Android: How do I make a task active?

[Rob]

My message must have gotten discarded somehow in the MLO-Android
group, so I'm going to try here instead.

I have 120+ tasks in my inbox and have started processing the inbox.
However, when I add a context to a task, the task remains in the
inbox. Other GTD apps I've used remove a task from the inbox once I've
processed it. What am I missing?

[Empire Builder]

You need to enter "move" mode and drag the task to some other folder.  Yeah, it's sort of a pain.  Sometimes I leave the tasks in the inbox; you can filter by context to see the tasks that don't have a context.

[scoobie]

This is a good example of how MLO isn't intuitive enough for first
time users, you must be loosing sales due to this - people who try it
out then abandon it as its too complicated

[Rob]

Thanks for the tip, Empire Builder.

scoobie, you're right, there are a few issues that don't seem to work
quite as expected--which I suppose is to be expected for a beta
version. Lisa mentioned in another thread that it's apparently a bug
related to a poor default configuration:
http://groups.google.com/group/MLO-Android/browse_thread/thread/bbc2a7f5f16bf320

There is a related issue in that the tasks are not removed from the
inbox after processing. If anyone else thinks that feature would be
worthwhile, you can vote for it on the MLO UserVoice site:
http://mlo.uservoice.com/forums/9235-general/suggestions/2357839-android-remove-task-from-inbox-after-processing

I think it would be awesome if there was some sort of Getting Started
Guide available on the main website for each of the platforms and
supported methodologies--for example, Getting started with MLO-Android
for GTD, or Getting Started with MLO Windows for Franklin Covey. Even
better would be for MLO to ask you upon first use which methodology
you use, and set all the defaults appropriately.

[Lisa Stroyan]

I don't believe this is a missing feature nor an issue, but a part of the complex design that gives MLO it's power. 

The Outline task structure is completely independent from Contexts and other attributes. Where would the task *go* when you set a Context?  A context isn't a place.  Neither is whether a task is active, it's due-date, it's Goal status, etc.

There are many ways to set up your tree (your Outline which includes your Inbox as one folder), and then the various lists (active actions is just one) are slices on the data. For example, my tree has major life focus areas as the main branches. Work, Health, Family, Self, etc. 

When I set a context, e.g., Phone Calls, there is just no way for MLO to know whether that is a phone call regarding Family, or Work, or...whatever, so how would it know where to move it to?  Contexts are more powerful than a tree structure so it would be counterproductive to try to set up the Tree to mimic Contexts. (plus you can have multiple contexts, which I often do).

There is a lot of power in keeping these separate. For example, I can narrow my view to only the active Phone Calls regarding Work, or all Phone Calls and Errands that are starred and have a Goal of Week. Those are just slices on the data -- they don't actually change the permanent location of the task.

If you set a context, say, Phone Calls, and in your Todo tab on the desktop, you define a view for only, say, Phone Calls, then, yes, adding the context automatically places it in that list. But suppose you are working out of a Weekly Goals list, like I am, you wouldn't want to physically move the task to a Weekly Goals list and take it out of Phone Calls list through the setting of the Goal field. They are independent attributes.  It's a Weekly Goal and a Phone Call.

Sorry, I feel I'm not explaining this very well, hope that clarifies a bit. 

On Android, the views are pre-set. But you might take a look at Active by Context, it might be what you are looking for.

Lisa

 

There is a related issue in that the tasks are not removed from the
inbox after processing. If anyone else thinks that feature would be
worthwhile, you can vote for it on the MLO UserVoice site:
http://mlo.uservoice.com/forums/9235-general/suggestions/2357839-android-remove-task-from-inbox-after-processing

 

--
Lisa Stroyan
www.empathic-parenting.com

[Rob]

Thanks again, your tip did make it possible for me to use Active by
Context (which didn't work until I unhid the inbox). I guess first
off, I should clarify that I don't have the desktop version, so there
might be some things you've mentioned that I'm missing out on.

It seems like most of the people here have been using MLO long enough
that it's very difficult for them to appreciate the potential problems
a new user might run into. And even once they have been made aware of
the problems, they choose to dismiss the problems as indicators of
MLO's sheer awesomeness. Well, here I am, and I'm doing my best to
inform you of all my difficulties as I encounter them.

I do appreciate the other more advanced workflows that people use for
adding as many layers of organization as desired. MLO is promoted
first and foremost as a GTD tool, so I'm just coming from the
perspective of the other GTD tools I've tried--namely, that the tool
should permit you to rapidly do as much or as little organization as
desired, then get out of the way.

