Trello / Todoist - Labels instead of boards?

Jaipal Singh

Registered
Hi All,

new user to the forum - loving GTD ! I have changed my Todoist to make use of GTD as per the guide available here. I've also tried Trello too (again with the guide here).

I can see pro's and con's with both - I like the ability to use @ and # symbols in Todoist to quickly categorise and tag items. However, it's lack of a singular view could prove troublesome.

With Trello - I love the single view but the setup described on the guide here talks about separate boards for Projects, Next Actions, Waiting For, SOmeday/Maybe and then contexts within those. It looks to be a pain to be easily moving items across boards where required and kind of breaks the 'single view' that Trello is usually good for.

I wondered if anybody had used Trello in a different way - maybe using labels for contexts? As above, I like Todoits' quick tagging (which essentially moves it to different contexts etc).

Keen to hear people's thoughts!

Thanks
 

mcogilvie

Registered
I have not tried Trello, but I have a lot of experience with Omnifocus and Things and have dabbled with Todoist and many others. There are several problems with tags as contexts. If you forget to tag an action. It can fall out of your awareness easily. Only Omnifocus will let you easily find untagged entries. Tagging is generally extra work, and displaying a given context or group of contexts can be hard to accomplish. This friction in the system can be handled, but it depends on your habits and personality traits whether you can make it work.

I find Omnifocus has its own sources of friction for me, which is why I don’t use it. Todoist and Nirvana seem awkward to navigate, and give me a poor sense that my data has a “place”. So for now I’m sticking with Things, but I think any of these are viable. If you want a fast system, then I recommend trying contexts as lists, and areas of focus as tags. This seems to be a decent compromise which can give you an overview of each area.
 
Hi @Jaipal Singh ,. I recently switched from Todoist to Trello; however, I wasn't crazy about the GTD recommended setup for the exact reasons you cite. My main board is called GTD and has all my lists in this order:. Inbox, Completed , Projects, Agendas, Desk, Errands, Home, Waiting For, Scheduled, Someday

I do not use labels. My lists are my contexts. I actually only have 1 label: Priority. That's it

I then have project support boards for larger projects that I link to the related project card on the GTD board. Note, I no longer link actions to projects. It slowed me down and now i don't miss it at all

I also have a Read board and a Reference board

Never thought I would like Trello as much as I do but it has really worked for me. It isn't perfect, but no system is

Peter



Hi All,

new user to the forum - loving GTD ! I have changed my Todoist to make use of GTD as per the guide available here. I've also tried Trello too (again with the guide here).

I can see pro's and con's with both - I like the ability to use @ and # symbols in Todoist to quickly categorise and tag items. However, it's lack of a singular view could prove troublesome.

With Trello - I love the single view but the setup described on the guide here talks about separate boards for Projects, Next Actions, Waiting For, SOmeday/Maybe and then contexts within those. It looks to be a pain to be easily moving items across boards where required and kind of breaks the 'single view' that Trello is usually good for.

I wondered if anybody had used Trello in a different way - maybe using labels for contexts? As above, I like Todoits' quick tagging (which essentially moves it to different contexts etc).

Keen to hear people's thoughts!

Thanks
 

TesTeq

Registered
There are several problems with tags as contexts. If you forget to tag an action. It can fall out of your awareness easily. Only Omnifocus will let you easily find untagged entries. Tagging is generally extra work, and displaying a given context or group of contexts can be hard to accomplish. This friction in the system can be handled, but it depends on your habits and personality traits whether you can make it work.
I like tags but it really annoys me that some apps don't support searching for untagged entries. Ridiculous!
 

alteredbeast

Registered
Also new to the forum but not GTD. Migrated from Toodledo to Trello in the past year and have a business subscription.

My GTD board has lists for inbox, Next, Someday, Waiting, Projects (categorised). I also have other lists in separate boards, such as checklists and records. I also liberally use tags - not only for contexts but also projects. This way makes filtering worthwhile.

To me, having Next, Someday, Waiting in separate boards creates unnecessary overhead. But then creating a set up that works for you is the beauty of GTD.
 

Jaipal Singh

Registered
Thanks for the detailed reply guys - interesting to see how others are using it. I think I've settled on Todoist and based on the recommended setup from the guide that's available on here. It's going to take some getting used to but initially seems to be a step up from what I had previously!
 

Melissa Strayer

Minimalissa
Hi @Jaipal Singh ,. I recently switched from Todoist to Trello; however, I wasn't crazy about the GTD recommended setup for the exact reasons you cite. My main board is called GTD and has all my lists in this order:. Inbox, Completed , Projects, Agendas, Desk, Errands, Home, Waiting For, Scheduled, Someday

I do not use labels. My lists are my contexts. I actually only have 1 label: Priority. That's it

I then have project support boards for larger projects that I link to the related project card on the GTD board. Note, I no longer link actions to projects. It slowed me down and now i don't miss it at all

I also have a Read board and a Reference board

Never thought I would like Trello as much as I do but it has really worked for me. It isn't perfect, but no system is

Peter
@Peter Van Harmelen -- just want to extend a big THANK YOU for helping me overcome a source of resistance with my list manager! I've gone back to Trello after coming across your post that offered the idea of merging the action boards into a single GTD board and using the contexts as lists. This eliminated a feeling of fragmentation and the annoyance I felt at moving my cards and switching my screen view between so many boards. Now, I have just two "runway" boards -- one personal and one work. The lists are the contexts plus "done", "@ braindead", and "Goals this week" appears at far left as I like having a focusing list for the week and the satisfaction of dragging a completed weekly goal item to done. Now things feel so much lighter and smoother and I feel freer -- THANK YOU for the great insight!
 

SourWarlock

Registered
@Peter Van Harmelen -- just want to extend a big THANK YOU for helping me overcome a source of resistance with my list manager! I've gone back to Trello after coming across your post that offered the idea of merging the action boards into a single GTD board and using the contexts as lists. This eliminated a feeling of fragmentation and the annoyance I felt at moving my cards and switching my screen view between so many boards. Now, I have just two "runway" boards -- one personal and one work. The lists are the contexts plus "done", "@ braindead", and "Goals this week" appears at far left as I like having a focusing list for the week and the satisfaction of dragging a completed weekly goal item to done. Now things feel so much lighter and smoother and I MyPrepaidCenter feel freer -- THANK YOU for the great insight!

It can fall out of your awareness easily. Only Omnifocus will let you easily find untagged entries. Tagging is generally extra work, and displaying a given context or group of contexts can be hard to accomplish. This friction in the system can be handled, but it depends on your habits and personality traits whether you can make it work.
 

OZtralian

Registered
The filtering system Todoist’s paid plans allows you to easily find items without labels (tags). The query is ‘no label’ and can be set as a saved search.
 
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