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using Workflowy for Project Management
etech0:
I started a new thread, because I plan on IY"H posting tips/tricks/shortcuts that I find, and I think it will be easier if we have a separate thread. If this bothers you, I apologize in advance.
My Workflowy Setup
I've been tuning my workflowy setup over time; it's the kind of thing that you never finish :). Note: if you haven't yet tried using workflowy, you might not understand this post. I highly recommend it (as you might have noticed by now) - and when you sign up you can watch a series of short (30 seconds or so) videos that walk you through it and tell you tips/tricks.
So first of all I have a separate section called "Data" for things that are not task/project related, but just things I want to store for reference (and have on my fingertips). It has a few lists within it, and will probably have more as time goes on. Workflowy is great for taking notes, as you may have noticed :)
Now regarding things that have to get done:
At first, I had a section for Tasks and a section for Projects, so I could easily tell what's what. Tasks were often just one line, or sometimes had a few bullets within them (if there were 2 or 3 steps to it, or of there was any data/links I wanted to store with it), whereas Projects were whole lists (or lists of lists) unto themselves, where I mapped out different steps/stages/etc of the Project. Then I noticed a problem that kept coming up, where under each project there were tasks and also notes re: the project, that I'd want to refer to. I didn't like that they were mixed together.
I then found the following idea on the workflowy blog (blog.workflowy.com - worth reading through it, and the comments, for some great tips/tricks), where under each Project I have a section called Notes and a section called Actions. Notes stay there and will be built on over time, for reference, and Actions get checked off as I do them. When the Project is "finished" (for now anyways :) ), the Actions section will be empty, but the Notes section will have lots of useful info I can refer back to. At that point I move the Project to an archive section.
When a Task is finished, on the other hand, I just check it off and let it disappear. And in case I ever need to refer back to it, I can always tell Workflowy to show Completed.
At some point, I noticed that because my Tasks were on top of my Projects, my Projects were getting neglected. I also wanted to drag and drop to prioritize my day, and keeping Tasks and Projects separate made that difficult, so I switched up my system a bit.
My current system:
(bear in mind that it is subject to change, and probably will, as I find ways to improve it)
Now Tasks and Projects live mixed together, and Projects are tagged #project so that I can recognize/find them. Projects still have sublists called Notes and Actions, as per above.
At the very top I have a section called INBOX, for things that I thought to write down but didn't have time to file yet, or links I want to drop somewhere and deal with later. I clear out the INBOX every week, but also skim through it every day or so, in case there's anything urgent in there.
I have a section called CALENDAR, and within it is a list for every day of the week, plus one on top called TODAY.
After the section called CALENDAR I have a section called SOONER (for tasks I'm currently working on, but not specifically on any day), and a section called LATER (for tasks I might work on in the future). I also have a section called PENDING PROJECTS for Project ideas I thought of (and maybe even fleshed out a bit) but am not currently working on.
At the beginning of each week I read through the CALENDAR, SOONER, and LATER sections, and place anything I want to work on this week either into a day, or into SOONER. Anything I don't want to work on this week moves into LATER.
I haven't decided how often I want to review the PENDING PROJECTS list - maybe every month? Or maybe when I finish a project and am decided what to work on next? Either way, with each of the Projects inside of it minimized, it takes a second or two to skim through the list.
Bear in mind that Projects are now mixed with Tasks, and tagged as #project. Often when I open a Project to work on it, I will click on the dot next to the Project name, so that I'm now just looking at that Project without any distractions. When I finish working on a Project for now, I like to tag something as #nextaction - that way when I come back to the project I can zero in on what I'm up to / what I want to work on next.
At the beginning of each day, I move everything that I want to do that day into TODAY. Items might come from my yesterday's list (chas v'shalom), or from the SOONER section, or the INBOX, or they might be in there already. Then I drag the whole day (empty) to the bottom of my calendar list.
Now as far as recurring tasks...
Recurring tasks are tagged as #recurring. Most of my recurring tasks are Weekly, so they live in that day's CALENDAR list. EG: if there's something I do every Monday, it lives in the MONDAY list. On Monday morning, I will move it (along with the rest of my Monday todos) into TODAY, and drag MONDAY (now empty) to the bottom. When I do a regular task I just check it off, but after completing a recurring task I drag it down to MONDAY, so that I'll see it next Monday. (It's not foolproof, but so far it's been working).
If you want, you could expand on the Calendar idea to have a list for every date of the month, or even year. For me, weekly works.
I have a few recurring tasks that happen once a month or year - and I don't have a good way to keep them in Workflowy, so for now, I have them in Wunderlist. UPDATE: I just switched to Todoist for those tasks - as it can handle two types of recurring dates (see my post upthread - someone recommended Asana for that purpose, but I don't love its interface). Todoist is great, very smooth and it's easy to see what's what and what's due.
As it stands, due dates are the feature in Workflowy that I miss the most - and hope they come out with it soon.
I hope all this makes sense and is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!
whacked1:
I have been using workflowy for a few months now. I am not sure what you are referring to with your calendar. I find everything needing too be done manually. For example: in your calendar when something is marked for today (I'm assuming you use #today?), how does tomorrow's items change to #today?
elit:
--- Quote from: etech0 on January 06, 2016, 03:08:32 PM ---I started a new thread, because I plan on IY"H posting tips/tricks/shortcuts that I find, and I think it will be easier if we have a separate thread. If this bothers you, I apologize in advance.
My Workflowy Setup
I've been tuning my workflowy setup over time; it's the kind of thing that you never finish :). Note: if you haven't yet tried using workflowy, you might not understand this post. I highly recommend it (as you might have noticed by now) - and when you sign up you can watch a series of short (30 seconds or so) videos that walk you through it and tell you tips/tricks.
