Longstreet
Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases
Exactly - me too!
Nirvana HQ
- Thread starter Stephen Brown
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Question — and forgive me for my ”noob” status on this question. I currently use Todoist but really like Nirvana — however what’s stopping me is the fact that you can’t attach files, emails, etc in Nirvana like you can in Todoist, Evernote, Notion etc. For those of you who are diehard Nirvana users how do you get around that?
The question always is, can you find your way to a smooth workflow? I have found that a lot of attaching stuff is just busywork that obscures the need to decide the next action and move on it. Kind of like the person who brings to every meeting a five-inch file of meeting notes that go back to the administration of Warren G. Harding. So the better I get, the less I need to do it.
FocusGuy
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Hello for emails and files i link them in google using the web link. It works very well. Anyway I dont link a lot unless it is absolutly necessary. I usualy use flag on my email on my mac so finding them is fast and easy. For example green means waiting for. Red means act on. Orange means references. When I do my weekly review I review all my emails of the week erase and unflag. Nirvana is easy and great. It helps a lot for GTD But keep it simple and easy.
mickdodge
Registered
That is definitely a con against Nirvana for some, but like @FocusGuy, I just copy and paste a URL link to the file or email into Nirvana's note area when possible. A proper URL will be clickable in Nirvana. If a link isn't possible, I simply reference the associated file or email location. Most of the time, I work on shared files that are continuously updated (e.g. Google Drive, Office365), so having a link to the most current file version versus a static version is more useful to me anyway.
Ariadne Marques
Registered
I used to have this concern when I was using Todoist. Back then it seemed like the ability to attach files was essential to my workflow. And I realized I didn't use it too much. And since I like to store all my files in the cloud (OneDrive) I could always paste the link to an attachment if needed.
So I do like @FocusGuy and @Sojourner's approach: I copy/ paste the link to Nirvana's note section, simple as that.
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Hi all, I recently found NirvanaHQ thanks to this forum and I've been trying it out. So far, I think it's really good - follows GTD quite closely, not to complex to setup, etc.
Prior to this I was using Evernote, loosely following 'The Secret Weapon' approach. One thing that I really liked was being able to send emails directly to particular folders in Evernote and automatically apply tags using hashtags in the email subject line.
Is there a way to set priority, assign tags, etc. when sending emails to Nirvana? I've not found any info on doing that so far and my experiments in this regard have all failed. Ideally, I'd like to be able to use Outlook QuickSteps or the BCC field to tag and send mails, e.g. for mails delegating action to an owner, I'd like to have this appear in Nirvana as a 'Waiting' item, etc.
Any thoughts and inputs would be appreciated.
Prior to this I was using Evernote, loosely following 'The Secret Weapon' approach. One thing that I really liked was being able to send emails directly to particular folders in Evernote and automatically apply tags using hashtags in the email subject line.
Is there a way to set priority, assign tags, etc. when sending emails to Nirvana? I've not found any info on doing that so far and my experiments in this regard have all failed. Ideally, I'd like to be able to use Outlook QuickSteps or the BCC field to tag and send mails, e.g. for mails delegating action to an owner, I'd like to have this appear in Nirvana as a 'Waiting' item, etc.
Any thoughts and inputs would be appreciated.
mickdodge
Registered
I don't think Nirvana currently has the ability to set priority or tags when creating a task via email. They only allow the task name (subject line) and notes (body of email). I've only used this feature a few times. I do know it sends the task directly to your Inbox, so that should then force you to clarify and organize it (i.e. assign tags/areas, set priority/due date, etc).
https://help.nirvanahq.com/category/getting-more-from-nirvana/add-your-items/#create-inbox-items-via-email
Thanks Sojourner, that's been my experience with it. It's workable, but I did like being able to tag and sort when sending emails to my GTD tool, it just felt more efficient. Now I have to decide whether an email requires action, then send it to the GTD tool, then process it - just feels a bit more clunky but I can live with it.
FocusGuy
Registered
Back To Omnifocus.
I made a wrong modification of nivana's database and discovered there was no previous back up of the data base. The technical service answered kindly that I had to do it by myself and it was a text or .csv export. Not a real database as Omnifocus does so well. I dont understand why they never did it with a secured encriptment since Nirvana exists since 10 years. For me It is just unacceptable.
