesecretweapon.org

TSW had a very high level mindset view of the !Daily tag, instead of the gritty tasks you have to repeat every day.

• Things that you want to do to make yourself a better person; like work out, compliment your spouse...
  You may ask, What is the !Daily tag for? This is reserved for those items you are working to habituate into your life. It really could be called “Make this a habit!” It could be something like Check your attitude! Or 30 Sit Ups! Or Tell kids/wife they are great! Anyone who’s studied how to create a new habit knows that it takes about 21 days of constant repetition before it’s ingrained. So !Daily is for the little things we remind ourselves of and do that matter the most. It isn’t for “brush your teeth” since that’s already routine. But it might be for “floss!” if you’re needing to finally make that a habit. !Daily is the first context we review each morning to get going on the right foot.
   
• Too high brow for me, I apply the tag to tasks I have to do daily; like water the plants, feed the kid...

!Now is definitely tasks for the current time frame 
There's a set of tags  1-Now  2-Next  3-Soon  4-Later  5-Someday  6-Waiting

Thanks, I didn't catch that explanation in the video or on the written manifesto on the website, but when I saw your post, I looked again and saw the pdf link, which I downloaded, and there it was.

OK, so I'm also considering using it "low brow" like you are. Do you have one note tagged !Daily with a list of daily tasks, or do you have multiple notes tagged !Daily, each of which represents a single task?

Do you use checkboxes to mark these daily tasks completed, then uncomplete the checkboxes at the end of the day (or in the morning the next day), or do you not edit these tasks in any way to indicate completion (in other words, you just look at your daily tasks and in your own mind, you have an accounting of which ones you have done and which remain to be done)?

[DTLow 5,736]

12 hours ago, tavor said:

Do you have one note tagged !Daily with a list of daily tasks, or do you have multiple notes tagged !Daily, each of which represents a single task?

I keep each task as a separate note and tag as approriate

>>Do you use checkboxes to mark these daily tasks completed, then uncomplete the checkboxes at the end of the day

I actually work from my daily journal note which I set up each morning

• I start with a template
  Note, daily activities are hardcoded in the template
• You can see in the example at the right, I have a section for Current Tasks
• I use the Copy Links feature to populate this section
  (actually I just drag the note list in)
• I add checkboxes
• At the end of the day I use the link to access the task note and adjust tags

[mruseless 15]

11 hours ago, DTLow said:

 

I keep each task as a separate note and tag as approriate

>>Do you use checkboxes to mark these daily tasks completed, then uncomplete the checkboxes at the end of the day

I actually work from my daily journal note which I set up each morning

• I start with a template
• You can see in the example at the right, I have a section for Current Tasks
• I use the Copy Links feature to populate this section
  (actually I just drag the note list in)
• I add checkboxes
• At the end of the day I use the link to access the task note and adjust tags

Wow, this is really impressive. It looks like it would take a lot of time to set up, but your process makes it seem pretty simple. I'll have to give something like this a try.

[tavor 668]

On 2/10/2017 at 0:41 PM, csihilling said:

No direct solution I am aware of using tags only for repeating tasks..  

I use tags and reminder dates for task management in EN.  Repeating tasks are a combination of the two.  I add the tag !Recur to a note to designate any repeating tasks, be they daily, weekly, monthly, annually or whatever.  I modify the reminder date after each use.  I use saved searches to manage the process, mainly !1 Today and !2 Late.  

There are some notes i just want to review on a monthly basis.  So I add !Monthly tag to them and I have one note tagged with !Recur and !Monthly and a reminder that says look at your !Monthly tag.  Click on the right diamond next to the tag in the note header and all the !Monthly notes appear.  I reset the date each month.  Same for !Weekly.

I use ! as a prefix in my TSW and reminder searches such that they appear at the beginning of saved search and tag lists.  Really comes in handy if you have the left panel closed in the windows version and can use the icons in the ribbon.  Also provides quick access with the IOS version.  FWIW.

If I wanted to record when I had completed the task I would add a table to the note (maybe columns of date, completed, and notes) and time stamp in the completed cell.  But I would still use the same reminder with a !1 Today search as above.

Really the same answer as the first question, no straightforward tag solution, so I would use reminders and change the dates.  For my workouts though, I have a note per session to record exercise, reps, weight, etc..

@csihilling, I'm just getting started on using EN for task mgmt and I like your GTD setup. While it does have more overhead than @HeyMalc's setup, I like the extra flexibility of using both reminders and TSW When tags, and it comports with real life - not every task has a fixed due date, but some do and you wouldn't want those to fall through the cracks. I also like the !Review tag concept.

How do you manage notebooks in the context of GTD? Like you, I have synced and local notebooks. From a GTD perspective, I have Inbox, Actions Pending and then my 'filing cabinet' synced and local notebooks. I like the concept of having a default Inbox that everything that flows into EN (aside from my creating a note at my computer) dumps into, and then processing those Inbox notes by adding tags and moving to appropriate notebook. So I'd process tasks in the Inbox by applying a TSW When tag and/or a reminder date, and then move to Actions Pending notebook.

But notes in other notebooks may become a source of a task (via a TSW When tag or a reminder date), so I'm not sure an Actions Pending notebook serves any purpose, since not all tasks are in this notebook. Maybe it would reduce overhead if I remove the Actions Pending notebook, and process tasks out of Inbox and into my 'filing cabinet' synced or local notebook?

And then just use saved searches as a way of filtering down to tasks I need to work on today. Pity that EN search does not allow the use of AND and OR operations in one search. If it did, one saved search would pull in both !1-Now tasks and tasks with reminderTime of today.

