How I Use Things

goldencrisp87

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Focus Lists 2

Overview 2

Inbox 2

Next 3

Today 3

Scheduled 4

Someday 4

Projects 6

What is a Project? 6

Dependencies / Sequential Projects 6

Projects marked as Today 7

Project Templates 7

Repeating Projects 7

Areas 8

What is an Area? 8

Area or Project? 8

Repeating Items 9

Structure: Template & Iterations 9

How to Repeat? 9

Repeating Projects 10

Due Repeating Items 10

Tags 11

Tag Types 11

Tag Tips 11

Other Things Stuff 13

Due Dates 13

Due vs Scheduled 14

Teammates / Waiting For 14

Logbook 15

Trash 16

AppleScript 16

Related Topics & Other Rants 17

Weekly Review 17

Calendar vs Task Manager 18

Potential Feature: Automatically Checking Off Projects 18

Potential Feature: Time in Scheduled 19

Potential Feature: Time in Due Dates 19

Conclusion 21

Introduction

This is not a Things manual. I haven’t included explicit instructions on how to do stuff

that you’ve figured out how to do by playing around with the application (e.g.

creating a new task), but I've gone into a bit of detail for less obvious stuff (e.g.

creating a repeating project). The other type of stuff I've included is how I've

optimized Things for my workflow.

Why bother writing this, you ask? First, I'd like to share what I've learned about

Things. It can be overwhelming at first, and even when you get into it, there are

features that you never even knew about. I find myself regularly writing much of this

stuff in the Things forums. They’re a great place to get answers and bounce ideas of

each other, but it's not a place of consolidated or organized knowledge. I hope this

document can fill some of that void.

Second, writing this out has helped me clarify how I use Things. I’ve developed

various habits, both good and bad, and this document has helped me understand why I

do stuff the way I do. I’ve learned a lot from explaining what I do. As my 11th grade

math teacher said, “You haven’t learned something until you can teach it.”

Important: Each person is different. Each person will have their own way of

optimizing Things for how they work. The following is what I've found to be best for

me. While I'll be flattered if you take on some of these practices, by no means will I

be offended if you don't.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to talk, just post on

the Things forums. I'm sure to reply.

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Focus Lists

These lists are the core of Things. I'll explain them out of order, because that works

out to be most efficient.

Overview

Inbox is for collecting thoughts for later. At least once a week, I go through my Inbox

and sort items into the appropriate list (Next, Today, etc.).

Next is for stuff that there's a good chance I'll be doing this week. Each morning, I'll

check through this list and put items in Today, as appropriate.

Today is a subset of Next. I use it for tasks I plan on doing today.

Scheduled is for anything you can’t (or don’t want) to start before a certain date.

(Repeating items are also filed under Scheduled.)

Someday is for everything that I want to hang on to, but I don't plan to act on in the

next week. About once a week, I'll move a batch of items from Someday to Next.

Inbox

Inbox is for collecting any thought or idea that pops into my head during the day that

I might want to think about later. At least once a week (but usually every day), I'll

review the Inbox, clarifying the meaning of the item with myself and figuring out how

it's going to fit into my Things system (or other system, like password managers, etc.).

Most of these thoughts end up as tasks or projects, some go into 1Password, Evernote

or BusyCal, and some I just delete.

NB: When processing the Inbox, I am NOT doing all of the tasks in there. If the task

will take me less than two minutes, I'll do it right then, but if it takes longer, I just

make a task/project for it and drag it to Next, Today, etc.

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Next

Next is for the tasks and projects that I could potentially work on now. I keep this list

very slim by only keeping in it what I would like to work on this week. The rest goes

into Scheduled or Someday.

The order of tasks in the Next list is

1) Tasks not assigned to a project or area;

2) Tasks in projects. Projects are listed in the same order as they are in the

sidebar;

3) Tasks assigned to areas, but no project.

Today

Today is a subset of Next. Tasks that are marked in Today show up as yellow wherever

else you might see them (e.g. their Area). Each morning (or the night before), I go

through my Next list and mark as Today all the tasks I think I'll do today. All the tasks

scheduled for Today are automatically moved there as well.

