Use cases for Subcategories and archival of projects

Eight ways I can think of in using these two new features for the moment:

  1. Most obviously, for dividing a project in stages of progress, cleanly separate from each other; pin a note at the top for stage goals and milestones; all other notes are for tracking daily progress and for weekly considerations of next steps and done steps; at the very earliest, as soon as a milestone is reached or, at the very latest, when a project (“group of tasks”, in GTD parlance) is closed, you archive the project (“thread of notes”, in Agenda parlance)

  2. Not so obviously, for shallow and deep work tasks on a daily basis (Monday through Sunday), some of which are reminders and some of which are events and still some of which are simple checklists

  • Top category: “Shallow vs Deep”
  • Subcategories: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc
  • Projects for each subcategory: “Shallow 2019” and “Deep 2019”
  • When the year is over, archive the old year projects and create a new one for the new year
  1. Meaningful office conversations: group people per department with each department represented by a subcategory; archive the project when a colleague no longer works there

  2. You’re a hospital nurse: each room is a subcategory; the patient is cured and you mark the note as done; the month or year is over and you archive the project only to create a new one

  3. You’re a trial court lawyer: each type of court is a subcategory; each case is a subcategory within a subcategory; each project is a trial phase; archive in Agenda at your convenience.

  4. Also obviously, you’re a student: create subcategories for courses, for further questions, for homework, for research and then archive it all when the term ends.

  5. You’re a teacher: each course you teach is a top subcategory; inside it, each course phase (textbook chapter, exam type, month, etc.) is yet another subcategory; for each student create a project; archive at your convenience or when the term ends.

  6. You’re a real estate agent: a subcategory for property searches, another for preparations, another for prospects, another for agreements and another for deliveries; when the sale or lease is closed and possession is legal, you go ahead and archive in Agenda.

I’d love some feedback on my suggestions and to learn on your new suggestions.

Antonio

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Hi Antonio,
Seems like great uses!

With Agenda, we wanted to make a tool that didn’t force you into a particular system, but instead make something that you could use to build your own system. I think your use cases show that possibility.

I think it would be a good idea to post this again in the Talk section when the release is out. Then you might get more people commenting and swapping ideas.

Kind regards,
Drew

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Psst! Little pro secret here: so-called “shallow tasks” are lovely to plan and execute, since they mostly can be done with little to none brain power and, thus, are a great excuse to listen to podcasts, audiobooks and music. In any case, it is in my humble opinion healthy to throw one or two “deep work tasks” into the mix on a daily basis. Just sayin’.

Cheers.