Also, what do you use for calendar integration?

[DTLow 5,736]

7 minutes ago, tavor said:

How do you manage notebooks in the context of GTD?

I have minimal notebooks.  My GTD system is driven by tags and due dates (reminder)
Dropping the Action Pendings notebook sounds like a good idea, but you may need to replace it with a "task" tag/indicator

>>Also, what do you use for calendar integration?

I use Cronofy Calendar Connector 
- Its automatic, but it syncs all reminders to the calendar

 

 

[tavor 668]

Just now, DTLow said:

I have minimal notebooks.  My GTD system is driven by tags and due dates (reminder)
Dropping the Action Pendings notebook sounds like a good idea, but you may need to replace it with a "task" tag/indicator

One reason I can think of why I'd need some sort of 'task' tag/indicator is to be able to run Malc's Tidy Up Filter to ensure that all tasks have a reminder date, a TSW When tag or both.

Any other reasons to have a 'task' indicator? 

Any way to bypass the need for a Tidy Up Filter while still ensuring that every task has a reminder date, TSW When tag or both?

[DTLow 5,736]

46 minutes ago, tavor said:

while still ensuring that every task has a reminder date, TSW When tag or both?

Currently, task searches are  restricted to your "Actions Pending" notebook; i.e. just tasks
If you don't use the notebook, you may need some other method to distinguish tasks from other notes.  The Tidy Up Filter is an example
 

[Vineyard Paul 0]

I was the Secret Weapon and EN (see earlier posts on this thread), but have now moved to Todoist.

I have been using it for three months and have not looked backwards...

 

[tavor 668]

12 minutes ago, Vineyard Paul said:

I was the Secret Weapon and EN (see earlier posts on this thread), but have now moved to Todoist.

I have been using it for three months and have not looked backwards...

I presume you were attracted to TSW by the idea of keeping task mgmt and info storage/retrieval in the same app. What made you decide to split those functions across separate (but with integrations) apps?

[Vineyard Paul 0]

39 minutes ago, tavor said:

I presume you were attracted to TSW by the idea of keeping task mgmt and info storage/retrieval in the same app. What made you decide to split those functions across separate (but with integrations) apps?

 

I was attracted to TSW for GTD. I felt like I spent too much time managing tasks instead of doing tasks.

Todoist is simple, easy, but less powerful, but does everything I need (easy capture of tasks with Chrome extension and Android easy add widget, Now/Next/Later taken care of with P1/P2/P3, projects to compartmentalise into different focuses). I feel like it is more fit for purpose for my needs...

 

 

[tavor 668]

Just now, Vineyard Paul said:

I was attracted to TSW for GTD. I felt like I spent too much time managing tasks instead of doing tasks.

Todoist is simple, easy, but less powerful, but does everything I need (easy capture of tasks with Chrome extension and Android easy add widget, Now/Next/Later taken care of with P1/P2/P3, projects to compartmentalise into different focuses). I feel like it is more fit for purpose for my needs...

Does Todoist act as your digital filing cabinet as well, or do you integrate Todoist with Evernote for that function?

[Vineyard Paul 0]

17 minutes ago, tavor said:

Does Todoist act as your digital filing cabinet as well, or do you integrate Todoist with Evernote for that function?

Both separated now. No need to link them for me.

Todoist is only for task management

EN is only digital storage but used very little now

I have integrated Google Drive to Todoist, as I am using this a lot more for digital storage and documents. (You can also put URL's into Todist, so could link to EN docs that way)

[tavor 668]

21 hours ago, DTLow said:

Dropping the Action Pendings notebook sounds like a good idea, but you may need to replace it with a "task" tag/indicator

So I decided to go with the TSW / @HeyMalc approach of not having separate Inbox (default) and Actions Pending notebooks. Less complexity and less maintenance. Seems the only 'benefit' given up is I won't have the fleeting satisfaction of having an empty Inbox (default notebook). So a ToDo notebook and 'filing' notebooks (I have more than one since I use synced and local notebooks).

I'll need two "Tidy Up Filters" to make sure that all tasks have either a TSW When tag or a reminder date.

The first filter is one Malc has posted about in this thread, except I'm also adding -reminderTime:day since it sounds like Malc manages tasks with a due date in a separate diary/calendar.

TUF1: notebook:ToDo -tag:!!Daily -tag:!1-Now -tag:!2-Next -tag:!3-Soon -tag:!4-Later -tag:!5-Someday -tag:!6-Waiting -reminderTime:day

For recurring tasks, which typically have reminder dates, I want to catch any tasks where I forget to apply the next reminder after completing the current instance of the task. TUF1 will catch these tasks only if they are in the ToDo (default) notebook. So a '.Recur' tag and second filter is needed:

TUF2: tag:.recur -reminderTime:day

If anyone sees a crack in this system through which tasks could slip, let me know. I'm sure I'll tweak as I go along, but just want to make sure I'm not starting with a fatal flaw.

 

[DTLow 5,736]

3 hours ago, tavor said:

TUF1: notebook:ToDo -tag:!!Daily -tag:!1-Now -tag:!2-Next -tag:!3-Soon -tag:!4-Later -tag:!5-Someday -tag:!6-Waiting -reminderTime:day

You might want to check your use of -reminderTime:day
I would use    -reminderOrder:*

>>So a ToDo notebook and 'filing' notebooks (I have more than one since I use synced and local notebooks)

You couldn't convince everyone to use a task tag(s)?
An alternative is to put the notebooks in a stack - to search a stack use      stack:ToDo_Stack

[CalS 5,280]

On 2/11/2017 at 8:03 PM, tavor said:

OK, so I'm also considering using it "low brow" like you are. Do you have one note tagged !Daily with a list of daily tasks, or do you have multiple notes tagged !Daily, each of which represents a single task?

