When viewing a list on all platforms (Mac, iPad, or iPhone), you can filter by more than one tag.
The “Using Tags” support page by Cultured Code gave a handy example:
It’s useful […] if you want to see all your 🏷 Work to-dos that are also🏷 Important.
For Todoist, see “Filter for tasks by label“. As for Wunderlist, no joy.
Dimitry Jacobs helped me remember that I could copy several to-dos from Things into a text editor in one step—like TextWrangler (Mac)—or an entire project into a notes app like Simplenote or Drafts (iOS).
(See: Emailing To-Dos — Things Support)
You can send emails containing the titles and notes of your to-dos by dragging them out of Things for Mac and into a message in Mail.
Let’s say you used Quick Entry with Autofill when saving a to-do associated with a webpage.
When you drag and drop those to-dos from Things into TextWrangler, both notes are enclosed within parentheses. (Not optimal.) In addition, the page title is saved for each note, but the URL isn’t included. Deal breaker.
Lastly, while you can copy multiple to-dos at once, you cannot copy a project and its to-dos, which means you’d need to manually copy and paste the project (along with its notes).
In contrast with the Mac app, you:
As a workaround, the combination of the Things apps will speed up the workflow of migrating the rest of my to-dos and projects from Things to my TaskPaper files. I’ll explain “moving” to-dos that aren’t meant to be in a project.
Note: You can skip steps 4–5 when you’re comfortable with the output.
If you have Drafts, here’s an alternative to steps 3–5:
A few other thoughts:
I was working on a to-do in Things that I didn’t finish today, but wanted to make sure it was:
…all from the keyboard within a few seconds.
(Aside: Seeing the completed to-dos in my Logbook is more visible as something I worked on that day. The alternative is not keeping the to-do as incomplete, and adding notes to the to-do.)
The project is on an Automattic internal P2. I’ve kept it as a single to-do in Things, and kept recreating it if I couldn’t mark the P2 thread as resolved.
And…I’ve talked myself into realizing that I should create a project for this. Starting…
Browsing the Cultured Code support pages, I stumbled onto this gem, “Creating Repeating To-Dos“:
If you have an entire set of to-dos which need to be repeated on the same day, group them inside a project and then repeat that entire project.
Regarding project templates, I shared this idea:
Important weekly/monthly checklists
I grouped recurring (predefined) to-dos by adding repeating projects. This allows me to:
David Allen might not condone having the Today focus overflowing with to-dos and projects because some of the items don’t need to be completed that day. However, I know I have the freedom to reschedule or delete items for another day.
(By the way, the Logbook displays all to-dos and projects marked as completed or canceled, regardless of importance or length of time to completion. The repeating projects I share in the above screenshot image—and list below—aren’t that notable.)
If I see a long list of to-dos in the Logbook, where many took 5–10 minutes to complete1, and the large remaining chunk of time is dedicated for the main part of my job, it can be more difficult to identify the higher impact projects or to-dos2.
Here are my current ones:
As an example, our landlord requests a mailed check for our rent payment (project3 and successful outcome). Here are the to-dos needed to mark this project as completed:
I’d love to hear your ideas! Please share them in the comments, or publish a new post on your own blog, and link back to this one. 🙂
Creates a to-do for each line in a plaintext file.
Source: Importing To-Dos From Other Apps | Cultured Code
I did not realize this was an option. I’m excited because I learned about duplicating projects, which means I can effectively reuse checklists, such as a packing list for trips.
In practice, I’d do the following in less than a minute:
The script allows you to enter a title and note for each to-do, nothing more.
If you need to tag in bulk, you can follow these steps:
Cultured Code released Things Cloud “Nimbus” a couple of days ago. I found myself skimming their Twitter feed and saw:
Mac: While viewing the Projects focus (⌘+5) — i.e. you aren’t viewing the details and To Do items within a project — select the project you’d like to copy, then press ⌘+D (Duplicate) to create an identical copy of the project.
(You can also duplicate To Do items.)
