ThinkingRock v3 Manual

8/11/2019 ThinkingRock v3 Manual

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ThinkingRock User Manual for v3.x

!Avente Pty Ltd, 2014 Page 2 of 61

Contents

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1 Introduction

1.1 About ThinkingRock

ThinkingRock (TR) is software to organise your life according to Getting Things Done - the stress-free

productivity methodology described in the international best selling book by David Allen. If you dontknow this methodology, we recommend that you first find out more about GTD. There is plenty of

information on the web. We have listed some useful ressources on our website www.trgtd.com.au.

You can start by reading the article on wikipedia or have a look on David Allen website.

This manual relates to version 3.x.

Because the software is written in Java, it is multi-platform without having to have your data on the

web.

1.2 Short description

One of main principle of GTD is to clear your mind of all the things you need or want to do so that themind can be pro-active instead of just being used as a memory. TR lets you record all this information.

You will need to start by recording your thoughts, your existing to-do lists, your projects, etc. Then TR

allows you to classify them into actions, projects, someday/maybe items or reference items.

By having this thinking managed in a trusted system, you are free to think on a higher level and your

brain is not just used as a memory anymore. It becomes easier to make decisions and to make the

best use of your time. It also allows you to say "No" as you realise just how much you have to do

already.

Thinking Rock is NOT another to-do list. Its process flow allows you to:

! collect your thoughts, also called dump your mind;

! process them into actions, projects, sub-projects, reference items, someday/maybe items or goals;

! actions can be done by you, delegated to someone else or scheduled for a particular date;

! projects can be planned into ordered list of actions and sub-projects;

! you can review all your actions, projects and other information quickly and easily to see what youneed to do or to choose what you want to do under your current context at a particular time. Theseviews can be easily modified by you to tailor for your needs;

! get motivated by reviewing your 6-Level model and link projects to your goals;

! take the information with you on your iPhone, Android or on paper (pocketmod reports, Jasper orPDF reports).

1.3 Platform Requirements

Thinking Rock is a pure Java application and should run on any platform. The software is packaged

with Java 1.7 so you dont need to install Java separately.

For Mac you will Mac OS 10.4 or later.

TR has been tested on Linux (Fedora 4), Mac OS X (10.5.5), Windows (XP) and Windows Vista.


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1.4 How to use this manual

This manual is divided in two parts:

! The first part consists of the documentation which can be found on the website.

! The second part consists of all the help pages which are provided within the desktop application.To access those while you are using ThinkingRock, just press the help menu option. It will take

you to the help for the screen you are in.

By providing this information in one document, it allows users to read the documentation off-line, print

the manual and gives one central point for search.

Some people prefer not to start with a blank page so we have provided some examples files on our

website which can be downloaded under Docs & Demos menu:

! A data file containing only contexts, topics and criteria called SetupData.trx.

! A data file with some actions, projects and items called thinking-rock.tut.xml;

! A set-up file for Review Actions screen with tabs which are referred below calledReviewActions.xml.

1.5 Demos

There are demos available showing the initial set-up from our website under the Docs & Demos menu.

1.6 About us

ThinkingRock is developed by Avente Pty Ltd, an Australian registered company.

1.7 References

David Allen website: www.davidco.com


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2 Part 1 Cross functionali ty documentation

2.1 Getting Started

2.1.1 Introduction

This section guides through the few set-ups you need to do the first time you are using ThinkingRock:

! initial data set-up: contexts, topics and criteria (priority, energy and time);

! general data set-up: optional fields, auto-sequencing, backup folder, etc...

To call each screen, you can either click on the corresponding box in the overview screen or use the

buttons in the menu toolbar.

2.1.2 Data file

The first time ThinkingRock is run, you need to create a data file by using the menu option File New or

the Create Data File box on the Overview screen. This file will save your data (thoughts, actions,projects and items) but also your set-up data. The next time you open ThinkingRock, it will

automatically open the last data file used.

2.1.3 Set Up Data

Initially you need to setup the following data.

As a starting point for your data file, you can download the SetupData.xml file (which contains

examples of contexts, topics and criteria) from our website.

Contexts

A context should describe where or how an action could be done. Examples of contexts are: Phonecalls, At Computer, At the Shops, On-line, At Home, Errands. Contexts are useful for deciding what

you can do next, as this often depends on where you are and what tools you have available. Contexts

are also used in reports, so you can have with you all the actions which need doing within your current

context. Context is a GTD concept.

To set-up your contexts, use the Contexts screen.

Topics

The topics are used to classify your thoughts and are kept as the thoughts become an item, an action

or a project. Examples of topics are: Personal, Financial, Health, House, Work, Kids, Book, CDs. Topic

is not a GTD concept.

To set-up your topics, use the Topics screen.

Criteria

There are 3 criteria you can use: priority, energy and time. They are GTD concepts. They can help you

to decide what action to do next. For example, "I have 10 minutes before my next meeting, which

action can I do which takes maximum 10 minutes?" Or "I just had lunch, I am feeling sleepy, which

action can I do which requires Low Mental Energy?". Please note that according to GTD, these criteria

are less important than the context to determine your next action.

To set-up your criteria, use the Criteria screen. You first need to check the box for the ones you want

to use. ThinkingRock comes with a set of values that you can update. You can delete values, add new

ones, change the order. The order sets in this screen is used for the list and whenever you order your

actions list based on that criterion.


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2.1.4 Action settings

You can add the following fields to define an action: Start Date, Due Date and Successful Outcome.

You need to check the corresponding fields under the Actions settings screen (Mac

Preferences/Miscellaneous/Actions Tab; PC and Linux Tools/Miscellaneous/Actions Tab).

2.1.5 Project settingsYou can add following fields to define a project: Start Date and Due Date. You need to check the

corresponding fields under the Project settings screen (Mac Preferences/Miscellaneous/Projects Tab;

PC and Linux Tools/Miscellaneous/Projects Tab).

Regarding the Automatically sequence actions setting (see Sequencing Help under 05. Review for

more details), it is done at project level:

! If this option is not checked, no automatic sequencing is done;

! If this option is checked, all new projects will have automatic sequencing set to on. This settingcan be changed for any project in the Review Projects screen.

2.1.6 Date settings

You can specify the first day of your week (Monday or Sunday) and your date format under the Date

settings screen (Mac Preferences/Miscellaneous/Dates Tab; PC and Linux Tools/Miscellaneous/Dates

Tab).

2.2 Process Flow

2.2.1 Introduction

Now that you have set-up these data and settings, lets start using ThinkingRock for recording your

tasks, reviewing and action them. This follows the GTD flow of Collect, Process, Organize, Reviewand Do.

The corresponding TR flow is Collect Thoughts, Process them (decide what the thought represents),

Review Actions and Review Projects. When your action is done, check it on the Review Action or

Review Project screens. The reports allow you to take your actions with you or to review on paper if

you prefer.

There are demos available showing the Collect/Process Thoughts flow and the projects review and

planning.