I added the !Daily tag but never really used it.  My intent was the same as the !Weekly, !Monthly, and !Quarterly tags I do use.  For each of these frequencies I add one note with a reminder and the !frequency tag. Then:  

1. Select the note from my !1 Today search
2. Click on the triangle to the right of the tag to get a list of all notes with the !freqeuncy tag (modify context in the search info area if need be)
3. Do whatever with the notes in the list
4. Change the date of the "reminder" note to the next cycle.

I use the !frequency tags more for reviewing items, not so much action items,  For example, some concepts I want to keep in front of mind, or a credit which expires in the future but I don't want to keep changing a date so I just see it each week.

[tavor 668]

34 minutes ago, DTLow said:

You might want to check your use of -reminderTime:day
I would use    -reminderOrder:*

>>So a ToDo notebook and 'filing' notebooks (I have more than one since I use synced and local notebooks)

You couldn't convince everyone to use a task tag(s)?
An alternative is to put the notebooks in a stack - to search a stack use      stack:ToDo_Stack

I didn't use -reminderOrder:* because I don't use undated reminders. I don't see the point of using those if one is using TSW When tags. So I'd want the filter to catch notes that don't have a TSW When tag or a dated reminder, so that I could then apply one of those to the note.

I could use a task tag, but it seems like a lot more work to tag every task, as well as a lot more prone to error (forgetting to tag a task note as a task) than having a second Tidy Up Filter.

I assume the stack suggestion was in relation to the tidy up filter? If so, that won't work because there are lots of notes in the 'filing' notebooks that don't have and should not have TSW When tags or reminder dates. That's why I'm using the .Recur tag and running a second tidy up filter on notes with the .Recur tag.

I appreciate the response - it helps me think through this GTD+EN setup.

[tavor 668]

22 minutes ago, csihilling said:

I added the !Daily tag but never really used it.  My intent was the same as the !Weekly, !Monthly, and !Quarterly tags I do use.  For each of these frequencies I add one note with a reminder and the !frequency tag. Then:  

1. Select the note from my !1 Today search
2. Click on the triangle to the right of the tag to get a list of all notes with the !freqeuncy tag (modify context in the search info area if need be)
3. Do whatever with the notes in the list
4. Change the date of the "reminder" note to the next cycle.

I use the !frequency tags more for reviewing items, not so much action items,  For example, some concepts I want to keep in front of mind, or a credit which expires in the future but I don't want to keep changing a date so I just see it each week.

Yeah, I read about your use of periodicity tags, and I liked the approach so much that I copied it wholesale!

I've got a !!Daily tag nested under the ..When parent tag and the periodicity tags (*Weekly, *Monthly, *Quarterly, *Annually) nested under a .Review parent tag. I didn't nest !!Daily and the periodicity tags under the same parent tag (i.e., ..When) because this reflects how I think of the notes getting these tags. I'm using !!Daily for a personal note of small daily tasks I want to do as well as a work note of everyday work tasks.

And then I'm using the periodicity tags the way you are - items (not necessarily tasks) I want to be reminded of at the specified intervals, but without the hassle of a reminder date. And like your setup, only one note from each periodicity grouping has a reminder date, which serves only in an administrative capacity to trigger a review of all the notes at the specified periodicity (which themselves do not have TSW When tags or reminder dates).

The .Review parent tag (not applied to any notes) gives me a convenient way to access the periodicity tags.

[DTLow 5,736]

11 minutes ago, tavor said:

I assume the stack suggestion was in relation to the tidy up filter?

I was thinking more about my situation; I have multiple ToDo notebooks (shared notebooks from team projects)

[CalS 5,280]

On 2/12/2017 at 8:31 AM, tavor said:

@csihilling, I'm just getting started on using EN for task mgmt and I like your GTD setup. While it does have more overhead than @HeyMalc's setup, I like the extra flexibility of using both reminders and TSW When tags, and it comports with real life - not every task has a fixed due date, but some do and you wouldn't want those to fall through the cracks. I also like the !Review tag concept.

How do you manage notebooks in the context of GTD? Like you, I have synced and local notebooks. From a GTD perspective, I have Inbox, Actions Pending and then my 'filing cabinet' synced and local notebooks. I like the concept of having a default Inbox that everything that flows into EN (aside from my creating a note at my computer) dumps into, and then processing those Inbox notes by adding tags and moving to appropriate notebook. So I'd process tasks in the Inbox by applying a TSW When tag and/or a reminder date, and then move to Actions Pending notebook.

But notes in other notebooks may become a source of a task (via a TSW When tag or a reminder date), so I'm not sure an Actions Pending notebook serves any purpose, since not all tasks are in this notebook. Maybe it would reduce overhead if I remove the Actions Pending notebook, and process tasks out of Inbox and into my 'filing cabinet' synced or local notebook?

And then just use saved searches as a way of filtering down to tasks I need to work on today. Pity that EN search does not allow the use of AND and OR operations in one search. If it did, one saved search would pull in both !1-Now tasks and tasks with reminderTime of today.

Also, what do you use for calendar integration?

I don't have any GTD/TSW  notebooks in my concept, that is to say GTD spans notebooks.  I have an INBOX clearing house notebook and four other synced notebooks and three local notebooks (one of which is my Import notebook).  All of my task work is done with saved reminder searches and tag searches.  For ease of use on my PC and iDevices, I put some of these searches/tags in the shortcuts bar.  In regular practice I also use the ribbon that is available when in list view with the left panel closed to access saved searches and tags.  I also have a PhraseExpress hotkey that puts _Completed 02/13/2017 09:53 AM in a TWS  TSW note.