Once I fill up my Today list, I'll order it based on how I expect my day to go. This extra

bit of processing in the morning greatly reduces the time I take between tasks. I can

just move on from one to the next without having to re-process my entire Today list.

Because of this, I don't have the “Group to-dos in the Today list option” enabled.

Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to sort the tasks.

Sometimes I need to break up Today for ease of visualization. For example, if I'm

flying home, I'll put a “-------Fly Home -------” task in order to visually break up the

day, If it's clear I'll need to do some things before my flight, etc. Admittedly this isn't

pure GTD, but during the day it helps me see how I'm progressing. (See Calendar vs

Task Manager section.)

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Other times I do the opposite. For example, with Spring Break, I'll just have my Today

list represent the entire week. That’s because I often see breaks like that as one long

relaxing day (and my break’s task list is usually short enough not to be

overwhelming!).

Scheduled

I think of scheduling a task as setting a start date. (NB: Start date does not need to be

the same as a due date! See ‘Due vs Scheduled’ section below.) If there's a task/

project I can't do (or don't want to think about) until a certain day, then I schedule it.

This method keeps it out of my Next list, which is what I look at when looking for stuff

to do after I've finished my Today list. The less clutter in Next, the better. Why bother

reviewing a task/project, only to realize that you can't act on it yet? That's what

Scheduled is for.

There are two options for Scheduled Tasks:

• Move to Today - Moves the task/project to Today (which, by definition, means Next

as well). I use this option for tasks/projects that can begin on a certain day.

• Highlight - Keeps the task/project in Scheduled, but on the scheduled date, the

task/project becomes red. Also, in the sidebar next to Scheduled, there will be a

red number indicating how many tasks/projects are highlighted. I use this option for

reminders, such as “Waiting For”, because I don't want these kind of tasks cluttering

my Today list.

NB: The highlight option does not exist in Things for iPhone or iPad. If you sync to a

mobile device, all Scheduled items will convert to Move to Today.

Someday

Someday is for anything and everything that I want to hang on to, but I don't plan to

act on in the next week (before my next Review). Each week, I review this list for

tasks to put into Next for the week. (Using tags like "Review weekly" and "Review

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monthly" can help with tasks that you only want to look at every so often. See Tags

section.)

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Projects

What is a Project?

A Project is a list of tasks. That's it. Nothing complicated. It's how you use them that

can make them complicated.

For me, a goal/result that I want to achieve that will take multiple actions to

complete becomes a project. (To turn a task into a project, drag it to the Projects

focus in the sidebar.) If you don't feel the need to list out all the steps, then don't.

The objective is to get stuff off your mind. You should write out as much detail as you

need to accomplish this, but no more.

I don't use projects for lists of items related by type, such as “Phone calls”. I use tags

for those. (See Tags section.)

Admittedly, projects are needed for some workarounds. For example, if you use

Things as a list manager (e.g. “Inspirational Quotes”), you could make this list a

project (with each quote as a task) and keep it in Someday.

Dependencies / Sequential Projects

If the tasks in a Project must be performed in a certain order, I leave the first one in

Next (or Today, as appropriate). All the others I put in Someday. This will greatly

reduce the clutter in your Next list. When you check off that first item, I'd do a quick

check to see what's the next task, and promote it to Next. Unfortunately, there's no

way to automatically do this, as of yet. If I can do multiple actions now, I have all of

them in Next. I leave the ones I can't do yet in Someday.

Other users have Things display only one next action in Next view (View>Next Action

Steps>1). With this method, when you have a sequential project, you collapse it so

that you only see the first available action. Parallel projects are left uncollapsed, so

that you can see all available tasks of the projects. Personally, I find this method

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limiting because there's no way to show two next actions of a ten-step project, for

example. It might work for your needs though.

Projects marked as Today

You can mark a project for Today by either dragging it to Today (in the sidebar) or

having it Scheduled to ‘Move to Today’. You’ll know a project is marked as Today

because its checkbox (to the left of the project title in the Projects focus) will be

yellow.

When a project is marked as Today, all of its tasks go to Today. The project, however,

does not. (This is a GTD thing. You can’t “do” a project, you can only do tasks

associated with it.) Any new tasks you create in that project will be automatically

marked as Today, too. If you un-Today any of the tasks in the project, the project will

be un-Today’ed.