2.2.2 Collect Thoughts

First you need to dump all the thoughts from your mind and all the things pending in your variousinboxes into ThinkingRock. This is done using the Collect Thoughts screen. The first time you will

probably enter many thoughts: what is on your plate at the moment, all your dreams or things you wish

to do someday.

You will need to use the screen regularly to make sure of the following:

! everything gets into your trusted system and will eventually be dealt with;

! your brain and memory are free to be creative and productive.

If a thought comes to mind while you are using another ThinkingRock screen, use the F6 key to

quickly enter the thought.


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2.2.3 Process Thoughts

The thoughts collected through the Collect Thoughts screen are like an inbox. You now need to empty

that inbox completely by deciding what each thought represents.

The thoughts are displayed one by one, in the same order as entered, to ensure nothing is left

undealt. A counter indicates how many thoughts still need to be processed. This screen is where you

decide what to do with a thought. First the choice is "Is this thought actionable (actions) or not

(items)?". You need to decide if the thought relates to:

! something that needs doing (Actions) - actionable;

! things you will never do, you might as well delete it - not actionable;

! things you might do one day (Someday/Maybe Items) - not actionable;

! information (Reference Items) - not actionable.

Actions consist of the following:

! ones you can delegate (Delegated Actions);

! ones you have to do on a certain date (Scheduled Actions);

! ones that just have to be done as soon as possible or by a Due Date (Do ASAP Actions).

Whenever a thought requires more than one physical action to be fulfilled, you will need a Project.

This will allow you to group Actions and perform them in the sequence required. When you review

your projects, you will be able to plan and organise them. ThinkingRock will create the project when

you check the box "Create a new project" and will add the action to it.

If a thought is related to an existing project or sub-project, you can add the new action to it.

Processing any thought should only take a few seconds: you are only deciding what should be done

with the thought, not acting on it (unless it takes less than 2 minutes - see GTD, in which case you can

mark the action as Done). Once a thought is processed it will not appeared anymore on the Collect

Thoughts and Process Thoughts screens.

2.2.4 Organize, Review and Do

Once the whole picture of your tasks has been entered, you use the Review Actions screen with all its

filtering to plan your day and to do the actions on your list according to your Context (where you are),

the priority set, the energy you have and the time you have available.

You should review your data regularly: daily for actions and projects, weekly for the Someday/Maybe

items.

The Review Projects screen is where you do and review your projects planning, adding actions,

moving them, creating sub-projects (no limit to nesting).

For the navigation and details on the possible transactions (convert to project, reprocess, copy and

paste, etc...) please refer to the screens help.

2.2.5 Reporting

ThinkingRock provides many reports to take your list of actions and projects with you. There is also a

pocketmod format. The simplest report is probably the Print Screen function (most right button on the

Review Actions screen): it prints the list of actions showing on your current Review Actions Tab.


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2.2.6 Final Notes

When you first start using ThinkingRock, the steps required to get from a thought to an action into your

"Do ASAP actions" list might seem cumbersome but this tool is designed to encourage clear thinking.

Going regularly to the Collect Thoughts screen encourages you to enter all you other thoughts every

time and not just the action which came to mind.

Similarly, when you plan your projects, we strongly recommend that you enter the Purpose of the

project, the Vision of the results, Brainstorming all ideas and Organization of them. This information

will help you to be more effective, motivated, clear, productive and innovative. Being clear about why

you are doing a project and what you hope to achieve is the best way to make it a successful and

enjoyable challenge.

2.3 Review Actions screen Advanced set-up

2.3.1 Introduction

The Review Actions screen is where you review your list and decide what to do next, and then start

checking actions to Done (one of the final purpose of GTD). So you need to tailor it to your needs. You

can set-up the following: the columns displayed, the columns order, the filtering of actions, the actions

order and the tabs.

There is a demo available following the steps described in this article.

2.3.2 Settings saved

Please note that the screen settings are kept when you exit the application, including the position of

the panels separation bars (one setting for all tabs). All settings for this screen, except the bars

position, will be saved in a separate file called ReviewAction.xml and can be shared between different

platforms. The file will be saved under the same folder as the data file. We recommend that you do abackup of that file in a different directory.

You can download a ReviewActions.xml set-up file from hereas a starting point for your own set-up.

You need to save the file in the same folder as your data file.

2.3.3 Set-up Tabs

You can maintain these tabs under the Action Screens preferences (Mac Preferences/Actions

Screens; Windows and Linux Tools/Options/Actions Screens):

! new Tabs can be created with user defined name. e.g. you could create a Today tab to show onlyactions with the action date set to the current date, a Calls tab for all actions to be done using a

Phone context, a Personal tab for all actions to be done belonging to personal topics;! existing tabs can be renamed;

! existing tabs can be removed;

! tabs order can be modified.

2.3.4 Columns

For each Tab, you can decide which fields to display or not as a column in the table part. On the

Review Actions screens, for a Tab, click the Edit Columns button (second from the left) and check or

uncheck the fields in the Table Columns window to select the columns data.

You can also change:

! the column order by selecting a column and dragging it to its desired position;


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! the column width by selecting the column separator in the header row and drag it to enlarge or notthe column width.

2.3.5 Filters

For each Tab, you can change the filtering. Click the Edit Filters button (third from the left). The

Selection Filters window opens where you can set-up the following:

! Use check box: set which filter to use or not;

! Show check box: set if the filter should be displayed or not;

! Values combo: set the initial value for the filter. If the filter is shown on the tab, the user canchange this initial value.

! Exclude if Null check box: if set, the actions with a null value in that field will not be listed. Thissetting is only available for the criteria and the date fields. Please note that if you choose the value

! 'All' for the criteria fields or don't select a date for the date fields, the actions with a null value willbe included even if the box is checked.

Notes:

! When there is more than one filter, data relevant for all filters is displayed (corresponding to logicalAND operation).

! The Search filter allows you to enter a text. Once you press the Enter key, all actions which havethe text in their notes, description or Delegated To fields are listed.

! For the Status, Topic, Context or Criteria combos, All, Multiple values or a specific value can beselected.

! Using the Done filter, you can either show all actions or only the ones which have to be done oronly the ones which have been completed.

! The date filters let you choose how far in the future or the past you want to review.

2.3.6 Show Filters line

For each Tab, you can show the filters line or not. Click the Show/Hide Filters button (fourth from theleft) to toggle ON/OFF the display. By default, the setting is to show the line.

2.3.7 Column sorting

You can sort the actions by clicking once on the header of the column you wish to sort by. To order on

more than one column, click once on the other column(s). To select a new first column for the

ordering, double-click on that column. Each mouse click on an already selected column changes the

sort order and cycles through ascending/descending alphabetical sort order.

The date columns are ordered as follows: first actions with dates in the past, followed by actions with

date = today, followed by actions without dates, then actions with dates in the future.

The criteria columns are ordered as per the order you have set them up in the Criteria screen.

2.4 Creation of actions and projects

GTD reckons that one of the reasons why people procrastinate is because what needs to be done has

not been clarified enough. If you decompose your thought into small enough manageable physical

actions, you are more likely to do the first action when the context is appropriate. When you process

your thought that way, you will soon realise that many thoughts become small projects. Even buying a

birthday present is a project as you first action will be to decide what to buy!

