Process Thoughts
Purpose
The thoughts collected through the
Collect Thoughts
screen are displayed one by one, in the same order as entered. A counter indicates how many
thoughts still need to be processed. If this screen has been called when re-processing an Item
or Action, or if any "tickled" Future items need to be looked at, the corresponding
thought will be displayed first.
This screen is where you decide what to do with a thought. First of all, you need to decide if
the thought is actionable or not. The default is actionable.
Actionable
Single action or Project?
We recommend that you first think about the thought and enter the successful outcome for this
activity. The display of the successful outcome field is configurable (see
Actions Preferences.
It is then easier to decide:
-
whether it will take more than one action to achieve this result (and therefore require
a project), or if one single action will achieve the thought;
-
if the thought is related to an existing project or subproject.
If a new project is required, you can create the project as belonging to an existing project or
subproject.
You must enter the description of the next physical action that should be done. The description
is defaulted to the thought description but it can be overwritten.
A context for this action can also be selected. You can also enter notes for that action. The
display of the following fields is configurable:
Action Status
You now have five choices for this action as follows.
-
If the action will take less than two minutes to do, you should do it
straight away and then check the done check box;
-
If the action should not be done yet but you wish to record it, then select the
"Inactive" Status. The Start date can be entered. When the Start date is
reached or has passed (in case you don't run the application for a few days),
the action will become a "Do ASAP" one automatically;
-
If the action should be done as soon as possible, then select the "Do ASAP" Status;
-
If the action only occurs at a particular date and time, select the "Scheduled"
Status. Then click the button along side to select a date, then enter the time (24 hours
format: 7 o'clock in the evening should be entered as 19:00) and duration if applicable;
-
If you wish to delegate the action to someone else, select the "Delegated" Status
and enter who you are delegating to (an email address or name) and a date to "Follow-up"
whether it has been done. To inform the person you are delegating to, you can send an email by
pressing the "Email" button. Delegate To is copied as addressee, Action Description as
subject and Notes as email text. If you configure it
(see Actions Preferences),
the text "Email sent Fri, 1 Sep 2006" is appended at the end of the Notes.
Please note that to use the email functionality on Linux, a proper email address (containing a
"@") needs to be entered.
Project
Based on your decisions at the beginning, check the project check box if a new project is required. A new
project will be created automatically with the project description set to the thought description.
If the thought is related to an existing project, select from the list the project (or sub-project) the action
(and possibly the new project) belongs to. Otherwise keep the default value "None".
Not actionable
If the thought is not actionable, you can do one of the following:
-
decide you don't need to do anything for that thought and delete it;
-
keep it for later (Future Items). A tickle date can be entered to get reminded about the Future Item.
When the tickle date is reached or has passed (in case you don't run the application for a few days),
the Future Item will be sent back to your unprocessed thoughts box and will re-appear at the top of
unprocessed thoughts the next time you call the Process Thoughts screen;
-
keep it as information (Information Items).
Others
Lastly you press the Process Thought button or its
Shortcut Key
The next thought is then displayed at the top and the entry fields are reset.
For 'tickled' Future items, the word 'Tickled' + tickle date will be appended at the
beginning of the thought description.
For any date selection: the calendar window "Select Date" will open, allowing you to Select a
date, Clear it or Cancel. You can select a date by double-clicking on it.
Notes field
-
You need to click on the pencil symbol button or double-click on the field, in order to start the
Edit mode before you can update the field;
-
You can insert a website address by typing it directly or using the web symbol button;
-
You can insert a file reference using the folder symbol button.