Despite not having read the Project Templates support page from Basecamp Help, I recently learned that I could create project templates in Basecamp—which include To Do lists—and longed for similar functionality in Things.
I…think they had it all along. 🙂
It should be listed on the keyboard shortcuts page (required reading for all Things for Mac users striving to be super efficient).
Here are some project template ideas:
How would I create, organize, and save the project templates for future use?
Initial setup will take less than a minute:
Goal thus far — When viewing the Project focus (⌘+5), find your project templates quickly by pressing Ctrl and the letter you chose in step 2 earlier. (e.g. Ctrl+T)
Create a project template:
Now, you’re a few keyboard shortcuts away from creating a new project from one of your templates. By few, I literally mean:
A few months ago, Ben Whiting shared an action he created for Drafts: Multiple “Things”.
When using Things for iPhone v2.6.3, you can’t add multiple to-dos in rapid succession by pressing Enter after each to-do. This action is a fantastic workaround.
Feature idea for Cultured Code: Copy Drafts’ implementation of their New Draft button (tap and hold) to the New To-Do button. i.e. Add multiple to-dos:
Please and thank you. 😛
Around nine months ago, Isaac Keyet persuaded me to try Things for Mac by Cultured Code. I usually prefer plain text, but that’s too simple for the stuff I jot down.
With keyboard shortcuts galore, I quickly fell in love with this app. It costs $49.99 for Mac, $9.99 for iPhone, and $19.99 for iPad — and it’s worth every penny. I’ll explain how I manage tasks with Things.
At Automattic, we communicate internally through IRC, private P2–themed sites, and Skype. However, I do receive email notifications regularly because it helps with my workflow.
At the beginning and end of each shift, my routine consists of processing my email (new post or comment notifications), and reviewing IRC or Skype messages I missed when I was offline. I skim messages, open batches of five to ten browser tabs, and delete the corresponding emails.
When I come across a post that requires more digging (i.e. longer than a minute), I press Control–Option–Space bar to use Quick Entry, which automatically inserts a link in the notes. That item gets saved to Things. (Inbox, by default.)
Without moving my hands from the keyboard, I can enter a title and tags for the item. When I’m done, pressing Return saves the item in Things and the Quick Entry window disappears, leaving me where I left off.
If there’s a block of text that’s perfect for the notes, highlighting it before pressing the Quick Entry with Autofill keyboard shortcut adds it to the notes after the link.
I also sort my Inbox items into Next or Scheduled after processing email. (This might be against GTD methodology, but I equate the Scheduled focus to my digital tickler file.)
If I have an idea that isn’t linked to a webpage or email, or if someone pings me and I can’t get to them right away, I can press the Quick Entry keyboard shortcut (Control–Space bar) and jot it down in seconds.
It’s exhilarating to know that I’m not missing anything as long as it’s in Things (or my calendar, of course).
Pro tip: Read through the keyboard shortcuts a few times, or print it as a reminder. I’ve been using my trackpad too much.
Away from my desk, I can write new items or ideas quickly with Things for iPhone. I add items from the Things home screen, saving to the Inbox by default.
When I get home, I add additional context (tags, notes). If I’m browsing a site or Twitter, and something piques my interest, I’ll take the extra few seconds to copy the URL in my clipboard to paste in the item notes.
I used their mobile app with local sync via Wi-Fi (before cloud sync), and I think it’s superb now that cloud sync works perfectly.
I’m infatuated with tags, making sure I assign the correct one for each item. By doing this, my Next screen is super focused, allowing me to ignore stuff I can’t handle at the moment. Here are a few examples:
This process allows me to batch tasks. I’m not constantly changing gears between P2s, Trac, updating support pages, helping people using WordPress.com through email/forums, processing photos, or writing posts (like this one).
I’m also not worried about forgetting the context of an item. I add just enough notes to describe what needs to be done.
If you work on a Mac every day, you should check out the 15–day free trial. I’m pretty sure you’ll love it.
Thank you, Things, for keeping me sane. 🙂
All Narfed Up 
You must be logged in to post a comment.