Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Using a Smart List for a Landing Pad
It’s possible to have so many tasks that new ones can get lost. If your Inbox isn’t working out for you, this week’s tip may help: idickinson suggests a way to add tasks quickly, including on the go, while maintaining the rest of their system.
I’m an RTM power user. I use RTM to remember everything I need to do around the house, school, work, etc… and I have an elaborate system of code which allows me to categorize tasks in Smart Lists. Unfortunately, I found that if your code gets a little TOO complex then your task will get lost in the ether when you create a new one, instead of having the attributes smart-added to it.
So here is my solution:
I created a Smart List that sits at the very top which I named (01) Landing Pad.
For the code I simply did the following:
tag:td AND priority:none AND due:never
I tag each task td (for “to do”) so that I can have a sub level Smart List that will catch any untagged tasks in case I screw up or forget to tag it. They have no priority because I sort my lists by priority, and so when I give it a !1 !2 or !3 It will auto-hop over to my designated list.
Finally, it is due never, because I don’t want tasks in that list that are due – that means they have been assigned to another list.
So it seems simple, but here is where it has completely changed how I use RTM.
Because I used to pick the list I wanted and post in there, I would often lose tasks or forget where they were hiding. I would neglect lists, and I would also have trouble keeping them organized. I found it annoying to have to type in all the relevant information right then. I just wanted to post and go!
I also realized I couldn’t just use my Inbox because I had waaaay too many tasks – so I devised a way to have a GTD style “Inbox” that I can sort easily later.
If I think of something, anything, I don’t have to fuss with picking a list or setting a date or a priority, I just go to my landing pad and type in the task. Then at the end of the day I can go through and sort the tasks to where they need to be. This keeps me mindful of what I need to do and keeps me from making mistakes.
Most tasks go to my “(02) Today” Smart List, which has too many conditions in order to just post to it directly – but it also has the advantage of only showing what I want, even with tasks appearing at certain times of the day (like flossing).
So now I can have the best of both worlds with the least amount of clicking and changing: with the landing pad I can easily and thoughtlessly create tasks, and with the “Today” Smart List which can easily facilitate tasks being moved to it from my landing pad.
Thanks for sharing this tip, idickinson! You’re our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.
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