I use this for when there’s a specific goal that I want to get done Today. As long as the

project is marked as Today, I know all the actions will be as well.

Project Templates

Many people want project templates that they can easily recall for future use (e.g.

“Setup New Client X” project). What I do is have copy sitting of the project in

Someday (as to not clutter my Next list). When I need a copy of the project, I just

duplicate the template, and drag to wherever I need it.

For some, template Area might be needed to de-clutter their other areas. Others

might like to leave the template in its appropriate Area. Yet others might want to

have a “template” tag. I haven't found one method to be far more efficient than the

others.

Repeating Projects

See “Repeating Projects” section under the “Repeating Items” chapter.

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Areas

What is an Area?

I think of Areas as the different hats that I wear in life. For example, “Gardening” and

“Finance Manager at XYZ Corp” are typical examples of Areas. Within areas, you can

store associated projects and tasks. This is nice because it adds a layer of sortability

to Things. If you want to see all the stuff associated with “Religion”, it's easy to view

with Areas.

Some people use a “Miscellaneous” area for all the tasks that otherwise would just

“float”. For me, I don't bother. I see these unassociated tasks in their appropriate lists

(e.g. Next) anyways.

Area or Project?

An oft-asked question is whether something is an area or a project. For me, the

distinction lies in accomplishability. If there's a goal or result you'd like to see, it's

probably a project. If it's an ongoing realm of your life, it's probably an area.

Typically, my areas change no more often than a couple times per year.

Because projects can't be placed within projects, some find that larger projects end

up working better as areas. That way, you can have another layer in the

organizational system. I prefer not to do this because it tends to clutter my Areas list.

Instead, I have placeholder tasks within the main project for sub-projects. For

example, If the main project is “Open new office building”, I would include tasks for

“buy furniture” and “update contact info with clients”. I would then have projects for

both of these, each with their own sub-tasks.

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Repeating Items

Structure: Template & Iterations

Things lists repeating items under the Scheduled focus. Each item listed is a template.

When the trigger date comes about, a standalone copy of the template as it exists at

that moment is placed in Today. Updating these copies (iterations) will NOT affect the

template. You can check off an iteration, but not a template.

I’d actually prefer to have a separate focus. Repeating and Scheduled tasks have

nothing to do with each other, except that they’re both setting items up for the

future.

Check this out for crazy: you can schedule an iteration for a future date. (You’ll end

up with both listed under Scheduled, but you can tell the difference because the

iteration will have a checkbox, and the template will have a loop icon.)

How to Repeat?

There are three kinds of repeating: Every X, After Completion, and For iCal Events.

Every X - If you need to do something every Monday, or the last Thursday of every

month, this is the option for you! This will create an iteration in Today on the days

you listed. Note, under every option except “daily”, you can click the + icon to get

another row. This is useful for when you need to do something every Tuesday and

Friday, for example.

After Completion - If you want to do something every so often, this is the option for

you! Things will create the next iteration X days/weeks/etc. after the previous one

was checked off. For example, I have “Get haircut” a repeating task that shows up 5

weeks after completion. If I wait an extra week to get my haircut, the next iteration

will still show up 5 weeks after I get my haircut (not 4 weeks). This is useful for when

you don't want iterations stacking up in Next.

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For iCal Events - This option creates an item based on iCal events of a particular

calendar. This is useful when potentially irregular activities require stuff to be done.

For example, if you’ve got your kids’ soccer schedule and you want an “Organize

carpool” task for each practice and game, set up a repeating task for that calendar.

Repeating Projects

Projects can repeat, too. To make a project repeating, go to the Projects focus in the

sidebar, find the project, then Items>Make Repeating... (Command-Option-R). This

CANNOT be done from the Active Projects list in the sidebar. Few users have

discovered this functionality because it's so tucked away.

Due Repeating Items

One option for repeating items is auto-including due dates on the iterations. The

dialog box for this is rather confusing, so I'll explain it. After you’ve set up your

schedule of repeating, you decide whether you want the item to be created or due on

the days in that schedule.

