Wanted: can a kind person please share simple gtd s using toodledo

[Jamie Elis]

Greetings and happy new year to my old forum acquaintances and new forum users. I have been trying to use toodledo but I am having a heck of a time making my basic gtd elements (areas of focus, projects, context, and sdmbs) fit into toodledoo's system. I have tried to search gtd forums but I am getting no results (I may be a poor searcher) Toodledoo's forum posts that I have looked at so far are so complicated I am lost.
So, if you are doing this or can find any posts that show this, I would be most appreciative. I having been using paper since the death of my Palm and it is killing me.

Respectfully,
Jamie Elis

[mak2011]

Evernote is far more versatile for projects, project support, and horizons and just an exellent digital capturing tool (or a digital inbasket). for action lists though Toodledo is good, however I prefere 2DO, its looks much better on smartphones and also syncs with toodledo

hope that helps

[mcogilvie]

Greetings and happy new year to my old forum acquaintances and new forum users. I have been trying to use toodledo but I am having a heck of a time making my basic gtd elements (areas of focus, projects, context, and sdmbs) fit into toodledoo's system. I have tried to search gtd forums but I am getting no results (I may be a poor searcher) Toodledoo's forum posts that I have looked at so far are so complicated I am lost.
So, if you are doing this or can find any posts that show this, I would be most appreciative. I having been using paper since the death of my Palm and it is killing me.


I'm not using Toodledo right now, but I've done fine with it in the past. There are a lot of ways to do GTD with it. I have found that the simplest way for me is to have

Contexts: -Projects (the - puts it at the top), Computer, Someday/Maybe et cetera
Folders: Areas of Focus

and not have an explicit connection between project and next actions, except that they have the same area of focus. You can make that connection using subtasks (with a paid subscription) or with tags. Another alternative is to use Goals for Areas of Focus and Folders for Projects. I found most of these schemes too much trouble to maintain, but others have not.

I would recommend also enabling the due date field and the star, and learning about the hotlist functionality. Used sparingly, it will help you get through the busiest days. Other fields at your discretion. One nice thing about Toodledo is that you can try out wacky ideas for fields you think might help you and not lose anything but time.

[PeterW]

Hi Jamie,

I used Toodledo for a few years so can tell you what I did with it as my GTD system.

Are you asking about the online version or the iOS (iPhone/iPod/iPad) version, or both?

I used both but found the iOS version poorly designed and not very intuitive so I used Appigo's 'Todo' instead. It syncs very nicely with Toodledo and in my opinion has a great interface and is much more intuitive. There are also other iOS apps that sync with Toodledo.

Here are a few things I did to customise Toodledo that apply to both the online and iOS versions:

1. Turn off fields
Toodledo has too many fields. Turn off as many as you can to remove on-screen clutter and save yourself time when creating tasks. I turned off these fields:
- Start Date
- Start Time
- Length
- Timer
- Priority
- Status
- Location
- Goal

2. Use Folders for projects
I tried using tasks as projects with sub-tasks as next actions but it's easy to miss sub-tasks depending upon how you've set up your view settings. Folders become your permanent and visible place-holder.

3. Use Tags for areas of focus and use only one tag per task
There is a temptation to use tags like you would see in blog posts (e.g. multiple tags per task). This results in a big number of tags and becomes difficult to use as any kind of filter. I just had two tags: business & personal. This gave me an easy area-of-focus switch when I needed it and also a way of sorting views.

For the online version, saved searches are very useful. You can use this page to create your own custom views for easy access.

I switched to Appigo's Todo Online last year and still use Todo on my iPhone and iPad for a few very basic reasons:
a. Todo permits manual sorting
b. Todo has an inbox
Users have been asking Toodledo for these basic features for many years but I don't think it will ever happen.

[SherGTD]

Hi Jamie,

I love Toodledo, but, full disclosure, my system is on paper right now, since I show it to people when I'm training, and they "get" paper much more easily at first.

Toodledo works best when you keep it simple!

I created folders for:
Projects
Actions
Someday/Maybe
Agenda
Waiting For

Each project, action item, etc. was a task, filed in the appropriate folder.

The only tags I used were for action items, to indicate context (@home, @phone, etc).

I used the task's note field for support information or to note where my support was located, but only if I really needed it. You don't want to spend 5 minutes entering each item!

Here's an example:
Folder: "Projects"
Task: "Build Widget" with a note that my widget specifications were in a project support file at the office.
Folder: "Actions"
Task: "Send copy of widget specs to engineering" Tag: @Office

I didn't use the due date or alarm functions in toodledo - if something had a particular due date, I noted it as part of the task name, then on my calendar as a day-specific item, since I look at my calendar more frequently than my lists throughout the day.

If something was really "hot", I used the star.

The fewer fields you use in toodledo, the easier it will be to use your system quickly, especially from your phone. You want to pass the "flu" test. If it's too complicated to use when you are feeling your worst, it's just too complicated!

Toodledo also offers a basic notebook. That's where I kept GTD-related notes, such as my "Horizons of Focus" lists. I only looked at those during my Weekly Reviews, so I kept them separate from my folders so I wouldn't have to look at them more than I had to. Evernote is a much better product for storing and searching for reference and project support items, and it's free :-)

All the best,
Sheryl

[xuereb]

I must say i agree @mak2011. You should do what he says.

[laceeaton@aol.com]

I'm really all over and have never been simple ;-) but here is what I have done with toodledo:

I think started using toodledo in 2011, & I let it get stale. I can see how so many fields are a turn off.
It think it forced my staleness.... but in all honesty lately i think it forces me to plan such as due date since i have the attention span of a gnat.

Now I'm letting those fields help me plan, and not scare me off. Priority is junk in my opinon, I also use Pocket Informant for my iphone 3gs that uses my gmail calendar and toodle and soon evernote... that PI app is way too busy but has handy sort functions. They might be useful if I become a gtd blackbelt.

I use tasks= runway;sometimes inbox as hairbrained/triggering thoughts for processing later.
folders as projects/next action/someday/maybe/ areas of focus etc;
contexts stay contexts;
goals: short term,longterm and lifetime= 30000, 40000, 50000 ft horizons

other items include
Evernote as capturing inbox and project support
Pinterest is a great imagery tool for what i want to have true like a vision board or something
Dropbox=files
Mindmap at work and freemind at home for connecting thoughts helping me find steps

I love printing and crossing off things from toodledo. it feels better than clicking a checkbox. i read uncrossed of things and ask why have i not done them
I also print it off for reference in case of home computer meltdowns /network blocking sites at work