"Smart Add" Fast
andyjpowell_work says:
At work I often have people phoning, or dropping by my desk, asking me to do things. "Can you check this?" "Can you follow up on that?" I need somewhere to record these reminders, effectively tasks, and started using RTM a couple of years back.
The Smart Add feature has improved my ability to quickly add tasks. Unfortunately I found that I would type the topic into the Smart Add box, hit Enter, and off it would go into the ether. Why? Because I use only Smart Lists, based on dates and tags, to manage my work and, because I didn't type any details in when I was Smart Adding, none of my Smart Lists would pick the task up.
Some might suggest I take the time to enter these details properly, before saving the task, but I found it’s not effective to sit at my desk typing hieroglyphics such as ! @ # ^ * = while I’m speaking to a colleague.
I recently overcame my issue by setting up a new Smart List, called “Quick Add”. Rather than using it to find tasks, I’m using it to auto-populate some basic default details using RTM’s amazing “Inheriting task properties” feature (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/help/answers/smartlists/addtask.rtm) whereby “tasks added in Smart Lists will use that list's criteria”.
The Smart List search criteria for my "Quick Add" list is:
{due:today and priority:2 and tag:general and timeEstimate:"10 mins”}
So now when I have to quickly add a task, as a colleague is yabbering away, I just click on my “Quick Add” list, type the task name, and hit Enter. I can be assured it will show up in today’s tasks, with priority 2, tagged with "general", and with a 10 minute time estimate. I can then either complete the task today or adjust the details to look at another day.
The Smart Add feature has improved my ability to quickly add tasks. Unfortunately I found that I would type the topic into the Smart Add box, hit Enter, and off it would go into the ether. Why? Because I use only Smart Lists, based on dates and tags, to manage my work and, because I didn't type any details in when I was Smart Adding, none of my Smart Lists would pick the task up.
Some might suggest I take the time to enter these details properly, before saving the task, but I found it’s not effective to sit at my desk typing hieroglyphics such as ! @ # ^ * = while I’m speaking to a colleague.
I recently overcame my issue by setting up a new Smart List, called “Quick Add”. Rather than using it to find tasks, I’m using it to auto-populate some basic default details using RTM’s amazing “Inheriting task properties” feature (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/help/answers/smartlists/addtask.rtm) whereby “tasks added in Smart Lists will use that list's criteria”.
The Smart List search criteria for my "Quick Add" list is:
{due:today and priority:2 and tag:general and timeEstimate:"10 mins”}
So now when I have to quickly add a task, as a colleague is yabbering away, I just click on my “Quick Add” list, type the task name, and hit Enter. I can be assured it will show up in today’s tasks, with priority 2, tagged with "general", and with a 10 minute time estimate. I can then either complete the task today or adjust the details to look at another day.
rusharound says:
Nice approach!
Good idea!
You could also introduce a Check smart list and add that to your other smart list, described here: http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/tips/590/ (added a year ago, search for isLocated:false OR NOT timeEstimate:">0 min" OR isTagged:false)
You could also introduce a Check smart list and add that to your other smart list, described here: http://www.rememberthemilk.com/forums/tips/590/ (added a year ago, search for isLocated:false OR NOT timeEstimate:">0 min" OR isTagged:false)
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Hi andyjpowell_work,
Great tip! :) I just wanted to let you know that you're this week's Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner. We've upgraded your RTM account to have a free year of Pro.
Great tip! :) I just wanted to let you know that you're this week's Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner. We've upgraded your RTM account to have a free year of Pro.
eddm says:
This is a nice idea, and I can see it being very useful :) Thanks.
One thing that would make it even more useful though (and I guess this is more feature-request than suggestion) is to have an ability to, in cases where the properties to inherit are ambiguous, decide which properties to inherit. For example...
I have a 'today' list which includes all incomplete tasks due today, or are incomplete and overdue -- because they should, in theory be done today because I forgot to do it yesterday, or whatever -- ("dueBefore:tomorrow"). Because of that query's ambiguity, I can't add a task in that list to be done "today" without adding the necessary smart-add keyword.
Obviously there is no way for the system to know when to set the due date for a task I add in that smart list, but the ability to explicitly state which properties to inherit would be awesome (or, if anyone manages to hack something together :)).
One thing that would make it even more useful though (and I guess this is more feature-request than suggestion) is to have an ability to, in cases where the properties to inherit are ambiguous, decide which properties to inherit. For example...
I have a 'today' list which includes all incomplete tasks due today, or are incomplete and overdue -- because they should, in theory be done today because I forgot to do it yesterday, or whatever -- ("dueBefore:tomorrow"). Because of that query's ambiguity, I can't add a task in that list to be done "today" without adding the necessary smart-add keyword.
Obviously there is no way for the system to know when to set the due date for a task I add in that smart list, but the ability to explicitly state which properties to inherit would be awesome (or, if anyone manages to hack something together :)).
Andy, I don't really have the time to be active here in the forums, but I am *so* glad I subscribe to the blog. This is a killer idea for someone who uses smartlists for everything, which is right in line with me.
I can see myself creating a whole bunch of quicklists (project at home, work followup, etc) just for the purpose of defaulting the values.
Thanks!
I can see myself creating a whole bunch of quicklists (project at home, work followup, etc) just for the purpose of defaulting the values.
Thanks!
andyjpowell_work says:
Awesome! Thanks so much Emily.
andyjpowell_work says:
@erik: I'm glad you found this useful. I think the forums, and associated blogs, are one of the stand-outs of RTM in that they allow people to share their own customisations and make the app potentially far more useful than any one person would have considered. I've used so many great ideas from other people sharing, so I'm happy I had the opportunity to share one!
@organisator: Because I use only Smart Lists, based on dates and tags, to manage my work I never actually look at the Inbox. That was the whole problem I had. The tasks were going "somewhere" but they never appeared in the lists I was using every day. With the solution I set up (described above), they are auto-tagged in such a way that they appear in my smart lists by default. I hope that makes sense!?!
@organisator: Because I use only Smart Lists, based on dates and tags, to manage my work I never actually look at the Inbox. That was the whole problem I had. The tasks were going "somewhere" but they never appeared in the lists I was using every day. With the solution I set up (described above), they are auto-tagged in such a way that they appear in my smart lists by default. I hope that makes sense!?!
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