I don't have due dates for any ‘after completion’ repeating tasks/projects. Frankly, it

doesn't really make sense to me how you could have a due ‘after completion’ item. If

the “deadline” is movable (because it's after completion), then it's not really due, is

it? Beware of due date inflation! (See ‘Due Dates’ section.) (The only exception I can

think of is getting a multi-stage vaccination. That's pretty rare, though.)

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Tags

Tag Types

Tags are incredibly versatile. You can use them for practically anything. Tags can be

assigned to any task, project and area. Set up the tags in the tags window (Command-

Shift-T). You can filter by tags from the top of any screen within Things. (Note:

there’s no Boolean filtering (e.g. Or, Not) yet, just “And”-type filtering.) For me, tags

fall into two main categories: Contextual and Organizational.

Contextual - What do I need and where do I need to be in order to complete this task?

At the office? My spouse? 30 minutes? These types of tags come in handy when you

want to see what you're able to do right now. Just filter down with what you have

(e.g. Office & 30min) and you'll see what you have to do!

Organizational - How might I like to filter these tasks? For example, I have a ‘Money’

tag that allows me to see all my upcoming financial transactions. I also have ‘Email’

and ‘Phone’ tags, because I find myself wanting to do these kinds of tasks in a clump.

Tag Tips

• If it takes two minutes or less to get to a new location, I just use one tag for the

whole place. No need to over-complicate things.

• Delete tags of meaningless contexts. For example, if you always carry your wallet

with you, there’s no need for a ‘Wallet’ tag on the task “Pay George $40”. Many

people find ‘Online’ is becoming one of these meaningless contexts.

• Delete unused tags. There's a big difference here between assigning tags and

filtering by them. If you never filter by a certain tag, it means you're not using it.

Just get rid of it! (Thanks to salgud for this tip!)

• When assigned to a project or area, the tag is auto-inherited to the project/area’s

sub-items. This can save keystrokes if all the tasks in a certain project need to be

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done at the office, for example. Tagging areas can be nice if you’d like to filter your

focus lists by area.

• Use tag hierarchy. In the tags window, you can organize your tags into folders. This

will save space in the tag bar at the top of the main Things window.

• Use keyboard shortcuts to assign tags. Set the keyboard shortcuts in the right part of

the tags window. Then you can assign tags to tasks and projects without going into

edit mode. Just select the item, then press the key combo. You can even do Shift-

letters. For example, for me ‘e’ means email, and ‘E’ means Ernie.

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Other Things Stuff

Due Dates

A due date is when something is really really actually due. (i.e. Something bad will

happen if I don't get the task/project done by then.) Being due means that Things

turns the task/project red, so it really gets your attention.

I am EXTREMELY strict with setting due dates. An "ooooh, I really should clean my

room this weekend"-type task does not have a due date in my system. Yes I'd like to

get it done, but it's NOT actually due on Sunday. (I might schedule it for Sunday if I

don't think I'll get around to it before then, though.) On the other hand, if my

girlfriend is coming over for dinner Sunday, maybe cleaning my room is actually

due. :)

To add a "show in today" date means that I still want to keep it in Next until a

particular day, but also that I want to take action before the task is truly "due." For

example, I must buy a birthday present for my brother by Saturday because that's

when the party is. I set the due date as Saturday, but I really would like to buy the

gift before the day of the party. In this case, I'd set the "show in today" field to 7 days

before. When it shows in Today using this method, the due date part of the task turns

red, but still says "3 days left."

During the day, I know I must hit all the red items in my Today list. I'm planning on

getting all the yellow tasks done, but if I don't, oh well, it doesn't kill me. I know,

however, that if I don't get a red task done, I'll have to renegotiate with myself.

This red/yellow system also helps because if I start to run out of time in a day, I can

look at all the red tasks to get a sense of what MUST be at least looked at /

renegotiated with myself. This system only works for me because I'm very minimalistic

about what I have as red. The vast majority of my Today list is yellow, so the red ones

really stand out.

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Due vs Scheduled

This is a topic that often confuses those who are new to Things. Scheduled is

essentially setting a start date for an item. A due date is an end date (hopefully!). See

the Scheduled and Due Dates sections for more info.