You can create project and sub-project using:

! the Process Thought screen: when you define the action, check the "Create a new project". If youadd the project to an existing project, it becomes a sub-project;


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! the Project tree panel: when you are planning or reviewing a project. Once you have selected aproject, you can press F4, define the sub-project, then press F4 again etc... If the node you haveselected is the top "Projects" one, a top project will be created;

! the project tree panel: when you right-click on an action (or press button), you can convert thataction into a project. You will perform this operation if you realise that you have not decomposedyour action in small enough physical actions.

You can create an action using:

! the Process Thought screen: when you process a thought, select actionable and define the action;

! the Process Thought screen: when you reprocess an item, select actionable and define the action;

! the Project tree panel: when you are planning or reviewing a project. Once you have selected aproject, you can press F3, define the action, then press F3 again etc...

2.5 Creation of someday/maybe and reference items

To create someday/maybe and reference items:

! you enter them as thoughts then when you process the thoughts, you select 'Non actionable', thenyou can specify that they are Someday/Maybe items or Reference items;

! in the corresponding screen, you use the Add button to create a new one. You can create them inbatch as the Topic is kept between entries (similar to the Collect Thought pop-up window).

2.6 TR implementation of the Tickle Functionality

In order to implement some tickle functionality, i.e. the application takes care to remind you something,

the following can be done:

! Someday/Maybe items re-appearing in your unprocessed thoughts on a given date: enter the dateas Tickle Date when you first processed the thought or when you update the Someday/Maybeitem;

!

Inactive actions appearing on your list of Do ASAP on a given date: set-up the Start Date on theaction;

! Future Projects becoming current project on a given date, which means its actions will appear onyour Review Action screen lists: set-up the Start Date on the project.

An activation task runs 1 minute after every startup, or when a data file is opened. It performs the

following:

! Converts Someday/Maybe Items into thoughts to be reprocessed when the tickle date is today orhas passed;

! Change inactive actions to Do ASAP actions when the start date is today or has passed;

! Moves projects from the future projects list to the main projects list when the start date is today or

has passed.

2.7 Definition of inactive actions

An inactive action is an action you include when you are planning a project because you thought of it

at the time but you don't need to act on it now. You probably don't want to see it cluttering your action

list either.

When you review your projects (especially when the project icon is red indicating that there are no

more current actions for that project), you can change the (inactive) action status to make it current.

If the automatic sequencing for that project is set, the application will set it automatically to the Do

ASAP status once the previous Do ASAP action has been set to Done. The automatic sequencing isdescribed in ThinkingRock help under section 05.Review, Automatic Sequencing.


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You can also specify a Start Date when entering an inactive action (the field needs to be first enabled

in the Preferences/Options). When the start date is reached, the application will set the action status

automatically to the Do ASAP status.

2.8 Definition of the action date

The action date is set as follows:

! Do ASAP action: Due Date;

! Inactive action: the earliest date between Start Date and Due Date;

! Scheduled action: Scheduled Date;

! Delegated action: the earliest date between Follow-Up Date and Due Date.

2.9 Projects Tabs

2.9.1 Introduction

The projects are displayed in a tree shape. Each project, sub-project and action is a node on which

different operations can be performed.

2.9.2 Projects Tab

This tab contains all your current projects. All the actions will get displayed on your Review Actions

lists, according to your filtering.

2.9.3 Single Actions Tab

This tab contains all the actions which are not part of a project. All the actions will get displayed on

your Review Actions lists, according to your filtering.

2.9.4 Future Tab

In this Tab, you can store the projects that got delayed, put on the side for a while or for which you

decided to start the planning process in advance. It should not be confused with Someday/Maybe

Items which are just thoughts you might do one day.

To add a project to the tab, use project cut and paste functionality.

When the project becomes current, you can cut and paste it to the Projects tab. You can also enter a

Start date to the Future project to get the project moved automatically to the Projects tab when the

Start date is reached or has passed (in case you don't run the application for a few days). The future

project will be moved automatically to the Projects tab.The actions under a Future project do not appear in the list of actions in the Review Actions screen.

There is a report Future Projects to enable their review.

2.9.5 Templates Tab

In this tab, you can store project structures you want to re-use like 'Start Marketing Campaign for

product X', 'Reply Offer to Tender Client Y', etc.

To add a project to the tab, use project cut and paste functionality.

To use a project template for a new project, just copy and paste it into the Projects Tab and update

descriptions accordingly.

If you are a registered member, you can now share project templates with other users. Please find

herethe documentation for this functionality.


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The actions under a Template project do not appear in the list of actions in the Review Actions

screen.

2.10 Daily and Weekly Reviews

You need to review your data daily and weekly to ensure you are doing what is important to you, whatcorresponds to your priorities or your boss priorities.

You might realise that there is a reason for the actions that dont get moving: either they are not split in

small enough individual tasks to get you moving or they are not important enough for you.

Your daily review should consist of:

! reviewing overdue actions: either they have been done and you can tick them off or they need tobe re-scheduled;

! reviewing what you have scheduled for today, due today or need to follow-up today: set-up a Tabfiltering on action date set to Today;

! Then according to the context you are in and the time available, you can do your actions andcheck them off as you go. TR lets you filter your to-do list in an efficient way to get you productive.

Your weekly planning should consist of:

! reviewing the projects to make sure they all have active actions to keep them progressing;

! review your actions to ensure that they are decomposed in small enough tasks to get them done;

! review your someday/maybe items to check if any could be actioned.

If your actions list gets too long, it becomes overwhelming and you are likely to follow it less. To

reduce the list, we suggest the following:

! prioritise your actions;

! add a due date;

! see if some actions can be postponed;

! some actions might need to go back to the Someday/Maybe pile;

! some projects should be postponed: move them to the Future Projects tab.

2.11 Saving of Set Up Data

The contexts, topics and criteria are saved with the data.

Tip: if you want to create a data file with only these set-ups, for example to use within a team or to

pass to a friend, use the Archiving function with an archive date for which you don't have actions done:

the created archived file will only contain the contexts, topics and criteria.

The settings of the Review Actions screen (Tabs, columns, filters, etc) can be transported between

platforms. They are saved in a separate file called ReviewActions.xml. This file needs to reside in the

same folder as your data file.

Tip: if you want different settings for work and personal, save the 2 data files in different folders. When

you open the data file, TR opens the ReviewActions.xml file present in the same folder.

The other settings under Options/Miscellaneous are saved on each platform.

2.12 Shortcut keys

If you are in the project tree, F3 adds actions within the project you are in and F4 adds sub-projects.

The focus is automatically on the action or project's description so that you can enter them. This

allows a very fast entry of your project planning.


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F5 is very useful when reviewing your planning. It swaps the focus between the tree panel and the

action/project panel. When the focus gets to the action/project panel, press Tab to get to the

Description field.

F6 allows you to enter a thought from any screen within ThinkingRock.

A demo is available showing these keys and how to change the mapping.