So I went back yesterday night to Omnifocus, made a big weekly review, copied and pasted projects and tasks from one to the others one by one because there was no import tools in OF...
I trust Omnifocus I use since over 14 years I guess and it has all secured systems to be back very easely to previous version and encriptments too !
Anyway, I learnt a lot about my one month experience with NIRVANA and applied some new perspectives to Omnifocus for applying GTD the best I could. GTD is the best system I know and it helps me so in my life that I could not get rid of it !
It is sad for Nirvana was a great soft very well Thought and pleasant for work.
I feel much better now.
I made a wrong modification of nivana's database and discovered there was no previous back up of the data base. The technical service answered kindly that I had to do it by myself and it was a text or .csv export. Not a real database as Omnifocus does so well. I dont understand why they never did it with a secured encriptment since Nirvana exists since 10 years. For me It is just unacceptable.
So I went back yesterday night to Omnifocus, made a big weekly review, copied and pasted projects and tasks from one to the others one by one because there was no import tools in OF...
I trust Omnifocus I use since over 14 years I guess and it has all secured systems to be back very easely to previous version and encriptments too !
Anyway, I learnt a lot about my one month experience with NIRVANA and applied some new perspectives to Omnifocus for applying GTD the best I could. GTD is the best system I know and it helps me so in my life that I could not get rid of it !
It is sad for Nirvana was a great soft very well Thought and pleasant for work.
I feel much better now.
Can you email tasks to Everdo?
assdfd513213
Registered
Does anyone feel Nirvana slow? I have about 480 next actions, but it feels like a hitch.
Mateusz
Registered
Unfortunately not yet. It is on the roadmap however has lower priority. It was one of the factors that I considered before moving to Everdo. I thought it was vital for me but after closer look it occurred to be not as often used as I thought.
I have been playing around with Nirvana again and remembering why I like it so much...BUT...the last update was a minor technical update in February, last tweet was Sept 2020, they still have not fixed the calendar sync issue that accompanied their ios update from last summer. I'm hesitant to move back in- Is there any reason to hope they aren't going to fade away?
Longstreet
Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases
These kinds of questions have been posed for years now. They do move very slowly. I have contacted them directly many times and they assure me they are not ending. They had a booth at the last GTD Summit in Amsterdam. So....I would say they are okay, but I do feel the same way and have so over the years. I am staying with them.
Mateusz
Registered
JMartinez
Registered
I'm glad to see that you returned to Nirvana, can you explain your experience with Everdo and what has motivated your return to Nirvana?I'm back!
Just missed Nirvana too much
The Nirvana team is working on translating the app into other languages.
My good friend Elbert Mc Laughlin (CEO of Nirvana) contacted me in July to comment on some things about the Spanish translation.
Friends, Nirvana is still alive, it always has been ... I think its long life on the web proves it, Nirvana has been with us for 11 years.
We have always said that we would like to receive more updates and improvements, but .... I work as an IT Technician, .....
In technology there is the saying: If something works, don't touch it.
It is true that we would all like more updates, more features and improvements, but ... honestly, Nirvana works very well. If it is true, it has a bug that must be corrected, but it does not prevent you from using the application, much less trusting it.
I have known Nirvana since I discovered it, I think I remember that it was around 2010 (when I began to be interested in GTD) and it was one of the first applications specially designed for GTD that I found.
I signed up and I have always had data in Nirvana, some time I have used it as the main application, another time I tried omnifocus, todoist, wunderlist (RIP) ...
Now since 2015 (6 years) I have been with Nirvana without changing.
I have never, never, lost data on Nirvana, never had the feeling that I couldn't trust it.
Yes, we users may want more functions, but I tell you one thing
Above any function, the only thing I ask is that it be reliable, and that it allows me to get things out of my mind without fear, and that does it in an excellent way.
Attached files? what's the problem? it is stored in Dropbox, GoogleDrive, Onedrive or any cloud storage and a link is put.
Topics? ... I always have Nirvana in dark mode, I love it.
You have to be patient with the nirvana team, they go at their own pace and as has been said on occasion, it is not their main business, they are a Marketing and web design agency in Montreal with a small team dedicated to Nirvana.
Anyway.
I'm glad you're back