Teammates / Waiting For

There are two Things features you can use to track your ‘Waiting For’ tasks.

• Teammate - You can add any task in any focus list (or project) to a person. Then you

can filter all your tasks for that person by clicking their name in the sidebar. NB: you

can assign a task to only one teammate. NB: Teammates don't sync to the iPhone or

iPad versions of Things.

• Tags - Very versatile and you can use them for just about anything. You can do a

global search for all items with a particular tag from the bottom right search bar.

Solution 1: Use one Teammate for each person you want to track and a 'Waiting For'

tag. When you meet with a person, you can just click on their name and see tasks/

projects you've assigned to their name. You can filter down this list by clicking the

'Waiting For' tag.

Solution 2: Use tags for each person and a Teammate named 'Waiting For'. (Set this up

by making a dummy Address Book entry, importing it into Things, then deleting it.)

You can do a global tag search to find tasks for a specific person. You can also include

the name of the person you're waiting for in the task title.

1 is nice because you've got your list of people right there, but the list can take a

huge bite out of your sidebar (it's collapsable, though). 2 could be of benefit if you

want a 1-click way to see all the things you're waiting for, and use people-context

tags. Also, 2 allows you to "wait for' anyone, without setting them up as a Teammate.

I actually use method 2 and add people's names into the title of the tasks. I also have

tags for the most common people I deal with: boss, girlfriend, parents, etc. As always,

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each person’s situation will lead them to a different solution. (e.g. If you have

constant people you’re working with (and waiting for), method 1 might be better.)

I also keep my Waiting Fors out of Next as much as possible. I put them in either

Scheduled or Someday, depending on how urgent they are. If I don't care when it gets

back to me, it goes in Someday, which I review weekly. If there's a specific date I want

to follow up, I'll use Scheduled. I also will put in due dates, as appropriate.

When I need to follow up with someone, I often don't bother making a 'follow up' task.

I'll just put the waiting for task in Today. I know that it means "follow up". If the

situation

Logbook

I log completed items daily (and automatically). I don’t like the log immediately

option because if I accidentally check off a task, it'll disappear. I know I can just

Undo, but if I'm only using the mouse, it can be a hassle. Sometimes I'll log manually

throughout the day if it's cluttered with done tasks, but typicallyI like to see what I've

accomplished.

When I first started using Things, I just let my logbook grow and grow. It caused sync

to take a long time, and it even corrupted my library a couple times. (CC was a great

help in fixing those issues!) Since then, I've been using the Things Logbook Cleaner

script (available on the wiki). I have a “Run Things Logbook Cleaner” repeating task

set to 1 week after completion. I save the text files for reference.

Try running the Things Logbook Cleaner script. http://culturedcode.com/things/wiki/

index.php/AppleScript:_Tidying_up_Things%27_Logbook

It will archive your ancient logbook items to a text file, then move them to the Things

Trash. (I also recommend emptying the trash afterwards.)

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It can take a few minutes, but it's well worth it. I used to run it each week to prevent

slowdowns, but a release in mid-2010 seemed to alleviate the slowdowns, so I've

stopped using the script.

I don't use the Logbook Cleaner Script anymore. CC released an update last year that

sped up Things when using a large database.

Trash

I empty the Trash every few weeks. No rhyme or reason to it.

AppleScript

I don't use it. I'm generally engaged enough in my task list that I just enter/edit things

manually. There are plenty of Things users well-versed in AppleScript. As always, the

forums are the best place for your questions.

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Related Topics & Other Rants

Weekly Review

I'll be honest up-front: I don't do my review weekly. I should. I know I should. I don't.

So sue me. I find that with mini-reviews throughout the week, I'm able to stay on top

of everything. I only end up needing to do a full review when I'm getting antsy about

my task list, which works out to be about every three weeks.

I've set up a repeating project (1 week after completion) with the following steps. I

try to go over the entire GTD process: collect, process, organize, review. (Doing is

done later, obviously.)

During this process, sometimes I don't even bother doing tasks that will take 1-2

minutes. I find that with keyboard shortcuts, I'm better off just adding these tasks to

Things, and doing them in a bunch later.

Here's the steps I have in my repeating project:

• Review last 2 weeks. Looking back at my calendar, I catch follow-up type tasks. Into

the Things inbox (via the quick entry panel) they go.