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3 Part 2 TR screen help

3.1 Overview Screen

The Overview Screen shows a diagram of the ThinkingRock (TR) screens corresponding to theGetting Things Done (GTD) workflow. You can click on any of the boxes representing a TR screen to

go to that screen.

3.1.1 Create Data File

Initially only the Create Data File box is enabled as you first need to create a data file. Click on this

box and choose a file name and location for your TR data file.

3.1.2 Setup

You will need to set up some Contexts and Topics

You will need to decide if you want to use the following criteria to review your work: Priority, Time,Energy (see Criteria).

We also recommend you go through all the preferences to specify output folders and various settings.

3.1.3 Collect

Use the Collect Thoughts screen regularly to make sure of the following:

! everything gets into your trusted system and will eventually be dealt with;

! your brain and memory are free to be creative and productive.

3.1.4 Process

Process Thoughts into:

! things you will never do, you might as well delete;

! things you might do one day (Someday/Maybe Items);

! reference (Reference Items);

! the next physical actions required (Actions.)

Actions consist of the following:

! ones you can delegate (Delegated Actions);

! ones you have to do by or on a certain date (Scheduled Actions);

! ones that just have to be done as soon as possible (Do ASAP Actions).

Whenever a thought requires more than one physical action to be fulfilled, you can create a Project.

This will allow you to group Actions and perform them in the sequence required. When you review

your projects, you will be able to plan and organise them.

If a thought is related to an existing project or sub-project, you can add the new action to it.

Processing any thought should only take a few seconds: you are only deciding what should be done

with the thought, not acting on it. Once a thought is processed it will not appear anymore on the

Collect Thoughts screen.


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3.1.5 Organise, Review, Do

Once the whole picture of your work is in front of you, you can start doing the actions on your list

according to your Context (where you are), the energy and time you have available.

You should review your information regularly: daily for actions and projects, weekly for the

Someday/Maybe items.

When you first start using ThinkingRock, the three steps required to get from a thought to an action

into your "Do ASAP actions" list might seem cumbersome but this tool is designed to encourage clear

thinking. Going regularly to the Collect Thoughts screen encourages you to enter all you other

thoughts every time and not just the action which came to mind.

Similarly, when you plan your projects, we strongly recommend that you enter the Purpose of the

project, the Vision of the results, Brainstorming all ideas and Organization of them. This information

will help you to be more effective, motivated, clear, productive and innovative. Being clear about why

you are doing a project and what you hope to achieve is the best way to make it a successful and

enjoyable challenge.

3.2 Setup

3.2.1 Contexts

Definit ion

A context should describe where or how an action could be done. Examples of contexts are: Phone

calls, At Computer, At the Shops, On-line, At Home, Errands. Contexts are useful for deciding what

you can do next, as this often depends on where you are and what tools you have available. Contexts

are also used in reports, so you can have with you all the actions which need doing while you are in

different situations - at the mall, for example.

Navigation

The data in this screen is displayed in a table. To navigate between rows, you can use the mouse or

the arrows keys.

Contexts Order

! "None" is always on the top of the list and cannot be updated or deleted;

! You can sort the contexts by clicking once on the header of the column you wish to sort by. Toorder on more than one column, click once on the other column(s). To select a new first columnfor the ordering, double-clickon that column;

! Each mouse click on a column changes the sort order and cycles through ascending/descending

alphabetical sort order.

Add Context

Enter a new context using theAdd Contextbutton. The description does not have to be entered. It is

only displayed on the Contexts screen.

Context modification

To modify, navigate to the appropriate context and either use the Edit Contextbutton, or press Enter

or double click. The Edit Context window opens and data can be corrected. Press the OK button to

save your change and go back to the list. Press the Esc key or the CANCEL button to close the

window and ignore any changes.


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You can delete a context by using the Delete Contextbutton or the Delete key. No confirmation is

required. If the context has been associated to data, a dialog box opens to let you choose with which

context you would like to replace the one you are deleting.


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3.2.2 Criteria

Time, Energy and Priority are other criteria you can use when you review your actions and decide

which one to do next. These fields are optional: you need to select the criterion in the combo box and

check the "Use this criterion" check box to get the criterion displayed when you enter your action data.

For each criterion, the existing values are there to help you understand the purpose of the criterion.

You can then:

! click on the value: update description to be more meaningful to you;

! click on the plus symbol button: add some new values;

! click on the minus symbol button: delete some values;

! use the arrows keys buttons: change the order. This order is used in the combo showing thevalues, when ordering actions in Review Actions screen and in reports.

For the priority criteria you can specify a mapping to the iCalendar priority values. iCalendar

applications treat the numeric values differently so you may need to find out which values to set for

use with your preferred calendar application. As an example iCal on Mac uses the following values: 1

to 4 means High, 5 means Medium and 6 to 9 means Low.

These values are saved with the data so if you open a new data file, only the values as per installation

will be present.

3.2.3 Topics

Definit ion

The topics are used to classify your thoughts and are kept as the thoughts become an item, an action

or a project. Examples of topics are: Personal, Financial, Health, House, Work, Kids, Book, CDs.

Navigation


the arrows keys.

Topics Order

! "None" is always on the top of the list and cannot be updated or deleted;

! You can sort the topics by clicking once on the header of the column you wish to sort by. To orderon more than one column, click once on the other column(s). To select a new first column for theordering, double-clickon that column;

! Each mouse click on a column changes the sort order and cycles through ascending/descendingalphabetical sort order.

Add Topic

Enter a new topic using theAdd Topicbutton. The description does not have to be entered. It is only

displayed on the Topics screen. The colours you choose will be the display text colour and

background colour for all thoughts, projects, actions and items within that topic on all review screens.

Avoid using red and grey as these colours have special meaning.

Topic modification

To modify, navigate to the appropriate topic and either use the Edit Topicbutton, or press Enter ordouble click. The Edit Topic window opens and data can be corrected. Press the OK button to save


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your change and go back to the list. Press the Esc key or the CANCEL button to close the window and

ignore any changes.

You can delete a topic by using the Delete Topicbutton or the Delete key. No confirmation is required.

If the topic has been associated to data, a dialog box opens to let you choose with which topic you

would like to replace the one you are deleting.

3.2.4 Goal Levels

Definit ion

The levels are used to classify your goals. Examples of levels are: Life Purpose, 3 - 5 years goals, 1 -

2 year goals, short-term goals.

Navigation


the arrows keys.

Goal levels Order

The order that the levels are entered is used in the combo list and when ordering goals. To change

that order, drag and drop the level or use the Move Up and Move Down options (in the right-click

popup menu). Note that sorting the table by clicking on a column header does not change the actual

order of the levels.

Add goal level

Enter a new goal level using theAdd Goal levelsbutton. You can choose which icon to use for the

goals of that level. You can also specify whether projects can be associated to goals of that level and

which fields should appear when entering goals for that level.

Goal level modification

To modify, navigate to the appropriate goal level and either use the Editbutton, or press Enter key or

double click. The Edit Goal Level window opens and data can be modified. Press the OK button to

save your changes and go back to the list. Press the Esc key or the CANCEL button to close the

window and ignore any changes.