I look at two searches for today's work.  The first is the !1 Today search and the other is the !1-Now tag.  It would be nice to have all the notes in one list, but it is only two clicks and the lists aren't that long typically.  And date trumps tag in my world.  No calendar integration, I do it all from within EN.

              

[CalS 5,280]

15 minutes ago, tavor said:

Yeah, I read about your use of periodicity tags, and I liked the approach so much that I copied it wholesale!

Hope it works for you.  And I'm sure it will evolve as you put your own spin on it.  After my years of refinement I don't make too many tweaks to my task process now, but every once in a while something will come up.  Most recently Windows V6 added the ribbon on the left which made it a lot easier to access the TSW tags.  So no change to data, but change to process, per the post above this one.

[tavor 668]

25 minutes ago, csihilling said:

I don't have any GTD/TSW  notebooks in my concept, that is to say GTD spans notebooks.  I have an INBOX clearing house notebook and four other synced notebooks and three local notebooks (one of which is my Import notebook).  All of my task work is done with saved reminder searches and tag searches.  For ease of use on my PC and iDevices, I put some of these searches/tags in the shortcuts bar.  In regular practice I also use the ribbon that is available when in list view with the left panel closed to access saved searches and tags.  I also have a PhraseExpress hotkey that puts _Completed 02/13/2017 09:53 AM in a TWS note.

I look at two searches for today's work.  The first is the !1 Today search and the other is the !1-Now tag.  It would be nice to have all the notes in one list, but it is only two clicks and the lists aren't that long typically.  And date trumps tag in my world.  No calendar integration, I do it all from within EN.

              

Yeah, I abandoned the idea of a dedicated GTD notebook, so now it's just the inbox/default/clearinghouse notebook and 'filing' notebooks.

Like you, I use saved reminder and tag searches. Maybe someday Evernote will incorporate full Boolean search and we can use one saved search to filter down to today's tasks.

Cool, I didn't know about the ribbon. That definitely saves some screen real estate while still being able to access everything! Especially important as the list of shortcuts grows too large for the toolbar.

As a side note, I wasn't aware you could import directly into a local notebook. Does the import completely bypass EN's servers?
 

[DTLow 5,736]

11 minutes ago, tavor said:

As a side note, I wasn't aware you could import directly into a local notebook. Does the import completely bypass EN's servers?

Which platform are you using?

These are the instructions for Windows  https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/209004967-How-to-create-import-folders-in-Evernote-for-Windows

Yes, it completely bypasses the Evernote servers
- make sure you've implemented backup for these notebooks

 

[CalS 5,280]

28 minutes ago, tavor said:

Yeah, I abandoned the idea of a dedicated GTD notebook, so now it's just the inbox/default/clearinghouse notebook and 'filing' notebooks.

Like you, I use saved reminder and tag searches. Maybe someday Evernote will incorporate full Boolean search and we can use one saved search to filter down to today's tasks.

Cool, I didn't know about the ribbon. That definitely saves some screen real estate while still being able to access everything! Especially important as the list of shortcuts grows too large for the toolbar.

As a side note, I wasn't aware you could import directly into a local notebook. Does the import completely bypass EN's servers?
 

Yup.  The notebook I have linked to my scan folder is a local notebook.  I move the note post tagging to a synced or local depending if its cloud okay or not.

[tavor 668]

20 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Which platform are you using?

These are the instructions for Windows  https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/209004967-How-to-create-import-folders-in-Evernote-for-Windows

Yes, it completely bypasses the Evernote servers
- make sure you've implemented backup for these notebooks

 

Windows; I set this up a long time ago, and forgot that local notebooks are an option for destination notebook. Good to know (or rather, to be reminded of).

[HeyMalc 29]

On 10/02/2017 at 4:02 PM, tavor said:

After reading @HeyMalc's blog post and this very informative thread, I am considering moving task mgmt to EN (currently use Remember the Milk for task mgmt and EN for info storage).

How do those of you using tag-based task mgmt in EN deal with repeating tasks?

Hi - my thing with EN is: "Keep It Simple".

Recurring appointments are very much Outlook territory for me. I don't want a second solution for these: Outlook does the job well.

Malc

[tavor 668]

On 2/13/2017 at 1:04 PM, csihilling said:

Yup.  The notebook I have linked to my scan folder is a local notebook.  I move the note post tagging to a synced or local depending if its cloud okay or not.

So this has been a really useful feature. I imported a bunch of confidential docs that I'd never have put into Evernote if it meant I had to pass it through a synchronized notebook before moving to a local notebook.

I assume docs imported into a local import folder don't count against the upload limit?

[gazumped 11,652]

3 minutes ago, tavor said:

I assume docs imported into a local import folder don't count against the upload limit?

Into a local notebook - no,  that gets a free pass.  Bear in mind that's the only copy of the note in existence..  backups are definitely called for...

[tavor 668]

2 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Into a local notebook - no,  that gets a free pass.  Bear in mind that's the only copy of the note in existence..  backups are definitely called for...

Thanks. I'm on Plus, so I doubt I'd ever hit the upload limit (as the majority of the stuff I import does get moved to a synchronized notebook), but that's good to know in case I go scan crazy one month.

[CalS 5,280]

7 minutes ago, tavor said:

I assume docs imported into a local import folder don't count against the upload limit?

What @gazumped said.

