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How I Use Things

goldencrisp87

Updated 4/12/2013

Table of Contents
Introduction

Focus Lists

Overview

Inbox

Next

Today

Scheduled

Someday

Projects

What is a Project?

Dependencies / Sequential Projects

Projects marked as Today

Project Templates

Repeating Projects

Areas

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What is an Area?

Area or Project?

Repeating Items

Structure: Template & Iterations

How to Repeat?

Repeating Projects

Due Repeating Items

Tags

10
Tag Types

10

Tag Tips
Other Things Stuff

10
12

Due Dates

12

Due vs Scheduled

12

Contacts / Waiting For

13

Reminders Sync

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Trash

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AppleScript

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Related Topics & Other Rants

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Weekly Review

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Calendar vs Task Manager

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Potential Feature: Automatically Checking Off Projects

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Potential Feature: Time in Scheduled

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Potential Feature: Time in Due Dates

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Conclusion

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Introduction
This is not a Things manual. I havent included explicit instructions on how to do stuff
that youve 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 tricks (e.g.
creating a repeating project). The other 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 after youve gotten used to it, there
are features that you never discovered.
Second, writing this out has helped me clarify how I use Things. Ive developed
various habits, both good and bad, and this document has helped me understand why I
do things the way I do. Ive learned a lot from explaining what I do. As my 11th grade
math teacher said, You havent 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.
I find myself regularly writing much of this guide in the Things forums. Theyre 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.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to chat, just post on
the Things forums. I'm sure to reply.

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. It also shows the
Daily Review section, which shows items that are due or scheduled for today.
Scheduled is for anything I cant (or dont 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 system. Most of these thoughts end up in Things 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 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.

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. (All other tasks
and projects go 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
The Today list is broken into two sections: Daily Review (yellow, top section) and the
main section.
The Daily Review shows two categories of tasks: those scheduled for today, and those
which are due today (or are set to Show in Today). While in the Daily Review, items
remain in their list (e.g. Scheduled) until you manually move them to Today, Next,
etc. NB: This section does NOT show due items which are in Someday.
The main section of 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, I go
through my Daily Review and Next lists and mark as Today all the tasks I think I'll do
today.
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 reprocess my entire Today list.
Sometimes I need to break up Today for ease of visualization. For example, if it's clear
I have multiple sections of my day (e.g. I'm flying home), I'll put a -------Fly Home

------- task to visually break up the day. Admittedly this isn't pure GTD, but during
the day it helps me see how I'm progressing. (See Calendar vs Task Manager section.)
Other times I do the opposite. For example, with Spring Break, I'll just have my Today
list represent the entire week. Thats because I often see breaks like that as one long
relaxing day (and my breaks task list is usually short enough not to be
overwhelming!).
In short, my Today list contains items that I'm planning to do before my next minireview session, which I typically do daily.
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.) 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.
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 big Review). Each week, I review this list for
tasks to put into Next for the week.
If you have a ton of items in Someday, using tags like "Review weekly" and "Review
monthly" can help with tasks that you only want to look at every so often. See Tags
section.

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. (To turn a task into a project, drag it to the Projects
focus in the sidebar.(
For me, a project represents a goal/result that I want to achieve that will take
multiple actions to complete. Usually, I will brain dump all the potential tasks of a
project into that project. However, 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.)
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. (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.)
This will greatly reduce the clutter in your Next list. When I check off that first item,
I do a quick check to see what's the next task in the sequence, and promote it to
Next. Unfortunately, there's no way to automatically do this, as of yet.
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

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 just as you would a task (e.g. dragging it to Today
in the sidebar). NB: I'll often have some of that project's tasks in Today as well
(especially if I'm working on that project a lot that day).
Obviously, one can't "do" a project, just the tasks associated with it. However, when a
project is in Today, I know that to clear my Today list, I'm gonna have to take a look at
that project again. In order to move the project out of the Today list, I first make
myself do a mini-review of that project (check off old tasks, process notes for next
actions, promote inactive tasks, etc.).
Because projects at my work rapidly change priority, gain/lose tasks, etc., I find this
method to be a good way to make sure I'm current on a project before going home for
the day.
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. NB: You cannot duplicate
items in Things for iPhone or iPad.
For some, an Area devoted only to templates 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 keep template projects in their Area,
but 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.

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 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.

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.
Id prefer to have a separate focus for Repeating items. Repeating and Scheduled
tasks have nothing to do with each other, except that theyre both setting items up
for the future.
NB: You can schedule an iteration for a future date. Youll 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 (or cancelled or deleted). 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.

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 youve 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 (not the Active Projects list!), find the project, then Items>Make Repeating...
(Command-Option-R). Seemingly 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 youve 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.)

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 (CommandShift-T). You can filter by tags from the top of any screen within Things. (Note:
theres 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, theres 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 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/areas
sub-items. This can save keystrokes if all the tasks in a certain project need to be
done at the office, for example. Tagging areas can be nice if youd like to filter your

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focus lists by area, or if you have related Areas to which you'd like to assign the
same tag .
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 Shiftletters. 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. Sure, I'd like to
get it done, but it's NOT actually due on Sunday. On the other hand, if my girlfriend is
coming over for dinner Sunday, maybe cleaning my room is actually due. :)
I add a "show in today" date when I still want to keep it in Next until a particular day,
but also 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, Id set the "show in today" field to 7 days before.
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.
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.

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Contacts / Waiting For


There are two Things features you can use to track your Waiting For tasks.
Contact - 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 contact. NB: The iPhone or iPad versions of Things don't
show Contacts in the menu, but you can view a tasks contact info by viewing that
tasks info.
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 Contact 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 Contact 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 Contact.
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,
each persons situation will lead them to a different solution. (e.g. If you have
constant people youre 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
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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".
Reminders Sync
Syncing with Reminders & Siri is pretty self-explanatory via Preferences. I've set it up
so that it includes time-based reminders, but not location-based reminders. Timebased reminders are useful because you can add due dates with Siri.
I don't sync location-based reminders because Things strips locations from reminders.
If I want to still have that functionality, I would need to leave those items showing in
the Things Inbox, which would clutter my system. I've found it's better to just leave
those reminders only in the Reminders app.
Logbook
I log completed items daily (and automatically). I dont 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

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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.)
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.
After about 1.5 years, I cleared out my Logbook. Things search (especially on my
Mac) is much faster now. Maybe I'll go back to using the script
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 big 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 couple of 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.
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
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

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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.
Check for tasks & projects that arent in an area. I assign them to an area (by the
same reasoning as above).
Review Next tasks/projects in each Area. Going through these tasks in detail, I often
adjust, tag, move, delete, etc.
Review Someday. I move items to Next or 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
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.)

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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.
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.

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Conclusion
Although a bit longwinded, I hope this document 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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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialNoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of the license, visit http://
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