You can delete a goal level by using the Deletebutton or the Delete key. A confirmation is required. If

the goal level has been associated to any goals, you cannot delete it.

3.2.5 Delegates

Functionality

This screen is used to keep and maintain your list of Delegates.

You can set a Delegate to "Inactive" if no action can be delegated to it anymore, e.g. a team member

leaving. TR will validate that there is no current actions delegated to the Delegate.

When you set-up a Delegated Action, the list of values for the Delegate To includes active Delegates

except if the action is done. In that case, inactive Delegates are also included but they are shown

strikeout.

You can also create New Delegate when you are setting up an action by using the "Add new..." value

at the top of the list.

Migration


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If you have been using a previous version of TR, the first time you use 3.x, TR will migrate all Delegate

To values it found as Delegates. If you have use an email address, TR will migrate the value in both

fields: Name and Email.

If you need to tidy up your Delegate values, use the Global Find function to update the actions.

3.3 Collect Thoughts

3.3.1 Purpose

This screen is used to enter all your current thoughts. It should be empty most of the time: initially and

every time after you have processed all pending thoughts. Thoughts are classified by Topics. The

order you enter thoughts is not important, but it may help to enter them by Topic to ensure you cover

everything.

3.3.2 Navigation


the arrows keys.

The thoughts are ordered as you have entered them, with the first thought at the top of the list.

3.3.3 Thoughts entry

Enter a new thought using theAdd Thoughtbutton or the F6 key. The Add Thought window is open

where the description, topic and notes can be entered.

To enter multiple thoughts, keep on pressing Enter (default button is OK) or press the OK button. The

window's entry is saved and the next thought can be entered. The last Topic used is kept between

thought entries. To quit the window, press either the Cancel button or the Esc key.

You can call this window from anywhere in the application by using the F6 key.

3.3.4 Notes field

The operations you can do are described below in the order of the buttons from left to right. When

insertion occurs, it happens at the cursor position. Copy/Cut and paste of text can be done through the

standard shortcut keys Command+C, Command+V and Command+P.

! You need to click on the pencil symbol button or double-click on the field, in order to start the Editmode 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;

! You can insert today's date using the calendar symbol button. You can also use the shortcut keyCtrl+Alt+D;

! You can insert current time using the clock symbol button. You can also use the shortcut keyCtrl+Alt+T.

! You can insert a link to a reference item using the reference symbol button or with the shortcutkey: Ctrl+Alt+R. A dialog box will open to let you select the reference item. You can filter theselection list using the search text field and/or the topic chooser (located above the list). The itemsare ordered alphabetically by description.

3.3.5 Topic selection

Select a topic using the mouse or navigate to the field and then press the Space bar prior to use the

arrow keys. Press Enter when you have reached the wanted topic. Within the topics list, the topics are

ordered in alphabetical order, with the initial default value "None" being at the top of the list. You can

go down the topic list by typing the topic's first letter.


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3.3.6 Thought modification

If you notice a mistake, you can navigate to the appropriate thought either use the Edit Thought

button, or press Enter or double click. The Change Thought window opens and data can be corrected.

Press the OK button to go back to the list.

You can delete a thought by using the Delete Thoughtbutton or the Delete key. No confirmation is

required. You can select multiple thoughts or even all thoughts (Ctrl+A) for deletion.

3.4 Process Thoughts

3.4.1 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" Someday/Maybe 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. This should take about 20 sec per thought.

First of all, you need to decide if the thought is actionable or not. The default is actionable.

3.4.2 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 Action Preferences). It is then

easier to decide:

! whether it will take more than one action to achieve this result (and therefore require a project), orif one single action will achieve the thought;

! if the thought is related to an existing project or sub-project.

If a new project is required, you can create the project as a top project or as belonging to an existing

project or sub-project.

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:

! Due Date and Start Date: see Action Preferences section.

! Priority, Time, Energy: see Criteria

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 need 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. You can also create a recurrence definition;


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If you wish to delegate the action to someone else, select the "Delegated" Status and enter who you

are delegating to (enter free text, select a name from the list or Add a New Delegate) 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. Addressee is set to the Delegate Email if filled in or to the

Delegate Name otherwise, subject is set to the Action Description and the email text is set to the

Notes. With this implementation users can choose if they prefer to maintain their email addresses in

TR or only in one place, their email software....

There are two user options for this delegation emailing in Actions Preferences as follows:

- you can opt to append the following string to the end of the notes field: current date and time

followed by the text "Email sent" and the selected Delegate.

- you can change the character encoding. You may need to do this if your particular email client

program does not properly accept the details passed to it.

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. The project description is defaulted to the thought

description but it can be overwritten. If the action does not have a thought, or if you leave the project

name blank, the action description will be used.

If the thought is related to an existing project (current or future), press the button. A pop-up window

opens with two tabs: Projects and Future Projects. From the appropriate tree, select the project (or

sub-project) the action (and possibly the new project) belongs to. In the tree, a project can be

expanded or not and you can change the order to alphabetic using the buttons above the project tree.

Notes field transfer

If Notes were entered for the thought, they will be copied into the action's notes and to the project'snotes (if applicable).

Priority f ield

An action created under an existing project will take the priority of that project, unless the user has

entered a priority for that action. A sub-project created under an existing project will take the priority of

that project.

3.4.3 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 (Someday/Maybe Items). A tickle date can be entered to get reminded about the

Someday/Maybe Item. When the tickle date is reached or has passed (in case you don't run theapplication for a few days), the Someday/Maybe Item will be sent back to your unprocessedthoughts box and will re-appear at the top of unprocessed thoughts the next time you call theProcess Thoughts screen;

! keep it as reference (Reference Items).

! create a goal for it. The goal level must be entered. To add the new goal as a subgoal of anexisting goal, press the Parent Goal button. A pop-up window opens with the tree of existinggoals. In the tree, a goal can be expanded or not.

3.4.4 Others

Lastly you press the Process Thoughtbutton or its Shortcut key. The next thought is then displayed at

the top and the entry fields are reset.


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For 'tickled' Someday/Maybe 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. You can also enter the date directly.

You can set the date format and what is the first day of your week (Sunday or Monday): see Dates.

3.4.5 Notes field

The operations you can do are described below in the order of the buttons from left to right. When




! You can insert a website address by typing it directly or using the web symbol button;




! You can insert a link to a reference item using the reference symbol button or with the shortcutkey: Ctrl+Alt+R. A dialog box will open to let you select the reference item. You can filter theselection list using the search text field and/or the topic chooser (located above the list). The itemsare ordered alphabetically by description.

3.5 Review

3.5.1 Review Actions

Purpose

This feature is for reviewing your actions. It is composed of pre-defined tabs: e.g. Today, This Week,

Actions, Done, Do ASAP, Scheduled and Delegated. A counter indicates how many actions are

selected within each tab. You can defined new Tabs or modified existing ones.

