Rolling List
I manage a variety of different projects and people inside and outside my company. I kept finding it difficult to keep my priorities in the front of my head while still knocking out the smaller stuff that pops up on a daily basis. I created what I call the "rolling list." I made a smart list that pulls the following items.....
priority:1 OR priority:2 OR priority:3 OR list:Inbox OR dueBefore:tomorrow.
This query pulls anything from all of my lists that I have assigned a priority, anything new that I have added to the inbox, and anything that is due today or overdue. On a daily basis I work from this list and it allows me to effectively prioritize my work across a variety of projects and people.
Each Monday I review all of my projects and assign a priority to things I want to get done. They populate to this list and it gives me a clear daily/weekly agenda. I also have a list of habits that populate on the due day. When I complete them on my rolling list they go away and appear at the next scheduled time.
Bonus: I use my start dates like a tickler/reminder system. Each night I review my rolling list, and search Start:tomorrow. I can then review that list, add a priority if I want it to show up on my main list, or set a new start date for a future time.
Bonus Bonus: I use tags for people. Each task will have a tag for one or more people. Before I walk into a meeting I'll do a quick tag search for each person that will be in the room and I get a quick rundown of what I'm waiting for from them. You'd be amazed how much gets done when I catch up with someone after a meeting and say hey... ."just checking in on these three things."
priority:1 OR priority:2 OR priority:3 OR list:Inbox OR dueBefore:tomorrow.
This query pulls anything from all of my lists that I have assigned a priority, anything new that I have added to the inbox, and anything that is due today or overdue. On a daily basis I work from this list and it allows me to effectively prioritize my work across a variety of projects and people.
Each Monday I review all of my projects and assign a priority to things I want to get done. They populate to this list and it gives me a clear daily/weekly agenda. I also have a list of habits that populate on the due day. When I complete them on my rolling list they go away and appear at the next scheduled time.
Bonus: I use my start dates like a tickler/reminder system. Each night I review my rolling list, and search Start:tomorrow. I can then review that list, add a priority if I want it to show up on my main list, or set a new start date for a future time.
Bonus Bonus: I use tags for people. Each task will have a tag for one or more people. Before I walk into a meeting I'll do a quick tag search for each person that will be in the room and I get a quick rundown of what I'm waiting for from them. You'd be amazed how much gets done when I catch up with someone after a meeting and say hey... ."just checking in on these three things."
emily (Remember The Milk) says:
Hi keithhen,
Great tip! You're this week's Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner, and we've added a free year of Pro to your Remember The Milk account. :)
Great tip! You're this week's Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner, and we've added a free year of Pro to your Remember The Milk account. :)
remoschmid71 says:
Nice approach! How is it possible to define a sort order for such a smart list? Something like "order by" would be great:
priority:1 OR priority:2 OR priority:3 OR list:Inbox OR dueBefore:tomorrow Order By priority, dueDate
priority:1 OR priority:2 OR priority:3 OR list:Inbox OR dueBefore:tomorrow Order By priority, dueDate
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