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Keeping two seperate lists of tasks

annevoss says:
I'd like to use RtM for both private tasks as well as business related stuff. However, I do not want both lists to 'contaminate' one another.

I see only two options at the moment:
1) Use a separate RtM account. But that brings the hassle of having to switch accounts. Not trivial on my phone.
2) Having to rewrite ALL of the existing views to include either private or business tasks.

Does someone in this community of ultra savvy RtM users have some thoughts on this issue?

I have tried all sorts of other task management programs and I always come back to RtM, as the most flexible and versatile. Although this may be just one step too far even for RtM.
Posted at 1:43pm on April 9, 2018
jersiaise says:
If I understand you right, your problem is that private and business tasks get mixed up in smart lists, did I get you right? If so, I see two solutions:

1) modify your smart lists / searches in a way that they show either private or business tasks (this requires that you anything to separate them, e.g. two separate lists or different tags or something else so you can separate private from business with search parameters) -- I think this is also what you thought of in your second option, isn't it?

2) change the sorting/grouping of your smart lists: if you have private taks in one list and business tasks in another one, you could group your smart lists, where the two get mixed up, by lists (here is the RTM help about that topic: https://www.rememberthemilk.com/help/answer/basics-tasks-advanced-sortorder).
This way, they will still both appear in one smart lists, but separated visually.

I don't know if this may help you, but I hope so!
Posted 5 years ago
jersiaise says:
Edit (sorry, I was too fast):

for n° 1): ... *this requires that you HAVE SOMETHING to separate them ...
Posted 5 years ago
annevoss says:
I know, and I can of course label them as either business/work or private. My issue is with the RtM default views like all tasks and Today.
I want to make sure that whenever I focus on either business or private, I will only see tasks appropriate to the occasion.
As I have found that nothing much gets done on either front when I mix them in. (too many tasks, demoralisation, significant daily effort just to keep the tasks sorted/filed/tagged, managing two basically separate tag/list sets in one app etc.)

The more I think about it the more I am afraid I will need a second RtM account after all.
Posted 5 years ago
davidfarquhar says:
I suggest sticking with one account. I separate out my work and personal tasks into a number of different lists.

A quick way to help you here is to have a new smart list that combines all your work lists together - call it All Work Tasks. Then if you have a current smart list you want to only show work tasks in, edit it in the query editor and put
And list:"all work tasks"
at the end

If you want to do this with the default lists from RTM you'll have to build these yourself as Smart Lists, but this isn't too hard. If you need help replicating one of these lists let us know.

One advantage of this is can use tags to force a personal task into the work list or vice versa eg if you have a personal task you need to do during work hours. I do this by tagging these tasks "work" and my All Work Tasks list picks these up
Posted 5 years ago
davidfarquhar says:
You mentioned recreating views in the original post. I find the easiest way to do this is to open a text editing program and copy the query from the advanced query editor into the text editor. Then create a new smart list, and paste the query back in. Using the text editor let's me modify it easily before putting it into RTM
Posted 5 years ago
annevoss says:
Would there be a definition of the standard views (like Today view)?

Of course I can write something myself, but better to copy the example then to cobble up something myself ;-)
Posted 5 years ago
raymond.bergmark Power Poster says:
annevoss:
Try the search dueBefore:tomorrow
To find all tasks, search for "" (nothing)
These searches can then be saved as smart lists (one of the great things about RTM).
To make it even more clever, create a work smart list.
For example tag:work AND tag:phone, save as "work"

Then a good today smart list would be dueBefore:tomorrow and list:work
A smart list can in itself contain another smart list.
Posted 5 years ago
annevoss says:
Smart Lists are a very powerful feature that makes me come back to RtM.

I had set-up most of it. However, given how thing are at work at the moment I really, really, don't want my work tasks between my private tasks. (More psychological than anything else).
Posted 5 years ago
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