Toodledo with GTD

dcbahr

Registered
I know this has been discussed before, but do any of you use toodledo for a gtd system? If so, would you mind providing a template for how you set it up? There is one on their site, but I really just need something simple, they have lists and folders and tags and notes. I like the accessibility of the website and the iphone app for screen reader users. others fall short in that department, and that's where I can get stuck. No matter how "intuitive" or "beautiful" the UI is, if it's not accessible to me in some way or I can't figure out a way to make it accessible, then I can't use it. It sucks. Ok rant over now. Anyway, if any of you have an idea of how to make a simple, usable system in toodledo, that would be great. I've already emailed a support request to them about making the trashcan icon something that isn't a visual icon, I hope they are open to small changes like that.

Thanks, Dave
 

Folke

Registered
I used Toodledo for a few years, until 2011 when I became aware of the GTD philosophy and decided to use a "dedicated" GTD app, Nirvana. And since then I have moved on to Doit. I sometimes contemplate going back to Toodledo, though, because it is a powerful, flexible, feature-rich app. Unfortunately it has developed in the "wrong" direction since, adding tons of crap that has little to do with task management, but they have not enhanced their task management features at all.

Based on my memories from 2011 and before, this is what I would advise you to set up

If i were you I would used their Folders for Projects.

I would use EITHER their Context OR the Tag for contexts, energy etc. Which of these you choose depend on your approach to context filtering. If you want it simple to set up, use Context, which allows you only to apply one context to each task. If you want something more powerful use Tags, which allows you to apply more contexts in a more systematic way without cluttering your context list, but which on the other hand generate more clutter unless you set up saved searches (custom perspectives) for filtering out what you need. (I have yet to see an app that has managed to combine overlapping contexts with ease of use for doing anything more than the usual "one context at a time" filtering and either some AND or OR filtering, but never any powerful combination filtering or NOT filtering without creating a saved search for it.)

I would use their start date as the GTD Tickler date. You can set up your standard views to normally hide the future ones. A nice extra bonus is that the start date remains in place even after the date has passed, which gives you a historic start dat - an age indicator, which I find very useful. You can also set up a default for dating new tasks with today's start date.

I would use their Status field to distinguish between Next, Waiting and Someday (and not use the other statuses, or, if you indent to record future dependent tasks straight into the app, you could use one of the remaining statuses, e.g. Hold, for those.). You could set up a default for applying a Next status to new tasks (this should save you a few clicks for the majority of new tasks.)

There is also a Location feature that I don't think you need, a Goal feature that is pretty lame (might have been useful if it had had more power), and a heck of a lot of listing options (by due date, by priority, by virtually anything, and these take up a lot of space in the left menu and are not very useful.

I would set up saved searches for the "real" lists you need, e.g. a "tentative today" list, a next actions list etc. (alternatively you could use the built-in "sorted by Status" list, but for some reason that got messy (cannot remember why, though).

Toodledo lacks manual drag-and-drop sorting, so you may have to use some of the data fields to emulate something that has a similar effect (Toodledo has lots of fields available, and you can enable or disable them as you please; and set up default values for the; this is one of Toodledo's big strengths, alongside its powerful saved searches).

My favorite these days is to use the Priority field as a "review attention" indicator (but I had not thought of that when I used Toodledo)

Sorry I do not remember a whole lot more off-hand. Hope it helps.
 

PeterW

Registered
I used Toodledo for a few years also. It's close to being a really good solution but misses out on some important things in my view. Folke's listed a number of the problems above. I can add a few.

One is the lack of a proper inbox which is key component if you're trying to follow GTD processes. The workaround was to create a custom filter for unclassified items but it makes the workflow a bit difficult (or at least I found it did for me).

I never liked using the Status field to designate the GTD buckets. For one there were too many status selections and you can't customise or remove them. Another issue is that you have to manually update the field every time something changes, e.g. in a project, after changing the status of one task you then have to go update other tasks that may now be actionable or changed in some way. It's all too manual.

If you're going to give Toodledo a trial then I'd suggest turning of as many fields as you can and starting very simply. I would use folders for projects, tags for GTD buckets and contexts as contexts. Subscribe to get the sub-task functionality and turn off most of the other stuff.

One final thing that bugged me... there would be countless requests (some dating back years in the forums) for basic features (like an inbox) yet the developer would only ever say "thanks, we've added this to the list". But then new complex features would be released that no-one ever asked for. When challenged about this, the developer admitted that he liked to work on new features that he found "interesting". So the service was evolving on the basis of what he found was fun to work on than anything the customer wanted. In other words it's his hobby. And to be fair the developer never claims that it is a GTD solution.

So if it's a perfect fit for the way you work, good. If not, you're probably wasting your time thinking it will ever evolve in the way you want or expect.
 

bakerkate

Registered
I've "lurked" on these boards for a long time, but I actually created an account so I could reply to this thread, because I was kind of excited to see Toodledo mentioned. I've used it for several years and really like it. Every so often I'll try out another task management tool and always end up back at Toodledo.

