I’m sorry, I don’t understand. How did I measure anyone? I intentionally noted that his work may be broader and more complex than mine, implying that he may have found a way for Obsidian to work for him. I was attempting to acknowledge that my needs may be relatively simple compared to his. That was intended as a compliment, not an assessment. So, I’m confused. Can you clarify? If I need to apologize I certainly will do so readily.
@ryanjamurphy I want to apologize if what I wrote came across differently than I intended. I was attempting to communicate that I was not assuming my work is more complex than yours and that I was open to learning from you how you are able to manage complex multiple tasks with Obsidian. If what I wrote gave any other impression please accept my sincere apology. That was not my intent at all.
I’ve been thinking about this as well and even considered moving my task system entirely into Obsidian, just as @ryanjamurphy did.
I was first inspired by the way Noteplan allowed for task filtering and then by the use of Obsidian’s Dataview plug-in. (Evernote’s implementation looks a lot like what Noteplan has with its review filter, so I don’t feel like this message is hijacking the post topic)
While the experience of trying was actually very enjoyable for those same reasons Ryan pointed out, it did not stick and I reverted back to my Things setup with links back to the corresponding Obsidian notes.
The main reason was the lack of fluidity on task filtering and the whole process of tagging and processing that was built into Things and I took for granted since using it from v1.
That said, one of the things that I brought back with me into Things was the habit of using more the note field to capture details of the decision making involved in the action and into the project itself.
That is definitely not ideal, mainly because of this:
That was really something to have. But it didn’t last long with me as I deeply missed how projects, tags and statuses (today, scheduled, anytime, someday) are laid into Things and how easy it was to navigate it.
Having tasted that I even tried the filters and even Ryan’s (awesome) Review plugin, but in the end I found out the filtering and processing of Things indispensable to my workflow.
That has been my experience as well. I’m using Craft and OF together. I like the ability to connect my notes with my projects. In Craft I select the follow-up list and share to OF and here is what I get (I suspect the same is true for Things).
@ryanjamurphy Thanks, the last thing I want to do is offend. I’ll check out the new thread. This is an interesting topic. I genuinely wish I could use one “app” as you are doing but I suspect your computer skills are more sophisticated than mine!
If I could extend this concept a bit, I think two of the really big factors in where people manage their tasks are where the work is and where the work starts.
For example, take email. For many workers, their work starts in email: they get tasks delegated to them from their boss, they get partially done work from colleagues for them to do then next step on, they get finished work from subordinates for review, etc. This explains why so many people use their inbox as a task list (despite how ill suited email is for that). Throw in the fact that for many managers email is also where the work is and the compulsion to use it for task management becomes almost irresistible.
On the other hand, take someone like Federico Viticci. His job (especially between WWDC and the iOS release date) is to do research, take notes, and write. Since he likes to do his notetaking and writing in the same app, there’s a big payoff to integrating his task management into that app. So odd as it may seem to many, it makes perfect sense that he’s commissioned custom Obsidian plugins to integrate ToDoist into his writing environment. @ryanjamurphy, based on your other post I suspect your situation is somewhat similar.
Similarly, for many people, meetings are where the work starts, which explains why so many meeting-oriented notetaking apps (Agenda, Noteplan, etc.) have built-in task management.
A somewhat less extreme version of this is to use a separate task manager, but to streamline capture from where the work starts. This can be particularly appealing when where the work starts and where the work gets done are not the same place (someone gets new tasks via email but does their work in a code editor, for instance). The near-ubiquity of email as the source of work tasks is why so many task managers have built-in methods of capturing tasks from mail messages. It’s also why I’m seriously considering writing some sort of automation to capture tasks from my meeting notes in Noteplan and automatically add them to Things.
You may have a more sophisticated solution in mind but I “think” that I’m doing this from Craft to OF. It also looks like Craft is setup to send to Things as well. Is what I show above what you have in mind with Noteplan and Things?
It’s funny because I certainly would not want an integrated system (despite being very alluring for my OCD). I develop in the other thread but I live and work in two vastly different worlds: the regular one of tasks and clear outcomes, where GTD reigns; and the other of creation and chaos, of intuition and Mystery, where emergence reigns. Keeping both those worlds separate allows me to stay sane. (… somewhat.)