So first of all I have a separate section called "Data" for things that are not task/project related, but just things I want to store for reference (and have on my fingertips). It has a few lists within it, and will probably have more as time goes on. Workflowy is great for taking notes, as you may have noticed :)
Now regarding things that have to get done:
At first, I had a section for Tasks and a section for Projects, so I could easily tell what's what. Tasks were often just one line, or sometimes had a few bullets within them (if there were 2 or 3 steps to it, or of there was any data/links I wanted to store with it), whereas Projects were whole lists (or lists of lists) unto themselves, where I mapped out different steps/stages/etc of the Project. Then I noticed a problem that kept coming up, where under each project there were tasks and also notes re: the project, that I'd want to refer to. I didn't like that they were mixed together.
I then found the following idea on the workflowy blog (blog.workflowy.com - worth reading through it, and the comments, for some great tips/tricks), where under each Project I have a section called Notes and a section called Actions. Notes stay there and will be built on over time, for reference, and Actions get checked off as I do them. When the Project is "finished" (for now anyways :) ), the Actions section will be empty, but the Notes section will have lots of useful info I can refer back to. At that point I move the Project to an archive section.
When a Task is finished, on the other hand, I just check it off and let it disappear. And in case I ever need to refer back to it, I can always tell Workflowy to show Completed.
At some point, I noticed that because my Tasks were on top of my Projects, my Projects were getting neglected. I also wanted to drag and drop to prioritize my day, and keeping Tasks and Projects separate made that difficult, so I switched up my system a bit.
My current system:
(bear in mind that it is subject to change, and probably will, as I find ways to improve it)
Now Tasks and Projects live mixed together, and Projects are tagged #project so that I can recognize/find them. Projects still have sublists called Notes and Actions, as per above.
At the very top I have a section called INBOX, for things that I thought to write down but didn't have time to file yet, or links I want to drop somewhere and deal with later. I clear out the INBOX every week, but also skim through it every day or so, in case there's anything urgent in there.
I have a section called CALENDAR, and within it is a list for every day of the week, plus one on top called TODAY.
After the section called CALENDAR I have a section called SOONER (for tasks I'm currently working on, but not specifically on any day), and a section called LATER (for tasks I might work on in the future). I also have a section called PENDING PROJECTS for Project ideas I thought of (and maybe even fleshed out a bit) but am not currently working on.
At the beginning of each week I read through the CALENDAR, SOONER, and LATER sections, and place anything I want to work on this week either into a day, or into SOONER. Anything I don't want to work on this week moves into LATER.
I haven't decided how often I want to review the PENDING PROJECTS list - maybe every month? Or maybe when I finish a project and am decided what to work on next? Either way, with each of the Projects inside of it minimized, it takes a second or two to skim through the list.
Bear in mind that Projects are now mixed with Tasks, and tagged as #project. Often when I open a Project to work on it, I will click on the dot next to the Project name, so that I'm now just looking at that Project without any distractions. When I finish working on a Project for now, I like to tag something as #nextaction - that way when I come back to the project I can zero in on what I'm up to / what I want to work on next.
At the beginning of each day, I move everything that I want to do that day into TODAY. Items might come from my yesterday's list (chas v'shalom), or from the SOONER section, or the INBOX, or they might be in there already. Then I drag the whole day (empty) to the bottom of my calendar list.
Now as far as recurring tasks...
Recurring tasks are tagged as #recurring. Most of my recurring tasks are Weekly, so they live in that day's CALENDAR list. EG: if there's something I do every Monday, it lives in the MONDAY list. On Monday morning, I will move it (along with the rest of my Monday todos) into TODAY, and drag MONDAY (now empty) to the bottom. When I do a regular task I just check it off, but after completing a recurring task I drag it down to MONDAY, so that I'll see it next Monday. (It's not foolproof, but so far it's been working).
If you want, you could expand on the Calendar idea to have a list for every date of the month, or even year. For me, weekly works.
I have a few recurring tasks that happen once a month or year - and I don't have a good way to keep them in Workflowy, so for now, I have them in Wunderlist. UPDATE: I just switched to Todoist for those tasks - as it can handle two types of recurring dates (see my post upthread - someone recommended Asana for that purpose, but I don't love its interface). Todoist is great, very smooth and it's easy to see what's what and what's due.
As it stands, due dates are the feature in Workflowy that I miss the most - and hope they come out with it soon.
I hope all this makes sense and is helpful. Let me know if you have any questions!
--- End quote ---
Nice. Tons of useful info here. Thanks! Dunno but I feel if I had that much time to research and work on my to do lists I wouldn't need a to do list
You have a very creative way of dealing with the lack of due dates but I can't see myself doing that. I need a list that automatically updates the day due etc. .. I can't constantly manually move everything. Which is why for now workflowy remains my general long term tasks and project lists. It is such a shame though bc every other aspect of it is great.
Also I love the idea of using it for notes for the future I think that's a great idea and maybe I'll start using it for that also.
elit:
--- Quote from: whacked1 on January 06, 2016, 06:46:24 PM ---I have been using workflowy for a few months now. I am not sure what you are referring to with your calendar. I find everything needing too be done manually. For example: in your calendar when something is marked for today (I'm assuming you use #today?), how does tomorrow's items change to #today?
--- End quote ---
It doesn't etecho manually switches it
whacked1:
--- Quote from: elit on January 06, 2016, 10:01:32 PM ---It doesn't etecho manually switches it
--- End quote ---
Thats crazy. I tried just using dates ie #11/30/15 but it just got confusing.
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