Save time by typing action parameters and create your task templates

Nozbe – your favorite Getting Things Done web application will get a great feature-boost these days and the feature we’ll start now is simply…

...a great time-saver for power users – write task parameters and create task templates!

You can now write task parameters (time, date, context, project, etc.) instead of choosing them and create powerful task-templates when you have similar projects happening from time to time.

OK, let me explain from the beginning…

Remember Nozbe to Email feature? Yes, correct – you can send your actions and notes to any email address you wish, it looks like this:

Now, when you receive this email, it will look like this:

Try it for yourself with your own project or next-action list. Now, do you see the parameters of each action next to the action’s name? Let’s have a look at the first action and break it down:

1. Call Susan
2. (D today)
3. (T 15 min)
4. (@ Phone)
5. (P Bday-party)
6. (N)

As you can see these parameters mean the following:

1. Name of your action
2. D – stands for “Date”
3. T – stands for “Time needed”
4. @ – stands for the context
5. P – stands for the project
6. N – is to mark this as my “Next Action”

Now – you can use these parameters if you want to add an action directly in Nozbe, let’s add this action using “new action” button in your Nozbe account, and see what happens:

Please mind that we are not choosing any context or time needed in the boxes below the action name. We are just writing stuff.

Action and task templates

What we’ve just done has been for a single action. You can do the same for more actions, just copy them from your email message:

As you can see from the example above, adding more actions at a time with additional parameters can help you to create action (task) templates.

Just save these templates in your “notes” section in your “inbox” project and if you need to create a project with specific template – just click on the “new project” button later click to “add action” and choose to “add more actions at a time” and paste your action template!

It’s a great time-saver. I’ve already created various task-templates.

Some notes about task parameters:

• they have to be opened and closed with brackets ()
• The parameters (T-time, D-date, P-project, - context, N - Next action) need to be written just after the initial bracket (no spaces) and there should be a space right after them. Examples:<br /> ( Internet) is correct, while ( @Internet) is not correct
• Contexts and projects can be written in upper or lower case, it dosn’t matter
• To write minutes, use “min” and a space right after the number, you have four different minute lenghts: 5, 15, 30 and 60.
• To write hours just use “h” right after the number: 1 h, 2 h, etc.
• You can always mail actoins to yourself to see the real usage of the parameters.

Good luck with playing around with this feature, on Friday there is a bigger enhancement coming based on this very feature, so stay tuned. 

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