Dependencies?
ramak says:
Hi, this is my first time using todo list applications, and I don't know much about GTD, so I'm not sure my question is even applicable.
I want to make a task depend on another task, i.e. I want to do X and Y, however I can't do X until after I have completed Y.
Is there anyway to do this on RTM?
I want to make a task depend on another task, i.e. I want to do X and Y, however I can't do X until after I have completed Y.
Is there anyway to do this on RTM?
ramak says:
OK.
(closed account) says:
There are two different kinds of "dependencies." I would describe them as subtasks and preconditions.
Subtasks are simply tasks that are organized under another heading. For example, "Do taxes" might be the heading, and the subtasks might be things like "Gather documentation," "Order forms from IRS," etc. ToodleDo actually allows you to create subtasks. The advantage of ToodleDo's approach is that you can view the main task in a list of other main tasks, and you can show or hide the subtasks as you like. In other words, you can view a set of tasks in a kind of outline format, like this imaginary list of "Personal" tasks:
Return books to library
Get car washed
Larry's wedding Saturday
- pick up tux
- rehearsal Friday evening
The PROBLEM with this is that it starts to make things kind of complicated. It's sometimes not very clear whether picking up the task is subordinate to the task "Larry's wedding" or whether they are different tasks. And if "Larry's wedding" is the heading, should I add a subtask "Wedding Saturday" as a subtask? Or is that obvious?
And it gets even more complicated when you turn some subtasks into preconditions for other subtasks, when "file return" cannot be marked complete until you have completed "fill out forms and sign". Now you have to start thinking really hard about whether B and C are subordinate to A or not, and then about whether B has to be done before C or not. For some businesses, organizing projects with a series of goals that have to be done in a particular order is useful, sometimes even necessary. But it seems to me that adding this level of complexity is outside the scope of a personal task manager like Remember the Milk and that adding that level of control would actually hurt RTM by turning your SmartCar into a Hummer. Kind of defeats the point, no? If you really need that sort of thing, look at Basecamp (http://basecamphq.com) from 37 Signals.
Remember, in RTM, you can create lists for different projects if you like, and you can NUMBER the tasks. Just type a number as the first word in the task name, then sort the list by task name.
Subtasks are simply tasks that are organized under another heading. For example, "Do taxes" might be the heading, and the subtasks might be things like "Gather documentation," "Order forms from IRS," etc. ToodleDo actually allows you to create subtasks. The advantage of ToodleDo's approach is that you can view the main task in a list of other main tasks, and you can show or hide the subtasks as you like. In other words, you can view a set of tasks in a kind of outline format, like this imaginary list of "Personal" tasks:
Return books to library
Get car washed
Larry's wedding Saturday
- pick up tux
- rehearsal Friday evening
The PROBLEM with this is that it starts to make things kind of complicated. It's sometimes not very clear whether picking up the task is subordinate to the task "Larry's wedding" or whether they are different tasks. And if "Larry's wedding" is the heading, should I add a subtask "Wedding Saturday" as a subtask? Or is that obvious?
And it gets even more complicated when you turn some subtasks into preconditions for other subtasks, when "file return" cannot be marked complete until you have completed "fill out forms and sign". Now you have to start thinking really hard about whether B and C are subordinate to A or not, and then about whether B has to be done before C or not. For some businesses, organizing projects with a series of goals that have to be done in a particular order is useful, sometimes even necessary. But it seems to me that adding this level of complexity is outside the scope of a personal task manager like Remember the Milk and that adding that level of control would actually hurt RTM by turning your SmartCar into a Hummer. Kind of defeats the point, no? If you really need that sort of thing, look at Basecamp (http://basecamphq.com) from 37 Signals.
Remember, in RTM, you can create lists for different projects if you like, and you can NUMBER the tasks. Just type a number as the first word in the task name, then sort the list by task name.