[CalS 5,280]

2 minutes ago, tavor said:

Thanks. I'm on Plus, so I doubt I'd ever hit the upload limit (as the majority of the stuff I import does get moved to a synchronized notebook), but that's good to know in case I go scan crazy one month.

Yeah, I've been Premium since the start and I don't think I ever hit even the 1GB level in a month, even when I was emptying the filing cabinets..

[GiacomoLaw 134]

You can check out the way I use EN to manage tasks on my site, here:

https://thenerdystudent.com/2015/07/using-evernote-as-task-manager.html

[JErnestGo 10]

On 2/13/2017 at 9:45 AM, Vineyard Paul said:

Both separated now. No need to link them for me.

Todoist is only for task management

EN is only digital storage but used very little now

I have integrated Google Drive to Todoist, as I am using this a lot more for digital storage and documents. (You can also put URL's into Todist, so could link to EN docs that way)

This is my current system now with a minor modifications. I use Google Drive for long term storage, or formal documents as it has most of work functionalities vis-a-vis EN, I do however use EN as my day to day partner for capturing notes or ideas. I then use GTD structure using EN then convert notes to action items and share or link them to Todoist. Using Todoist with Google Calendar is my go to syst m in managing tasks.

[dave78981 0]

I've used EN for about 9 years now but mostly for content management/storage. I stumbled onto TSW through a recent Medium post about it and decided I would try to tame my email Inbox with it. After about 8 hours of setting it up and cleaning up my EN content, I'm about to run my inbox through it.

I'm using a combination of tags of folders. I didn't want to lose all the content that I have in EN so I nested all the content tags under a "Subjects" master tag. Then I nested all the EN content folders in a stack called "Folders."

I like TSW's .Where, .When, .Who tags but the .What tags didn't seem to be specific enough for what I do. Instead, I changed "what" to "activity" and then added another tag family called "activity type." So upcoming negotiations gets an "activity type" of ".active projects" and a more specific "activity" tag of "negotiations." Then a .who, .where, etc. All of that seems more intuitive to me.

Also, under ".When," I have another nested tag family for ".Due" that consists of "this week" and "next week." If a task has a .when of 1-Now or 2-Later, it gets .due of this week or next week and automatically gets a reminder for the due date. Any other .when tag gets only that tag and when it percolates up to 1 or 2, then a due date is assigned to it.

 

 

[DTLow 5,736]

20 hours ago, dave78981 said:

Also, under ".When

I also use start date, via the EN reminder feature
For me, this replaces the 1-Now tag; I don't see the purpose of the .due

[tavor 668]

20 hours ago, dave78981 said:

Also, under ".When," I have another nested tag family for ".Due" that consists of "this week" and "next week." If a task has a .when of 1-Now or 2-Later, it gets .due of this week or next week and automatically gets a reminder for the due date. Any other .when tag gets only that tag and when it percolates up to 1 or 2, then a due date is assigned to it.

I could be interpreting this incorrectly, but it seems there are a couple of layers of redundancy here. Anything due this week gets a "this week" tag, a "1-Now" tag, and a reminder date? Seems like overkill, but again, I could be misunderstanding. 

I use the TSW When tags and reminder dates, but a task gets one or the other, not both. I.e., a task I want to complete now but that doesn't have a firm deadline gets a "1-Now" tag, while a task that has a firm deadline gets a reminder date. Given EN's search limitations (no full boolean search), I am forced to use two saved searches to filter down to tasks I need to work on today.

I only recently began using EN for task mgmt so I'm curious as to why you went with your setup as it relates to When and Due tagging and reminder dates.

[DTLow 5,736]

17 hours ago, tavor said:

I am forced to use two saved searches to filter down to tasks I need to work on today.

I ran into this limitation also - needing two searches

This was one of the reasons I abandoned the "Now" tag and only use date criteria
If a task is currently being worked on, I assign the current date to the due date (reminder)

[CalS 5,280]

3 hours ago, DTLow said:

I ran into this limitation also - needing two searches

Different view of the world, but I don't see it as a limitation.  One list of date specific tasks and another list of tasks that aren't date specific.  Clear the dated tasks and then attack the TSW tasks.  When a TSW task becomes critical it gets a date.  Dated trumps not dated.  Cuts down on date maintenance for me.  FWIW.

[tavor 668]

3 hours ago, csihilling said:

Different view of the world, but I don't see it as a limitation.  One list of date specific tasks and another list of tasks that aren't date specific.  Clear the dated tasks and then attack the TSW tasks.  When a TSW task becomes critical it gets a date.  Dated trumps not dated.  Cuts down on date maintenance for me.  FWIW.

Yeah, date maintenance is why I'm using TSW tags and reminders - only deadlines get reminders. Otherwise there's too much changing of dates as tasks roll from one day to the next.

Here's a (minor) issue I'm running into that maybe you or someone else here has already resolved. For many tasks, there are sub-tasks that are too trivial to bother breaking out into its own task. But some of those sub-tasks require that something else happen outside of my control (e.g., a response from someone). So if I advance the TSW 1-Now tagged task to the point where I need to wait until tomorrow or wait until I get a response, how do I get that task off my 1-Now list for the remainder of today, but have it reappear on my 1-Now list tomorrow?

I could add a 2-Next tag and remove the 1-Now tag, and then be sure to check the 2-Next tag list tomorrow and reverse the tagging but that seems like a lot of tag maintenance.

[DTLow 5,736]

13 minutes ago, tavor said:

there's too much changing of dates as tasks roll from one day to the next.