Each tab is divided horizontally into two parts. The top part contains an action list as per your selection

in a table. When an action is selected, the bottom part will display the details of the action (action

panel) on the right side and the project tree panel (if action in a project) or single actions tree on the let

side. The navigation and functionality of the bottom half of the screen are the same as in the Review

Projects screen.

Please note that all settings are kept when you exit the application, including the position of the panelsseparation bars (one setting for all tabs). All settings, except the bars position, will be saved in a

separate file called ReviewAction.xml and can be shared between different platforms. The file will be

saved under the same folder as the data file. We recommend that you do a backup of that file in a

different directory.

Tabs

You can maintain these tabs in the Action Screens preferences:

! new Tabs can be created with user defined name. e.g. you could create a Today tab to onlyactions with the action date set to the current date), a Calls tab for all actions to be done using aPhone context, a Personal tab for all actions to be done belonging to personal topics;

! existing tabs can be renamed;! existing tabs can be removed;


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! tabs order can be modified.


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Toolbar

The buttons are described from left to right.

Print Screen

For each Tab, you can print the actions listed in the Tab. Click the Print Screen to PDF documentbutton (first from the left). On the report, the actions are listed in the same order as on the screen and

the columns width is set proportionally as per screen. The text is wrapped in each column. A symbol

indicates the action status (see the legend in the report footer).

The following options can be set-up under Preferences/Options/Miscellaneous/Actions Screens:

! which font to use;

! if you want the colour printed or not. The colour meaning will be the same as on the screen: topiccolour and dates in red if past, blue if today and green if next week;

! if you want to print done actions with strike out font or not.

Columns

For each Tab, you can decide which fields to display or not as a column in the table part. Click the Edit

Columns button (second from the left) and check or unchecked the fields in the Table Columns

window accordingly.

By changing the layout on the Review Actions screen itself, you can change:

! the column order: drag and drop the columns where you want them;

! the column width: select the column separator in the column header and drag it.

The action date is set as follows:

! Do ASAP action: Due Date;

! Inactive action: the earliest date between Start Date and Due Date;! Scheduled action: Scheduled Date;

! Delegated action: the earliest date between Follow-Up Date and Due Date.

Filters

For each Tab, you can change the filtering. Click the Edit Filters button (third from the left). The

Selection Filters window opens where you can:

! Use check box: set which filter to use or not;

! Show check box: set if the filter should be displayed or not;

! Values combo: set the initial value for the filter. If the filter is shown on the tab, the user can

change this initial value.! Exclude if Null check box: if set, the actions with a null value in that field will not be listed. This

setting is only available for the criteria and the date fields. Please note that if you choose the value'All' for the criteria fields or don't select a date for the date fields, the actions with a null value willbe included even if the box is checked.

When there is more than one filter, data relevant for all filters is displayed (corresponding to logical

AND operation).

The Search filter allows you to enter a text. Once you press the Enter key, all actions which have the

text in their notes, description, immediate project description, or delegated to fields are listed.

For the Status, Topic, Context or Criteria combos, All, Multiple values or a specific value can be

selected.

Using the Done filter, you can either show all actions or only the ones which have to be done or only

the ones which have been completed.


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The date filters let you choose how far in the future or the past you want to review.

Show Filters line

For each Tab, you can show the filters line or not. Click the Show/Hide Filters button (fourth from the

left) to toggle ON/OFF the display. By default, the setting is to show the line.

Action operations

You can perform the following operations on actions selected on the list: Reprocess, Postpone,

Change Context, Change Topic, Change Criteria, Change Status, Change Project, Set to Done and

Delete. You need to select the action and press the toolbar button. The operations can be performed

on more than one action at the time. Just hold the Shift or Command key while selecting them or use

Command key+A to select all the actions on the list displayed.

The operations are described in Review Projects screen.

Table Order

! You can sort the actions by clicking once on the header of the column you wish to sort by. Toorder on more than one column, click once on the other column(s). To select a new first columnfor the ordering, double-clickon that column;

! Each mouse click on a column changes the sort order and cycles through ascending/descendingalphabetical sort order.

! The Action Date and Due Date columns are ordered as follows: first, date = today, then null, thendate > today.

Table Operations

The following operations can be performed on the table:

! Navigate: to navigate between rows, you can use the mouse or the arrows keys;

! Edit (Enter key): move focus to the Action panel to update the item. The cursor is positioned at theend of the action description;

! Set action to Done: check the Done box.

Tree Operations

Refer to the Review Projects screen.


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3.5.2 Recurrence

Definit ion

This functionality is available for scheduled actions to automatically repeat an action periodically.

Recurrence generation

There are two types of recurrency: regular and subsequent.

Regular

When the recurrence information is entered, a number of actions are created using the frequency

pattern and the start date. If the start date is in the past, actions are created to catch up to today, then

actions in the future are generated to reach the specified number of periods in advance (i.e. from

today). The start date defaults to the scheduled date of the action. It can be modified to a future date.

A background recurrence task runs periodically to check if new actions should be created.

Subsequent

The next action is only created when the current action is set to done. The frequency pattern is used

to calculate the new date from the done date.

Frequency pattern fields definit ion

! the frequency pattern: daily, weekdays, weekly, monthly or yearly and how many periods;

! for regular recurrency: for how many periods in the future should actions be created. A defaultvalue per frequency (daily, weekdays, weekly, monthly or yearly) is set but can be changed underPreferences/Miscellaneous/Recurrence;

! ending options: never, after a number of periods, end date.

Note on the Start Date

The start date cannot be prior to the scheduled date of the action selected. If you need an earlier start

date, you need to update the scheduled date of the action prior to modify the recurrency.

Update Recurrency

! if you update one of the action in the action panel, the other actions in the series will not beaffected;

! if you want to modify the recurrency actions details, press the Modify recurrency button, ChangeAction choice. The actions in the series after the specified date will be modified;

! if you want to modify the recurrency pattern details, press the Modify recurrency button, ChangeRecurrence choice. The actions in the series after the specified date will be deleted and new

actions following the updated pattern will be created;

! if you want to change the project in which the actions are generated, press the Modify recurrencybutton, Change Project choice. The actions prior to the selected date will not be linked to therecurrency anymore. The actions on and after the selected date will be moved to the new project.

Any action created afterwards will be in the new project.

3.5.3 Change Recurrence type

! if you change from regular to subsequent, the actions prior to the selected date will not be linkedto the recurrency anymore. The actions after the selected date will be deleted. The subsequentrecurrency will be applied to the selected action;

! if you change from subsequent to regular, the application behaves as when you create a regular

recurrency starting from the specified date.


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3.5.4 Stop Recurrency

! to stop actions to be generated for a recurrency, press the Modify recurrency button, ChangeRecurrence choice and either enter a maximum number of period (if you know it) or an end date;

! to remove all recurrency information on the actions, press the Modify recurrency button, RemoveRecurrence choice. This stops the generation of new actions but does not delete the alreadycreated actions. This has to be done manually.

3.5.5 Review Projects

Purpose

This screen is where you plan and review your projects. The screen is divided vertically into two parts.