To answer your question about where a task would go after it's been
processed, I've already made one suggestion--a catch-all "Active
Tasks" folder. Or maybe it would be called "Unassigned Tasks." Or it
could be configurable. The name doesn't really matter; only that it's
not the Inbox, because the Inbox should not contain items that have
already been processed. If I could really have my way, I would just
rename the current inbox folder in the outline to "Unassigned." Then
the actual Inbox would simply be the holding area for quickly-added
items _before_ they go into the outline (and the Inbox itself would
not need to be shown in the outline).

As I mentioned in the other thread, there's nothing that would stop
you from organizing your tasks as you do now; but just to be safe, I
did suggest that the "remove from inbox after processing" feature be
an option that can be configured from the main program settings (or
elsewhere, as appropriate). There are other ways to implement the
feature, as well--such as having a combobox at the top of the inbox
that lets you select the parent folder for the next task(s) you are
about to process, or just letting you select the parent folder/task
from the Edit Task screen. (Personally, I found it very confusing that
I couldn't set the parent folder/task from the Edit Task screen.)

But getting back on topic, the only difference between the simplest
implementation and the current behavior would be that new users like
myself would have a much easier time picking up the app and using it
without having to put their evaluation on hold while jumping through
hoops--i.e, register on the discussion board, post questions, and hope
someone from the community has a really great workaround. Other people
I know would have tried it, assumed it was broken, and moved onto the
next tool. I myself lost a lot of my enthusiasm for MLO while I was
waiting for answers, and the first few that I got were good
workarounds but also gave me the impression that MLO was going to be a
hassle to use. I'm warming up to it again, but at this point I still
can't say whether this is the tool I'm going to stick with. Users who
are new to MLO should be able to start using it without having to
learn all of its idiosyncrasies.

A few final comments that might help other new users: it wasn't clear
to me from the start that everything revolves around the Outline view.
Although it doesn't seem very prominent in the main screen of the
Android app, you can't use MLO without at least doing some
configuration from the Outline view. Setting the default visibility of
the Inbox to visible (i.e., long press the Inbox in the Outline, tap
Edit Task, then uncheck "Hide the branch") as Lisa suggested does make
it possible to use MLO without fiddling with the Outline view any
further, if you just want to concentrate on organizing tasks by
context at first. Third, I just now discovered the "new profile"
templates. I think the Zoom4Focus template looks like a really good
place for any new user to start. The notes on some of the folders are
especially helpful. Also remember to go through the tutorial again
after you've started using the app. A lot of things in the tutorial
seem mundane at first glance, but there are a few points that will
jump out once you've struggled with MLO for a little while.

> >http://mlo.uservoice.com/forums/9235-general/suggestions/2357839-andr...
>
> --
> Lisa Stroyanwww.empathic-parenting.com

[Riaan Eloff]

scoobie, you said it!  I was at the point of simply deleting it from my device and my desktop, and NOT purchasing it.  Since I'm a bit of a techie geek and love troubleshooting stuff, I decided to give it one more try before removing, and came here.  I can imagine my wife taking one try, then simply removing it because it is extremely user-unfriendly.

[Riaan Eloff]

Rob, I must agree with you.  I tried MLO months (maybe a year or two?) ago, and simply moved on.  Been using GTasks since.  Yet, the one thing missing from Gtasks (which is an extremely simply interface for Google's Tasks, and auto-syncs effortlessly with Google) is the whole idea of "Next Task".  This is quite literally the only thing that I miss, and, these past few weeks I started searching once again for something along those lines.  Came across MLO, didn't even look at it, remembering my past experience.  Then, while looking specifically for GTD hierarchial task lists, it popped up again, and I noted the "NEXT ACTION" feature.

I installed it, tried it again, and gave up again.

Because I didn't find anything else yet, and because I'm a bit of a troubleshooter/techie geek, I decided to try and dig deeper, but, your experience is mine too.  It is waay too over complicated and unwieldy to qualify as a GTD app.  It is super powerful, but it lacks simplicity for those who want to do GTD (which holds that the tools SHOULD NOT get in the way).  Yet, currently, I am desperate enough that I will try and learn this, so that hopefully, after qualifying in my Doctorate Degree of MLO, I would actually be able to use it transparently :-)  But for sure, it needs simplicity, with the super power as additional/optional activatable/user-selectable features.