Backward planner to retain items and reference them when moved to other locations
This would be reverting to functionality that was removed in 4.0.
(I never think it a good idea to remove functionality, incidentally, unless there's a very good reason such that it actually hinders usability which, in this case, I don't think it did.)
In 3.0, we could add Backward Planner items to a Stuff I Want list item and then, when ready to act on a task, we could send it to either Dreamcatcher, Daily Target, or Short/Medium/Long Term Focus and the Backward Planner would retain the item in the list and a field would indicate where the item was located (e.g. Mental Lockbox, Daily Targets, Focus etc.)
This feature was extremely important to me as a way of managing my projects. I would use the Stuff I Want list as an overview of current or planned projects. For each project, the Backward Planner list would act as a list of tasks to complete on the project to complete it. It would act as an indicator of current project progress by showing tasks completed (retained with a strike through it), tasks in progress (and where they currently reside in the process) and tasks yet to be started.
Now, in 4.0, tasks only newly added tasks are listed in the Backward Planner and as soon as a task is started by moving it to any of the aforementioned locations they are removed from the Backward Planner. As a result, I can no longer use this feature to manage projects as I do not know from looking at the list which tasks are in progress and where, nor do I know which tasks have been completed (other than the fact they aren't listed there any more meaning I would need actually need to remember that they were there before; however, I may be just as likely to forget that I added them in the first place or add them again).
The loss of this feature is a major setback for me. it has left me without a feature I had come to rely on in my daily work process. It has caused Simpleology to become of much less useful to me and represents, to me, a regression back to Simpleology 2.0 or even 1.0.
This leaves me looking for an alternative to Simpleology but I am loathe to do so as there really is nothing like Simpleology out there but I cannot really make use of two different systems to manage my day.
Please consider reverting to the earlier 3.0 functionality of Stuff I Want and Backward Planner with relation to the above.
Thanks very much.
Mark Jones
shared this idea
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Mark Jones
commented
I still want this but I need to reuse the vote for a new idea :)
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Mark Jones
commented
Thanks! I anticipated it so I never actually lost any data but it's good to hear it's been addressed already. I'll check it out. :)
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> Currently, when an item that is currently a Focus is replaced
> by another item set as a Focus, the previous Focus disappears
> completely and is lost.Noticed that too. Resolved the bug last week. Just tested, and it works as it use to: replace one Major Focus, existing Major Focus returns to Stuff I Want.
Your data, by the way, is not actually "lost" in that it still exists in the database, only misplaced and inaccessible via the User Interface. If this has happened to you and you are missing items, please contact Customer Support and they'll get that resolved and restore your items.
This of course is only a mild improvement for what we have planned. The most exiting time to use Simpleology is just around the corner.
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Mark Jones
commented
Thanks for the "planned" status :)
There's another aspect to this which I think is important:
Currently, when an item that is currently a Focus is replaced by another item set as a Focus, the previous Focus disappears completely and is lost.
Previously, when this happened and the Focus was replaced, as it was still retained in a Stuff I Want or Backward Planner list it was not lost forever and could be set back as a Focus—either if it was changed as a mistake or just temporarily replaced. We could then set it back as a Focus again.
I would do this if my circumstances changed and I had to temporarily or permanently replace a (usually Short Term) Focus. I appreciate this could be abused and be a cause of a loss of focus but sometimes it's just necessary.
Ideally, when a Focus is replaced by another, it should retain all the extra details in "Get specific..." and "Why does it matter?" so that these are also restored when it is reset as a Focus item.
Focus items should only be removed when they are either deleted or completed and moved to the archive.
Thanks.
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Mark Jones
commented
One related request (which I have to post here due to lack of vote credit): Please re-enable the sorting of Backward Planner items. The BP really needs this as it's not really possible to enter them all in accurately in the first go (I usually find I have to re-order a few items more than once before I get it exactly right).
Also, it's then easier to just dump items in really quickly without spending too much time considering whether or not they are in the correct order.
All these issues mean I don't use the Stuff I Want or Backward Planner lists at all now, and I think are a lynchpin of the whole Simpleology process providing the high level vision overview required to manage the day-to-day process and details.
Thanks.
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Mark Jones
commented
It's probably an exaggeration to say it represents "regression back to Simpleology 2.0 or even 1.0" overall (especially in the light of the really useful changes to 5.0) but I meant to say that, as far as the Stuff I Want and Backward Planner lists go, I was able to make better use of them in Simpleology 3.0 and that this part of Simpleology had become a quite major aspect of my daily workflow. It was not meant to say that *all* of Simpleology had regressed back to 2.0 or 1.0.
I'm sorry if it came across that way—I hope it didn't.
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Mark Jones
commented
In the context of walking the straight line to our targets, this feature provides, metaphorically, knowledge of where we currently are on the line, which is vital for measuring and encouraging progress.