The left part is the project tree (explorer) and the right part displays the details of either a project/sub-

project or an action depending on what is selected on the tree. When expanded the project tree shows

sub-projects and actions under each project.

In the tree explorer, there are 4 tabs:

! Projects: contains all your current projects;

! Single Actions: contains all your single actions, i.e. actions not part of a project;

! Future: contains projectsthat got delayed, put on the side for a while or for which you decided tostart the planning process in advance. It should not be confused with Someday/Maybe Itemswhich are just thoughts you might do one day. When the project becomes current, you can cut andpaste it to the Projects tab. You can also use the Start date to get the project moved automaticallyto the Projects tab (see below under Projects Operations, Edit);

! Templates: contains project structures you want to re-use like 'Start Marketing Campaign forproduct X', 'Reply Offer To Tender Client Y', etc. To use a template for a new project, just copyand paste it into the Projects Tab and update descriptions accordingly.

Navigation

To navigate in the project tree, you can use the mouse or the up and down arrows keys. To navigate

in the detail part, you can use the mouse or the Tab, Shift+Tab keys. To navigate between the 2 parts,

you can use the F5 key or the mouse.

Project Tree

Order

Initially the projects, sub-projects and actions are sorted in the order they were entered. You can

change that order by:

! selecting the projects, sub-projects or actions and move them up and down using the Moveoperation;

! using the drag and drop functionality.

Drag and Drop functionality

To move sub-projects and actions to a different project, you can drag and drop them using the mouse.

You can also change a sub-project to be a stand alone project by dragging it under the All projects

node. Similarly, you can drag a project under another project, changing it to a sub-project. If you drag

a project or sub-project, all subtasks are moved too.

Add Action and Add Project

Add Action and Add Project operations work from anywhere in the 2 parts. The action or project will be

added within the project the action or project previously selected is.


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An action created under an existing project will take the priority of that project. A sub-project created

under an existing project will take the priority of that project.

Project Operations

To perform all operations except Add Action and Add Project, you need to select the project node and

either use the right-click menu or the Shortcut key assigned to the operation. You can also use the

Add Action, Add Project or Show/Hide Done buttons.

Except for Edit, Add action and Add project, all other operations can be performed to more than one

project at the time. Just hold the Shift or Command key while selecting them.

Edit

Once you have selected a project, sub-project or action on the tree part, you can move to its

description by using the Edit menu option or the Enter key. The cursor is then positioned at the end of

the description.

The display of the following fields is configurable:

! Project sequencing, Due Date and Start Date: see Project Preferences;

! Priority, Time, Energy: see Criteria.

The following operations are possible:

! modify its description;

! change its topic: when subtasks are created, the project topic is the default but can be overwritten;

! maintain its priority;

! plan the project/sub-project;

! maintain Notes;

! set up the sequencing method (see Project Preferences. Please note that when a sub-project is

created, its default method for sequencing is the project's one;! maintain the Created Date if required. This needs to be enabled, see Project Preferences;

! enter a Start date. For future project, when the Start date is reached or has passed (in case youdon't run the application for a few days), the future project will be moved automatically to theProjects tab.

! enter a Due Date if appropriate;

! set it to done: an error message is displayed if all the subtasks are not set to done themselves.You can select the Done date if it is not today;

! reset it to not done. If you are resetting a sub-project within a done project, the project isautomatically reset to not done.

Expand All/Collapse All: tree expansionThe project/sub-project expands and the subtasks are listed under the project/sub-project. You can

expand all projects by selecting the top node "Projects". To perform the same operation, you can also

click on the expansion symbol on the left of the project node.

Show Done/Hide Done

When you perform the Show Done operation, done actions and done sub-projects for the selected

node are shown as well as the undone ones. Perform Hide Done to only see the ones to be done.

Add action

This operation adds an inactive action under the selected subtask. You can change the default status


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of that action under Project Preferences. The whole action description is selected to allow you to type

directly the action description.

Add project

This operation adds a sub-project under the selected subtask. The whole project description is

selected to allow you to type directly the project description.

Copy, Cut and Paste functionality

You can copy, cut and paste projects (and their actions) to a different project. You can also change a

sub-project to be a stand alone project by cutting and pasting it under the Projects node. Similarly, you

can cut and paste a project under another project, changing it to a sub-project. If you copy/cut and

paste a project or sub-project, all subtasks are copied/moved too. These operations can be done

between Tabs too.

Move project

You can move a project or sub-project by selecting it and using this operation to move it up or downwithin the project it is in.

Export Template

This function exports the selected project or sub-project into a separate file. You can then share this

file with other TR users, within your team or with the TR community through the TR website. A file with

the extension .trpt is created. This is the file the other users will need to import using the Import

Project Template function.

Export Project

This function exports the selected project or sub-project into a separate file. You can then share thisfile with other TR users or within your team. A file with the extension .trp is created. This is the file the

other users will need to import using the Import Project operation.

Import Project

This function lets you import a project created using the export project operation. You need to select a

project file (.trp extension). The project will be added at the bottom of the selected project.

If the contexts, topics and criteria values used in the project do not exist in your data file, the default

values for these fields are used: 'None' for topics and contexts, blank for criteria. So if you want to

share projects within a team, make sure every user has the same set of values for these fields.

Others

Change Topic: combo is displayed to select the new topic.

Delete: you can delete a project or sub-project. A confirmation is required.


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Planning

To plan the project/sub-project, there are five recommended steps:

1. Enter the purpose: this is the "why" you are doing this project/sub-project. By defining it, it will:

! create decision-making criteria;

! motivate;

! clarify your focus;

! expand options by getting you into creative thinking.

2. Try to visualise the results: view the project/sub-project beyond the completion date (capture

features, aspects, qualities you imagine in place);

3. Brainstorming: just write all the ideas that come into your mind about this project/sub-project, you

will analyse them and organise them later. In addition to capturing your original ideas, by

brainstorming you will also have many new ideas. Don't ignore any idea, they might prove interestingor useful later on when you are developing your options. Also you will be more confident about your

choices;

4. Organising: a natural organisation will probably emerge during the brainstorming step. You need to:

! identify the key steps;

! sort them out by component, sequences and priorities;

! detail them to the right level.

5. Next actions: during this step, you will create the actions or sub-projects required for this

project/sub-project. You can either just enter the next subtask to get the project/sub-project starting orcontinuing, or enter as many next subtasks you can think of at the moment about this project/sub-

project and decide which ones are active (i.e. to be done currently).

Please note that there are no limits to sub-project nesting, i.e. a sub-project can include sub-projects,

etc. but it is recommended not to use more than a few levels.

Action Operations

To perform operations, you need to select the action node and either use the right-click menu or the

Shortcut key assigned to the operation. You can also use the Add Action, Add Project, Reprocess or

Convert to Project buttons.

Except for Edit, all other operations can be performed to more than one action at the time. Just holdthe Shift or Command key while selecting them.