I’m also OCD which is why one integrated system is appealing but I don’t think it will work for me. I’ve pretty much concluded that Craft, OF, Scrivener are three apps that are integrated and are working well for me. I just need to “leave well enough alone!”
Not exactly. I was thinking more like a script I could run via Hazel or trigger via Keyboard Maestro that would go through Noteplan’s Markdown files, identify tasks, add them to Things, and check them off in the Markdown file. Ideally no action required from me between typing the task in Noteplan and having it show up in Things.
That is an intriguing idea. I tend to immediately select and send to OF as soon as a meeting ends. My “workflow” is pretty simple. I select the todos in Craft, mark them complete and share to OF. They do NOT show complete in OF, which is what I want. The checkoff in Craft indicates they have been sent to OF, not that they are completed tasks. The todos in Craft look like this right before I send them to OF.
I have spent many hours trying to incorporate Craft/Obisiden in my workflow. I realised, what works for me is Apple Notes. Its easy, I know how to use it and sharing with family is easy as everyone has Apple Notes installed.
Sometimes, I feel, I should have use cases because Craft is such a joy to use. This community does bring new apps to light and each time, I go down the path of exploring it. I enjoy it.
the problem I have with task managers [as opposed to reminders, a blur at times]:
they aren’t where the work is. at least in my world.
if I’m in a task manager minding the tasks, then moving to other apps to do the actual work, sooner or later the task manager will wither and ultimately die from lack of attention.
I can make a great outline of events in a managing app, only to leave it once I get started.
This is an issue that everyone faces. To avoid this trap I do a weekly review. It is scheduled on my calendar for Friday mornings as an appointment. My EA knows not to schedule anything during this time.
The weekly overview keeps me on track and on top of things. It reduces stress and anxiety because I don’t subconsciously try to keep things in my head. The Review feature in OF is one of the reasons I keep using OF instead of other project applications like Things.
The bottom line is that if one doesn’t tend the garden (one’s projects and tasks) no matter where the garden is (application used) it will go to weeds.
While in theory it seems ideal to have all of one’s tasks and notes, etc., in one integrated location, until there is a superb application designed specifically to handle both content and projects well and in a tightly integrated fashion, I find it helpful to have a dedicated place to focus exclusively on a high level review of on going and future projects. Applications like OF provide me a aerial view or map of my responsibilities and related projects whereas my note taking application provides all of the details I need at each stop on the journey.
I too was using Apple Notes. It has a lot to offer–I sometimes think it is underrated.
However, I stopped using AN after running into significant syncing issues multiple times. Those issues resulted in hours spent trying to figure out why AN on my Mac had x notes while AN on my iPad had only x notes. “Which notes are missing?” I also lost notes.
The other key issue for me is that AN is a proprietary system. Getting one’s notes out of AN is a pain and the export to PDF rather than plain or MD text makes one’s notes less than portable. There are third party solutions but that is not ideal. It can also take several days for the notes to be exported.
I’m a convert to using plain/MD text for all notes and writing. I don’t mind writing in RT so long as the application exports well to pain/MD test. Two of the apps I use do so (Craft and Scrivener) so I’m future proofed.
All of that said, obviously, everyone’s needs are different and for many AN is ideal. It is free, it is being actively developed, it integrates across devices, support Scribble, Apple Pencil, includes document scanning and more. It is a good application for many things and meets the needs of many.
I don’t advocate for integrated systems, or full integration. in fact, I find them untenable. virtually all of the law office case management systems are unusable to me for this reason, primarily.
Ideally I’d like to be able to create a dashboard for involved cases, where files, calendars, and note & reminders/tasks are available and accessible on a single page.
I thought about building one in FileMaker but haven’t mustered the energy yet.
That is probably the case (pun intended). But in “principle” I like the idea of a fully integrated system. @JohnAtl is using NotePlan 3. I also found this article:
I’m tempted to give NotePlan a short trial run but I think I’ve probably been messing with my system enough.
But in “principle” I like the idea of a fully integrated system.