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Don't want your deleted tasks to be gone forever? Discard them instead!

olliebaum says:
If you're anything like me, then maybe you don't always want to completely delete a task without a trace. Sometimes it's useful to have a record of that task - perhaps it was a good idea that but you simply didn't have time for it. Or maybe you just like having some record of ideas you considered when completing your project.

In this situation, I tag the task as #discarded and complete the task. This will effectively "delete" it from view, but allow me to see it again should I need to. It's also easy to distinguish from tasks I've actually completed because of the discarded tag. (I use the muddy green colour because it reminds me of Oscar the Grouch and his trash can. 😄 )

I also add a note beginning "Discarded:" - it allows me to give a reason for why I decided against this task at the time. This can be really useful when reflecting on projects.

Creating a smartlist based on the search "tag:discarded AND status:completed" let's you review your discarded tasks easily in case you want to reinstate one of your discarded tasks.

I like being able to look back on projects and see what approaches I considered and ultimately discarded. Some good ideas might get deleted simply because I didn't have time for them, but discarding tasks instead allows me to preserve them. There may be something I can take from it for a similar future project.

Hope this helps!
- Ollie.
Posted at 9:28pm on September 11, 2017
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Hi Ollie,

This is a really handy tip! I definitely need this for all my projects. You're this week's Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner, and we've added a free year of Pro to your Remember The Milk account. :)
Posted 6 years ago
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