Edit

An action can be edited by selecting it from the project tree once the project/sub-project has been

expanded. You can then:

! maintain its description;

! maintain its topic, default to the project's topic;

! maintain its context;

! maintain its priority, time or energy;

! maintain its status (which type of action is it: Do ASAP, Delegated, Scheduled, or Inactive);! for scheduled actions only, you can enter Recurrence definition;


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! add notes to it: this notes field is useful for storing an agenda (if action is Prepare Meeting), a listof questions (if action is Call Builder), for storing a list (if action is Get Christmas presents), etc;

! maintain the Created Date if required. This needs to be enabled, see Actions Preferences;

! set it to done: the done date is automatically set to today's date but can be modified;

! reset it to not done. If the action was within a done project/sub-project, the project/sub-project isautomatically reset to not done;

! enter a start date if appropriate;! enter a due date if appropriate.

Convert to project

Use this operation if you decide that this action should be decomposed into more than one action. A

project (if single action) or a sub-project is then created automatically with the original action's

description as the project/sub-project's description. The action's notes, topic, priority and due date are

also copied to the project/sub-project. The original action is the first action of the project/sub-project.

Reprocess

The action will be sent back to the top of the unprocessed thoughts. If you select Reprocess Now, the

application will navigate to the Process Thoughts screen with the initial thought for that action

displayed.

Copy and Cut functionality

You can copy, cut and paste actions to a different project. These operations can be done between

Tabs too. When you copy an action, the original thought is not copied across to the new action.

Add action

This operation adds an inactive action under the selected subtask. You can change the default status

of that action under Project Preferences. The whole action description is selected to allow you to type

directly the action description.

Add project

This operation adds a sub-project under the selected subtask. The whole project description is

selected to allow you to type directly the project description.

Set Done

This function sets the action to done. It is very useful if you want to set multiple actions to done.

Postpone Action Date

This function increases the action date by the number of periods specified:

! if action is Inactive, the start date is postponed;

! if action is Do ASAP, the due date is postponed;

! if action is Scheduled, the scheduled date is postponed;

! if action is Delegated, the follow-up date is postponed.

! If the action did not have an action date, the action date is calculated as the current date plus thepostponement.


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Move action

You can move an action by selecting it and using this operation to move it up or down within the

project it is in.

Others

Change Topic: a dialog window is displayed to select the new topic.

Change Context: a dialog window is displayed to select the new context.

Change Criteria: a dialog is displayed allowing you to select the criteria and the new value.

Change Status: a dialog window is displayed allowing you to select the new status and relevant data.

Change Project: a Choose Project window is displayed allowing you to select the new project.

Delete: you can delete an action. A confirmation is required.

Goals

Projects can be linked to existing goals. A Goals folder exists for each project and sub-project.

To display the Goals folders, you need to use the Show/Hide Goals button or right-click menu option

on a project node.

When the Goals folder is displayed, you can then add a goal using the Add right-click menu option on

the folder. A pop-up window opens showing the goals to which projects can be linked (Goals Level

setting). More than one project can be linked to the same goal and a project can be linked to more

than one goal.

Link to goals can be deleted by using the Delete right-click menu option on the goal node.

The goal can be updated by using the Edit right-click menu option on the goal node.

Notes field

The possible operations are described below in the order of the buttons from left to right. When




! You can insert a web address by typing it directly or using the web symbol button;




! You can insert a link to a reference item using the reference symbol button or with the shortcutkey: Ctrl+Alt+R. A dialog box will open to let you select the reference item. You can filter the

selection list using the search text field and/or the topic chooser (located above the list). The itemsare ordered alphabetically by description.


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3.5.6 Sequencing

Within a project, in order to get an action set from Inactive to Do ASAP automatically when the

previous Do ASAP action is set to done, you need to set the sequencing on at the project level. If the

sequencing fields do not appear on the project details panel, please check your Project Preferences.

There are three options for automatic sequencing:

! Include sub-projects: the sequencing will go into a sub-project to select the next action when theaction before the sub-project is set to done. For example: a user has a project with several actionsthat are sequenced and then a certain action needs to be broken down into sub-tasks so the userconverts the action to a sub-project. When the last action BEFORE the sub-project is done, it willsequence INTO the sub-project. Similarly when the last action of a sub-project is set to done, itsequences onto the next higher level action or even into the next sub-project if it sits in sequence.

! Scheduled: if unchecked, scheduled actions will be ignored in sequencing. Therefore, when a DoASAP action is set to done, the next inactive action is changed to Do ASAP even if there arescheduled actions.

! Delegated: if unchecked, delegated actions will be ignored in sequencing. Therefore, when a Do

ASAP action is set to done, the next inactive action is changed to Do ASAP even if there aredelegated actions.

When creating a sub-project, the sequencing options of the parent project are used by default.

3.5.7 Someday/Maybe Items

Purpose

This screen is where you review the thoughts you might like to do one day.

The screen is divided horizontally into two parts. The top part contains the items as per your selection(see filters). When an item is selected, the bottom part will display the details of the item.

Please note that all settings are kept when you exit the application, including the position of the panel

separation bars.

Columns

You can decide which fields to display or not as a column in the table part. Click the button on top of

the table navigation bar on the right and check or unchecked the fields in the window accordingly.

By changing the layout on the screen, you can change:

! the column order;

! the column width.

Filters

The following filters are present: Created From, Created To, Topic selection and a Search facility.

When there is more than one filter, data relevant for all filters is displayed (corresponding to logical

AND operation).

The Search filter allows you to enter a text. Once you press the Enter key, all items which have the

text in their notes or description are listed.

For the Topic filter All, Multiple values or a specific value can be selected.

The date filters let you choose how far in the future or the past you want to review.

Show Filters l ine


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You can show the filters line or not. Click the Show/Hide Filters button (first from the left) to toggle

ON/OFF the display. By default, the setting is to show the line.

Table Order

! You can sort the items by clicking once on the header of the column you wish to sort by. To orderon more than one column, click once on the other column(s). To select a new first column for the

ordering, double-click on that column;! Each mouse click on a column changes the sort order and cycles through ascending/descending

alphabetical sort order.

! The Tickle Date is ordered as follows: first, date = today, then null, then date > today.

Table Operations

The following operations can be performed on the table:

! Add (button with green plus symbol): allows adding new items. A dialog window appears whereyou can add one or more Someday/Maybe items;

! Navigate: to navigate between rows, you can use the mouse or the arrows keys;

! Edit (Enter key): move focus to the detail panel to update the item. The cursor is positioned at the

end of the item description.

Operations

To perform operations, you need to select the item in the Someday/Maybe Items Table and use the

appropriate button for the operation.

! Edit Item: allow you to update the selected item. You can also press the Enter key;

! Delete: allows you to delete the selected items. Confirmation is required. You can also press theDelete key;

! Reprocess: you might decide that now is the time to start on one or more Someday/Maybe items.The selected items will be sent back to the top of your collected thoughts list for you to process

again. If you choose to Reprocess Now, the application will navigate to the Process Thoughtsscreen, allowing you to enter the next physical action for that thought.

! Change Tickle Date: allows you to quickly change the tickle date for one or more selected items.

Notes field

The operations you can do are described below in th

Documents

ThinkingRock v3 Manual