Welcome!  English (US) Language Switcher

Using Sleeper and Reminder Tags with a FocusedList

steveshay says:

How to use a combination of Sleeper and Reminder tags along with a Focused List to maintain Daily Tasks.

Sleeper tags have been mentioned in previous posts as a method of hiding a task until closer to its due date. One use for this is to hide items that cannot be started until some point in the future. For example, if you have a task: "Call Mom on Birthday" it cannot be done early and therefore there is no reason for it to be on the Focus list. Another scenarios could be paying a bill that requires you to get a statement first.

Reminder tags are the opposite, they allow a task to show up on the Focus list before it otherwise would. These are useful for larger projects that may take some time. You want to see it on your daily list as a reminder to work on it but you don't want to set an arbitrary due date. A good example of this is: "Finish Christmas Shopping" due Dec. 23. You may want to see that on your focus list starting around Thanksgiving instead of only a couple of days before it is due.

When these concepts are used with a focus list it allows better control over what you do and do not see on your list of items to focus on today.

-----

There are 3 main components of this setup:
1. A Future List
2. A Remind List
3. A Focus List

-----
Future List:
A list of items that will show up at some point in the future.

tagContains: sleep
AND NOT (
(tag:zz_Sleep0Days AND dueBefore:"1 Day")
OR (tag:z_Sleep3Days AND dueBefore:"4 Days")
OR (tag:z_Sleep1Week AND dueBefore:"1 Week and 1 Day")
OR (tag:z_Sleep2Weeks AND dueBefore:"2 Weeks and 1 Day")
)

(I run mine this way so I can see a list of all items that are hidden for the future. You could choose to set this up in a more standard fashion if desired)

------
Remind List:
Items that should show up on the Focus list now regardless of other criteria

tag:zz_RemindNow
OR (tag:zz_Remind1week AND due:"1 week")
OR (tag:zz_Remind2week AND due:"2 weeks")
OR (tag:zz_Remind3week AND due:"3 weeks")
OR (tag:zz_Remind1month AND due:"1 Month")
OR (tag:zz_Remind3month AND due:"3 Months")
OR (tag:zz_Remind6month AND due:"6 Months")

-----
Focus List:

These are the items I want to be focusing on. It includes everything on the above Remind List and None of the items on the above Future List.

The remaining criteria is just what I have chosen to consider important based on how I use the system.

NOT list:Sleep
AND (
list:Remind
OR(
(dueBefore:tomorrow)
OR
(priority:1)
OR
(dueBefore:"2 days" and NOT priority:none)
OR
(dueBefore:"7 Days" AND priority:2)
OR
(due:never AND (priority:1 OR priority:2) ) )

Current List:
You can also add a current list which to see a larger picture. Just like the focus list it would include everything on the above Remind List and None of the items on the above Future List but it does not restrict the items based on due date or priority.

----------------

Posted at 4:59am on November 17, 2009

steveshay says:

Just as a side note, there are two ways you could set up the reminder list. If you use "due:" in your criteria the item will show up in your focus list a single time as a reminder. However, if you use "dueWithin:" you will see the item in your focus list every day from that point on.

--- This will cause items to show up one time as a reminder ---
NOT tag:z_hidden
AND (tag:zz_RemindNow OR (tag:zz_Remind1week AND due:"1 week")
OR (tag:zz_Remind2week AND due:"2 weeks")
OR (tag:zz_Remind3week AND due:"3 weeks")
OR (tag:zz_Remind1month AND due:"1 Month")
OR (tag:zz_Remind3month AND due:"3 Months")
OR (tag:zz_Remind6month AND due:"6 Months") )

--- This will cause items to show up every day after the initial reminder ---
NOT tag:z_hidden
AND (tag:zz_RemindNow OR (tag:zz_Remind1week AND dueWithin:"1 week")
OR (tag:zz_Remind2week AND dueWithin:"2 weeks")
OR (tag:zz_Remind3week AND dueWithin:"3 weeks")
OR (tag:zz_Remind1month AND dueWithin:"1 Month")
OR (tag:zz_Remind3month AND dueWithin:"3 Months")
OR (tag:zz_Remind6month AND dueWithin:"6 Months") )
--

Posted 2 years ago

davidbwagner says:

I use sleeper tasks quite a bit and I love 'em, especially for recurring tasks. But I don't quite understand the reminder idea. A sleeper task will show up, say, 7 days before it's due and remain on your focus list. A reminder task will show up 7 days before, then disappear on days 6 thru 1, and then reappear?

Do I have that right? If so, why would you want that? Why wouldn't you want to be reminded every day until the task is done? The whole point of GTD is to not have to clutter up your mind with stuff.

Posted 2 years ago

steveshay says:

It's like you said, the point is to not clutter up your mind with Stuff so I try to keep my current lists to the point and manageable. I trust my systems and I know I will be reminded when I need to be. I keep my mind clearer by only seeing what is important to me at this time.

I use Sleeper tags to keep things that can't be done yet off my list not to get them on my list. If I can't take any actions on an item at this time I don't want it on my list until I can. Most of the time I use sleeper tags with 0 to 3 days so I don't see them until right when they are due.

I use Reminder tags for future items that I will need some time to complete. I don't keep them on my daily list because I don't want to be burdened down daily with an item I don't need to complete for several weeks. I don't want to see "Finish Christmas Shopping" on my daily list every single day this month so I use a sleeper tag with it.

It is on the list with the tag Remind1Month and a due date of Dec. 23. On Nov. 23rd it will show up on my daily focus list as a friendly reminder. At that point I have several options:
- Change the tag to "Remind3Weeks" if I want a second reminder
- Remove the tag if I want it off my focus list right away
- Bump the priority up to a 1 to keep it on my focus list
- Create some more concrete actionable items towards this task
- Do nothing and it will stay on the focus list just for that day.

It provides me with the flexibility to decide how often I need to be nudged to get an item completed or a reminder to set up some more concrete actions items that will remain on the focus list every day until they are done. "Finish Christmas Shopping" and "Finish Term Paper" are not items you can take direct action on. "Buy gift for Mary" or "Write outline" are actionable items so those are the ones that stay on the daily focus list.

It's just a way of staying focused on what are the most important things I can do today. If an item has a due date it will eventually end up on the focus list but not until it needs to be there.

Posted 2 years ago

bruce9x says:

I noticed in some of the examples, that sometimes the tag has one z, as in "z_hidden", and sometimes it has two z, as in "zz_RemindNow".

Is that done deliberately, or just an oversight when typing the examples.

I wonder if it has to do with how tags get sorted, and the desire to keep those tags with one z to appear before those with two.

Posted 1 year ago

bruce9x says:

I noticed in some of the examples, that sometimes the tag has one z, as in "z_hidden", and sometimes it has two z, as in "zz_RemindNow".

Is that done deliberately, or just an oversight when typing the examples.

I wonder if it has to do with how tags get sorted, and the desire to keep those tags with one z to appear before those with two.

Posted 1 year ago

Log in to post a reply.