I don't actually change the due date.  They stay on my Current list until closed
The shortcut search is:    reminderOrder:* -reminderTime:day+1 -reminderDoneTime:*

>>to the point where I need to wait until tomorrow or wait until I get a response, how do I get that task off my 1-Now list

Possible revise your 1-Now search; exclude notes with a "waiting for" tag

For me, I simply update the due date to when I expect a response
- this causes the note to drop from my Current list and reappear when due

[tavor 668]

30 minutes ago, DTLow said:

I don't actually change the due date.  They stay on my Current list until closed

That's a good idea. I was changing due dates because my tidy-up filter was picking up anything overdue, so to clear the tidy-up filter list, I had to change reminder dates to today or a future date.

I just modified it from remindertime:day to remindertime:day-7, so now a task will only show up in the tidy-up filter if it's 7 days overdue, at which point I can assess why it's so overdue and act accordingly.

[CalS 5,280]

37 minutes ago, tavor said:

I could add a 2-Next tag and remove the 1-Now tag, and then be sure to check the 2-Next tag list tomorrow and reverse the tagging but that seems like a lot of tag maintenance.

I add a !6-Waiting tag to the note.  Since I don't have that many !1-Now items at any given time it is easy to see the follow ups in the list.  If I go OCD on myself, I can always sort by tag and the follow ups drop to the bottom of the now list.  Also, I can see all follow up items by selecting the !6-Waiting tag, whether they be a TSW or dated note.  I try to save dates for things that are actually deadline specific.  FWIW. 

[tavor 668]

An annoyance of using due dates for task mgmt for Android users are the device notifications. Evernote provides very little control over notifications on Android. 

Made a feature request regarding this:

I ended up blocking notifications from the app using Android's application manager. Not ideal, but better for my use case than notifications I have no control over. 

[mruseless 15]

On 3/23/2017 at 4:10 PM, tavor said:

Yeah, date maintenance is why I'm using TSW tags and reminders - only deadlines get reminders. Otherwise there's too much changing of dates as tasks roll from one day to the next.

Here's a (minor) issue I'm running into that maybe you or someone else here has already resolved. For many tasks, there are sub-tasks that are too trivial to bother breaking out into its own task. But some of those sub-tasks require that something else happen outside of my control (e.g., a response from someone). So if I advance the TSW 1-Now tagged task to the point where I need to wait until tomorrow or wait until I get a response, how do I get that task off my 1-Now list for the remainder of today, but have it reappear on my 1-Now list tomorrow?

I could add a 2-Next tag and remove the 1-Now tag, and then be sure to check the 2-Next tag list tomorrow and reverse the tagging but that seems like a lot of tag maintenance.

That's one of several reasons I abandoned tags for maintenance of my tasks. I use Notebooks. Since each task can be in one and only one date category (today, this week, next week, etc) it makes it very easy to drag and drop tasks from one folder to another. 

[DTLow 5,736]

7 minutes ago, mruseless said:

That's one of several reasons I abandoned tags for maintenance of my tasks. I use Notebooks. Since each task can be in one and only one date category (today, this week, next week, etc) it makes it very easy to drag and drop tasks from one folder to another. 

How do you handle multiple categories for tasks?
For example: A task has a date category of this week, a project category of Project-xxxx .....
On top of that, some task notes are shared with a project team, requiring a shared notebook

[mruseless 15]

1 minute ago, DTLow said:

How do you handle multiple categories for tasks?
For example: A task has a date category of this week, a project category of Project-xxxx .....
On top of that, some task notes are shared with a project team, requiring a shared notebook

I still use a few tags, but mostly for the "who" category -- client names, people names, dog names

Once in a while I use project related tags, but most often I keep everything for a single project in a single note. If I must use multiple notes, I use EN's note link feature to put a link into the "master" note and file the other notes.

I also use reminder dates for some notes, and have a simple search set up to pull up all reminders.

In general I've worked to keep my task system as simple as I can. I used to spend more time fiddling around with things like dates and tags than actually working. So I trimmed it down as much as I could. For tasks, I really only use 3 basic Notebooks: 00-Inbox, 10-Today, and 20-Next. I do have a Someday notebook but I don't look through it as regularly as I should. I have some other notebooks but they are more for special categories like Expenses.

[DTLow 5,736]

On 2017-03-23 at 11:28 AM, csihilling said:

Dated trumps not dated

Not necessarily, but it does open up the issue of identifying priority

My Task Lists could have over a dozen items and I feel the need to add some order
- both in my Current Task List and Project Lists
I currently sort by Title and use a + prefix for task notes; ++ for next actions

Each day I prepare a daily journal with an activities section.  I populate this section with links from my Current Task List.  At this point, I can add order to the tasks

[CalS 5,280]

53 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Not necessarily, but it does open up the issue of identifying priority

Should have been more specific in that dated trumps not dated for me, as always, a use case kind of thing....   

[DealHaggler18 3]

*Edit: Reworking this as all this didn't work for me. Will try to post if I get a good solution. 

 

Wow there are a ton of methods here! Thanks for sharing everyone. I ran into many of the same problems posted in the previous 7 pages. The closest thing I have identified with as a solution is HeyMalcs "Timology" method. Ultimately, I am trying to just start at least and do something that works for me. I'm new to Evernote in general and have a MAC so still learning the functionality. I am a single user who isn't collaborating with anyone else and just wants my life organized. Read GTD and loved it, want what he describes and have had a lot of trouble implementing it. I tend to overthink things, be a very linear thinker, and need hard rules and do something the same way every time, which made me really consider which method to use. Ultimately, I don't want to waste more time working on the method vs getting things done, but my old way just hasn't worked effectively enough. FWIW Here is my system and I realize it may be incomplete/duplicating efforts in places but its the best thing I can understand at this time:

Some of the struggles I had (all listed above at some point):

1) Not wanting to use Evernote reminders-I use Fantastical because I love the calendar layout and predictive/analyzing formatting to put events in and it doesn't sync well with evernote so I try to avoid Evernote reminders. I don't understand them too well and don't want a ton of things going off, being dismissed, etc. Might change with time.