I'll echo what the other responses have said: I don't use the notes, outlines, lists, or habits sections, which are weak. The task management portion, however, is powerful and versatile. The key, I think, is to only use the fields you really need. Like Peterw said, try turning off most of the fields and go from there.

Here are some notes on how I use it for my GTD setup:

* Folders for projects. For actions that aren't associated with a project, I have a folder called "Actions". I also use folders for Someday/Maybe. Every task is assigned to a folder.

* Contexts for contexts. Someday/maybe items don't have a context, but all next actions do.

* Start and due dates. I like that Toodledo can handle complex repeating tasks, like "repeat every weekday" or "every other Thursday".

* Starred Tasks - I'd been using this for tasks I wanted to get done this week, but I'm experimenting going without it. So far, so good: I'm interacting with my lists a lot more instead of just focusing on starred tasks.

* Length - I go back and forth about whether I want to use this field, but it does come in handy. If I have ten minutes free I can do a quick search for tasks that take 10 minutes or less.

* Inbox folder - This does not exist as such in Toodledo, but I've found a very easy workaround. I have a folder called "Inbox" and it's set as my default folder. One really neat thing is that I've set up my iPhone such that I can ask Siri to "remind me to" do something, and it will automatically put the task in my Toodledo Inbox folder. I love that and use it all the time.

* Search - The search feature is excellent and you can create complex saved searches. I currently have a saved search for any tasks in my action folders (ie, every folder except someday/maybe folders) that don't have a due date and are at least 6 months old. Then I can see what tasks are languishing in the system.

* Subscription - If you spring for a paid subscription you get some more features, like sub-tasks. I tried it out and find that I don't use them, so I think I'll stick with the free version in the future.

~Kate
 

dcbahr

Registered
Thank you all very much for your responses on this thread. Apologies for the delay in my response. Kate, thank you very muchexplaining your setup, it seems to be the most in line with what I have right now. I had switched for a time briefly doit.im but have found that it is inaccessible with my screen reader. So, now I am back to using Toodledo. I have found that I can add tasks with Siri on the iPhone. I did purchase a gold subscription because I use the IFTTT service and it doesn't translate my voicemails into text properly but I think it would be useful to have other files attached. I have a question, what application do you use for an outliner?
 

bakerkate

Registered
I guess I don't really use something for an outliner, other than bullet/numbered lists in Open Office Writer. I'll generally use that to make checklists, which get stored in Dropbox for when I need them (ex: Christmas or vacation planning). For project brainstorming purposes, I generally like to use a standard spiral notebook to make lists, doodles, etc. and then process that information into Toodledo as Next Actions.
 

dcbahr

Registered
Unfortunately, braille is too big to be used these days as a spiral notebook. However, if I could read and use print, I would be one of those people with a pocket notebook and pencil at all times jotting down ideas. that said, I'm not the best at capturing everything that comes through my mind, far too many thoughts in there.
 

bakerkate

Registered
Ah, sorry! It's been a while since I read your initial post, and I'd forgotten the mention about your accessibility requirement.

I can definitely relate (as I'm sure many of us can) to the challenge of trying to capture everything. Since I've started trying to make "capture" a habit, it seems like the number of ideas & thoughts I have has quadrupled!
 

Folke

Registered
Another way of looking at it is this - I know this may sound un-GTD, but I do not think it actually is. I believe it is in line with the GTD spirit:

Do not capture things unnecessarily. If a thought really matters to you it usually comes back again and again and again and weighs you down - then you know it would be good to write it down. Or if you can tell straight away that this is indeed a very important or interesting thing. Otherwise, just let it go. I will come back. Do not drown yourself in notes that you do not know that you need.

And even for things that you do decide to do you do not necessarily have to write down action reminders for everything. You probably do not list actions such as get up, take a shower, read novels, say good morning to your colleagues, watch television, breathe, drive to work etc etc unless the circumstances are very special.
 

Hasi212

Registered
Hi all,
I know this thread was last active in 2015. Just wanted to chime in and let you know that Toodledo has incorporated GTD presets now. With a touch of a button, all the GTD framework can be set up without losing too much time on the setup. This should save people a lot of time and help overcome the entry barrier of setting up a new tool.
 
Hi all,
I know this thread was last active in 2015. Just wanted to chime in and let you know that Toodledo has incorporated GTD presets now. With a touch of a button, all the GTD framework can be set up without losing too much time on the setup. This should save people a lot of time and help overcome the entry barrier of setting up a new tool.

Interesting. I thought Toodledo had packed it in

Peter
 

Cheryl

Registered
I hadn't used it in a while, but have been on Toodledo for years. It has a lot of features that I think work great for GTD. I'm familiar with the application so I'm making it work while I get back on the GTD wagon.
 
Top