• Review the next 6 weeks. Same idea, but looking at the future, I'll often notice

events I need to prep for.

• Process GMail inbox. I process each email, adding tasks to Things as I go. I love using

the Quick Entry + Autofill for this. Project support documents get filed away in

Things Folders (jazzaround.net).

• Process physical inbox. Same as above. Project support documents get their own

folder in my physical system.

• Process Things Inbox. I define next actions, make projects, apply tags, move tasks to

their appropriate project/area, and create projects as needed. To do this, I first

drag items from the Inbox to the Areas in which they belong. (This gives me a good

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opportunity to ask myself, “Why am I doing this?”) Then in each Area, I drag any

tasks that need to be projects to Projects in the sidebar, add tags to tasks, and then

use the arrow keys to quickly navigate in/out of each project and review its

contents.

• Review the items in Scheduled set for the next couple days. Sometimes it turns out I

can deal with these items sooner than expected.

• Review Next tasks/projects in each Area. Going through these tasks in detail, I often

adjust, tag, move, delete, etc.

• Review projects that aren't in an area. Same thing.

• Review tasks that aren't in a project or area. Same thing.

• Review Someday. I move items to Next, Scheduled as needed.

Calendar vs Task Manager

In my garage, I have hammers for nails, screwdrivers for screws, etc. I have a similar

breakdown for tools for my productivity: Things for tasks, BusyCal for timed items,

Clock app for alarms...

If something needs to be done at a particular time, I use my calendar. If it can be

done at any time, it goes in Things. Search the forums for gobs of discussion on this

topic.

Potential Feature: Automatically Checking Off Projects

I believe projects should not automatically be checked off. The reason I want to do it

myself is that it's my last chance to ask myself, "Is this goal completed? Can I move

past this project now?"

Often times, it would be convenient for the project to be marked off automatically.

However, in the cases in which I do have other tasks remaining before the project is

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complete, it's very very important that I have that chance to double-check the project

before it gets automatically whisked away by Things. (I find this especially true for

projects which I have only a bookmark-style next action, instead of having a list of

every single item related to a project.)

Basically, I want to be the one who decides what gets deleted from my Next list and

off my plate, not Things.

Potential Feature: Time in Scheduled

I would rather not have tasks popping up throughout the day telling me "I'm actionable

now!" The reason I like having all my scheduled tasks show up at once is so that I can

perform my mini-daily-review all at once, knowing that I'm planning out my whole

next day. If Things was withholding information about my next day, I wouldn't be

thrilled. (Yes I could check Scheduled, but then that defeats the purpose of never

having to look in Scheduled.) I'm ok with leaving a task in Today in the morning even if

I know I'm going to get to it til the afternoon.

Potential Feature: Time in Due Dates

I'm trying to visualize how I would use due times, and I think that having a task say

"Due at 5pm" doesn't really do me a whole lot of good. Sure, it might be nice to have

that information handy in a separate field (instead of notes or the title), but how will

it change my workflow? I already have my Today list sorted by expected completion

order (thanks to my mini-daily-review). I guess it could show "Due in 1 hour", etc.

Because I so sparingly use due dates and red, though, a red "Due Today" is enough for

me to recognize a task's urgency. (And because of my mini-daily-review, I'm well

aware of a tasks due time, so that's not so much an issue.)

Adding due times also opens another can of worms with the "Show in Today" option. If

you add the granularity of "hours/minutes before", you get into the problem of tasks

showing up in the middle of the day like I described above. This is certainly disruptive

to my daily workflow because I'll have to be constantly reprocessing my list.

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I admit though, that it would be nifty if the task was already in my Today list, and

turned from yellow to red at 4p if it's due at 5p, for example... That seems gimmicky

though...

I'm willing (and would love) to be wrong on this one. I just can't see how the minimal

benefits would outweigh the consequences. (As opposed to how the added

functionality of mixed projects clearly outweighs the only minimally increased

complexity.)

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Conclusion

Although longwinded, this is more or less an overview of how I use Things. I hope it

has helped you think about how you use Things and how you can optimize it for your

life. I know it has for me!

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