2) Struggle to define and structure projects-Ultimately decided more than one task equals a project, each project gets a project tag, and each project begins with me brainstorming the next step (and any subsequent steps) into a Table of Contents (TOC) tagged with the project title. One task per project in my "actions" NB unless they are not sequential (EX building a garden has 3 steps: 1)Research plants I want to grow 2) Buy Plants 3) Plant the plants.... if 1 is in progress, 2 and 3 will be on TOC but not as an individual note. This way i'm not trying to look at tasks for the next week/month.

3) Duplicity of having an inbox vs running saved searches with a TUF (Tidy Up Filter) for untagged tasks- It makes no sense to have the inbox, but it makes me feel good to get it to 0 and I'm not great at saved searches yet. Maybe will change with time. I also decided to manually remove tags when switching numbered priorities for same reason. More work but for now, it will see me through.

4) Waiting for tasks also being under ".When"-numbered tags- For similar reasons to #3, if a task is waiting for someone else, it is not a number ".When" task. I will hopefully review my @waiting list in my daily/weekly reviews as often as needed. 

5) To use a tickler file or not (for epic 10+ comment debate see earlier posts  You both cracked me up with that and both had great points): I want to be able to use one, but am struggling with how to set it up and how that integrates with the numbered ".When" tags. Also re-read his book on the tickler file section and not sure exactly how to use it in my case. It kinda seems like something I would use to potentially put stuff off/abuse. I may try to implement it later on but for now, going to try to use my .when tags to cover it.

6) Context/where tags kinda seem like wasted effort- I have a feeling I'll be good about tagging this in accordance with my rules below, but that I won't actually be SEARCHING for tasks according to context when I am at that place, etc. 

7) For "when" tags are they rolling tags based on day or calendar-based- Ultimately decided 1-today is always only this day and same for 2-tomorrow. 3-this week and 4-this month is generally stuff I want to get done in next 30 days. 5-Later is stuff I DEFINITELY want to do but not yet identified when and 6-Someday/Maybe is my catch all for ***** I might want to do/consider etc. Before bed going to do my daily review for the next morning and adjust my tags. 

 

Rules (some pulls straight from GTD book, some made by me)

1. Everything gets a when tag
2. Calendar is only for things with a time attached, not for things only day specific.
3. Always sort through inbox in order and never put something back in
4. When delegated, add timestamp for when it was passed
5. Respond/finish task if less than 3 min- TIME YOURSELF
6. Greater than 1 task is a project, no exceptions
7. Every active project has an action step or is waiting for someone else
8. Never put other .When tags for 7Waiting For
9. Only one .When tag at a time
10. Context is ONLY where something MUST be done, not where it can be done
11. Be OKAY with what you aren’t doing if you have reviewed your lists

Shoutout to csihilling, DTLow, tavor, and HeyMalc for all your helpful questions and answers!

[DTLow 5,736]

53 minutes ago, DealHaggler18 said:

1) Not wanting to use Evernote reminders

I make use of the Reminder feature.  It provides start and completion dates

>> if 1 is in progress, 2 and 3 will be on TOC but not as an individual note. This way i'm not trying to look at tasks for the next week/month.

I create a separate note for each task

I only look at tasks that are current; no need to look a future dated tasks until they're due.  Exclude them from your task list

>>7) For "when" tags are they rolling tags based on day or calendar-based

I don't have When tags, just a Start (Reminder) Date.  The shortcut search controls the days in the list

 

 

[DealHaggler18 3]

1 hour ago, DTLow said:

I make use of the Reminder feature.  It provides start and completion dates

>> if 1 is in progress, 2 and 3 will be on TOC but not as an individual note. This way i'm not trying to look at tasks for the next week/month.

I create a separate note for each task

I only look at tasks that are current; no need to look a future dated tasks until they're due.  Exclude them from your task list

>>7) For "when" tags are they rolling tags based on day or calendar-based

I don't have When tags, just a Start (Reminder) Date.  The shortcut search controls the days in the list

 

 

@DTLow So you define each and every task with a due date and only one task per note? So a project would have 5 subtasks and you would put due dates on all of them? I think for me assigning a due date arbitrarily to each task for when I think it would/should be done would be hard to nail down and differentiate against tasks with an actual date deadline. Like I said, I tend to overthink things so not attacking anyone's method just trying to think through whether it would work for me.

 

[DTLow 5,736]

8 hours ago, DealHaggler18 said:

So a project would have 5 subtasks and you would put due dates on all of them? I think for me assigning a due date arbitrarily to each task

I would assign today's date if I started working on a task
Certainly if a task had a specific start date, I would assign the date

No date for other tasks, and I have many of them 

>>This way i'm not trying to look at tasks for the next week/month.

This is important because it's the core of GTD
Yes, get the tasks listed, but focus on the Next Action
When you completed a project task, ask yourself - What is the Next Action(s)

This works for me, but I also keep track of tasks from a date perspective
If a task has a firm date of today, I work on it today regardless of the next action status

[CalS 5,280]

11 hours ago, DealHaggler18 said:

So you define each and every task with a due date and only one task per note? So a project would have 5 subtasks and you would put due dates on all of them? I think for me assigning a due date arbitrarily to each task for when I think it would/should be done would be hard to nail down and differentiate against tasks with an actual date deadline. Like I said, I tend to overthink things so not attacking anyone's method just trying to think through whether it would work for me.

