Organizing To-do's by priority value

Features
1

Good morning,

I’d love a way to prioritize what to work on. There’s a system I really like that allows users to input, for any given task: value divided by expected time to complete.
The value is a number based on whatever range each user likes to use (I like 0-100, but it could be 0-10000). Time is based on 1 = 1 hr, such that 0.5 is 30 mins.

For example:

  • Pay pending late electric bill: (value 100 / time 0.1) = priority value of 1000
  • Buy additional bubblegum flavors across the street: (value 10 / time 0.2) = priority value of 50

This way I know that it’s logically more valuable to ME that I pay the electric bill first.
It really helps making decisions on what to work on at the moment.
It takes only a bit of practice for users to get reasonably good at assigning these values, but if you like the idea feel free to implement anything that may seem more user friendly.

If implemented, each menu (Inbox, Next, Focus, Projects) could be sorted by priority value.

What do you think?

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Personally, I like this concept and I use this approach to prioritize work in some cases. But I don’t think it’s a good fit for Everdo.

The GTD method has its own approach to prioritization - through a combination of Next, active projects, contexts, due dates, available time and energy. If these tools are used right, then the added value of the value/time metric seems small, at the cost of additional data entry per task.

3

Hi Andrei,
are you suggesting to create priority labels? Or are you using the energy filter? I find it quiet interesting how to carefully evaluate the work/time/energy of feature requests in terms of programming and entry time for tasks. That makes some issues look quite differently. However, in my case I don’t use time and energy tags but miss priority. But it looks that energy is the priority in Everdo, just under a different label (name).
is that correct?

4

@everdouser intresting concept. I like it. Do you know a program that work like that? I want to try it. Otherwise I try to implement it in my org Agenda.

5

I learned the concept from SuperMemo’s Plan function. It’s a program designed to learn and remember information, and the UX is not modern. You’re better off implementing it to your liking anywhere.

6

Just to chime in here for others who come across this post.

GTD discourages attaching a priority value/label to actions for a very good reason: priority is not a property inherent in the task itself. The priority of any given next action will be completely dependent upon the real-time context you are in and what is going on around you.

Contrived example: I prioritize getting the lawn mowed today as the grass is getting quite high. It’s Saturday and I don’t have a lot else going on so that’s my top priority. Suddenly I get a phone call from my boss and he needs me in the office to work overtime and get a project done before Monday or the company is going under.

Now, it’s true that the length of the grass should be relatively on par with the priority of mowing the lawn. However, my job, which has nothing to do with the grass, might be more important in that moment.

The problem is that trying hold any given task down to a static priority is like trying to hold a greased up weasle in your hands. It’s going to slip every time! So it becomes a fruitless effort to keep 100s of action items labeled with priorities when we know that almost none of those priorities can be trusted.

Even if you try to do this, your mind will always know the truth: those priorities are a lie. You won’t be able to fool your psyche. It knows it can’t trust them. Then you start losing the trust in your system and you’ll be back to square one.

What David Allen suggests instead is to use the three properties that actually are intrinsic to actions:

  • Context (where you need to be, what tools you need, etc)
  • Time (how long it should generally take)
  • Energy (how much effort is this going to be for you)

Those things you actually can assign to an action item statically and never have to change them. This assignment should happen in the “Organize” stage of the GTD “Capture, Clarify, Organize, Review, and Engage” cycle. The more time you spend at this stage, the better your flow will be for the “Engage” stage.

Finally, when you’re ready to go beyond just the mechanics of GTD and really do some soul-searching, you should get your higher “Horizons of Focus” in order. When you understand your longer goals, your visions and your purpose, and your system is working in alignment with all horizons in your life, your day-to-day priorities will just “snap” into place naturally. No matter which tasks you choose to do, you’ll know they will be advancing your higher level goals for your life. You’ll never be wasting any time on things that don’t matter to you! But this is a bigger discussion beyond just this feature request.

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