For me, every task is related to its own note.  Tasks either get a dated reminder or an !actiontag (top of that stack is !1-Now, !2-Next, ...).  I have two action lists to review in EN, today's reminders (a saved search) and !1-Now.  Neither tends to be that long a list.  And for me dates out rank actiontags so I work dates first and then actions.  When an action becomes critical it will get a date.  Today needs to get done today, !1-Now may get done but doesn't necessarily have to.  I also have other saved reminder searches for Late, Tomorrow, Next 7 days and the like and tag searches to manage the flow.  FWIW.

In this example, depending upon how you manage projects, all of the sub tasks could use action tags.  Preferably not all of them would be of the !1-Now variety, unless they are all small efforts.  By the same token they could be dated if that is what made the most sense or there was a deadline implication to each.

[DealHaggler18 3]

Cal,

 

When you get a chance can you pose the raw version of your searches, description, and when you use them (especially for the reminder ones)? Something like this:

 

1) PURPOSE- Find all notes overdue; CODE search: -tag...... ; FREQ: Daily review

2) PURPOSE- Find all notes due in next 2 weeks; CODE: ...........; FREQ: Weekly Review

2) PURPOSE- Find all notes due in next 2 weeks; CODE: ...........; FREQ: Monthly Review

 

Thanks in advance!

[DTLow 5,736]

34 minutes ago, DealHaggler18 said:

Find all notes overdue

Overdue tasks is a feature of dedicated project manager apps but it's a list I'm missing in my process

Its easy for one-day tasks, but not multi-day tasks;  I'm able to store start date using Reminder Date but have nowhere to store required end date

 

 

[CalS 5,280]

17 minutes ago, DealHaggler18 said:

Cal,

 

When you get a chance can you pose the raw version of your searches, description, and when you use them (especially for the reminder ones)? Something like this:

 

1) PURPOSE- Find all notes overdue; CODE search: -tag...... ; FREQ: Daily review

2) PURPOSE- Find all notes due in next 2 weeks; CODE: ...........; FREQ: Weekly Review

2) PURPOSE- Find all notes due in next 2 weeks; CODE: ...........; FREQ: Monthly Review

 

Thanks in advance!

Here you go.  All in All Notes context.

1. Late    remindertime:* -remindertime:day -reminderdonetime:*
2. Next 14   remindertime:day -remindertime:day+15 -reminderdonetime:*
3. Assuming Next 30   remindertime:day -remindertime:day+31 -reminderdonetime:*

FYI, this what the saved searches look like in the drop down on Windows.  I precede them with ! so that they are on the top of the stack.

[Cy Flow 1]

Hello all, first time poster here and looking forward to being a fellow positive contributor to this forum.

Thanks to everybody for their helpful input on this thread as I just implemented The Secret Weapon.  So far, I'm pretty stoked about using this system as I've only been typing in random notes here and there since I committed to EN a few months back.

My first introduction to time management was David Allen's GTD and I always mention his book to anybody who is just beginning to try to get their "sh**" organized.

I used to use Omnifocus for this and even actual notebooks (still use those once in awhile as the original OG of efficiency, Leonardo Da Vinci, used to always have a notebook with him) since writing in notebooks vs typing on a phone inspire a different creative energy, for me at least.  But Omnifocus didn't feel as good as typing in EN for whatever reason.  I guess I like green elephants.  Who knew?

With that being said, my personal system has morphed into a blend of multiple systems and is going thru another change right now, thus my involvement with this thread.  Part of the reason for my change was that, at least for me, the original GTD system focused my attention too much on the tiny things in life.  Meaning that while I was more efficient in my processes, was what I was even working on really that important?  Granted this is something that would've been discovered in the weekly review but the chapter in Stephen Covey's book 7 Habits of Highly Effective Ppl helped give me more clarity as it focused moreso on "Roles" like Good father, Good son, Good Boss, etc and have all your tasks fall under those roles to help prioritize them.

I then tried Tony Robbin's RPM system (I think that's what it's called) and while the system didn't resonate with me, the macro question of "WHY" are we doing the things we're doing was a good takeaway.  For example, if the reason I'm using Evernote is because "I want to be more efficient", it isn't really that inspiring and actually boring for me.  But if the WHY is because I want to be more efficient to spend more time with my family, more time to do things I love, make more money, etc, then it changes the context completely vs I want to be able to process 100 emails instead of 50.

Anyways, thanks again for all contributors and if I happen to pick up any tips that I think are helpful from using Evernote, I'll share them here as well.

C

 

 

[Jacinto Silva Martins 3]

Em 2017-2-13 at 18:33, tavor disse:

Like you, I use saved reminder and tag searches. Maybe someday Evernote will incorporate full Boolean search and we can use one saved search to filter down to today's tasks.

I use a lot this search:

reminderTime:day -reminderTime:day+1 tag:"!1 NOW"

reminderTime:day -reminderTime:day+1 tag:"!1 NEXT"

...

[DTLow 5,736]

On 2017-07-14 at 오후 2시 24분, Jacinto Silva Martins said:

I use a lot this search:

reminderTime:day -reminderTime:day+1 tag:"!1 NOW"

reminderTime:day -reminderTime:day+1 tag:"!1 NEXT"

Its partial Boolean search
You can use AND for your parameters; You can use OR (any:) for your parameter
But you can't use both AND & OR together; they have to be separate searches

[CalS 5,280]

15 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Its partial Boolean search

Interesting concept...