Re: Adding Org Files to org-agenda-files

[daniela-spit@gmx.it]

> Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2020 at 4:51 AM
> From: "Tim Cross" <theophilusx@gmail.com>
> To: daniela-spit@gmx.it
> Cc: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
> Subject: Re: Adding Org Files to org-agenda-files
>
>
> daniela-spit@gmx.it writes:
>
> >  #44935
> >
> >> Initially, I put pretty much everything into the agenda file list. This
> >> worked fairly well until the size of these files began to get very
> >> large. The biggest problem I had was my agendas were just getting too
> >> large and complicated/distracting.
> >
> > I have constructed four different Capture Templates and four Org Agendas
> > and then I can fire up the ones I want as I am working.
> >
> >> I then moved to a workflow where the agenda files really only contained
> >> tasks and notes, references, pretty much everything else was put into
> >> other org files not part of the agenda file list. I didn't like that
> >> workflow. It complicated refiling and I lost the ability to keep all
> >> related things together in a meaningful way.
> >
> > Have made capture and agenda by project, and then some functions
> > that group some of them together.  Not so sure how good it is going
> > to until I have used for proper work.
> >
>
> I went down a similar route initially. In the end, found it was much
> better to define your capture templates to be generic i.e. not tied to a
> specific project, but rather based on what you are capturing and then
> use things like tags and properties (which you can have capture prompt
> for) to capture project specific information.

That looks adequate at first, but what if you want the history for a project
and gaant charts on how time was spent.  I mainly want it to figure out
if jobs are worth stopping or changing.

> So I have the following capture templates
>
> - TODO to capture basic tasks
>
> - phone which I use to capture phone call information and track time.
>   Actually, although it is called phone, I use it for any meeting type
>   thing. I have to track time for billing purposes and need to record
>   date and time of call for tracking purposes
>
> - Mail to track important emails. Adds a link to the original message (I
>   read email using mu4e).
>
> - Notes For capturing general note information
>
> - Bookmarks - I have a bookmarks.org file where I keep links to
>   'interesting' things. Might be web sites, man pages, info pages etc.
>
> - protocol capture - for org protocol capture handler e.g. capturing
>   info from web pages in chrome.

I got the same things actually.  Nothing too drastic.

> That is about it. My approach is to make capture as quick and easy as
> possible. I usually just want to capture something and file it away to
> get it out of my head and let me focus on what I was doing.

Same here, except for the tracking bit.

> All my capture templates write to a file called refile.org. When
> capturing data, I don't need to think about where it goes, just capture
> it an move on. At the start of each day, I open up the refile.org file
> and 'refile' the entries, which is just a couple of key presses, into
> the most appropriate org file. Many (not all) of the headings I refile
> under will add appropriate tags via the org tag inheritance process,
> which I use in various agenda views. This reminds me of what I have on
> my plate and helps me plan my day. I was initially worried that having
> to do this refiling every day would be a hassle. In fact, it has turned
> out to be a bonus and rarely takes more than a couple of minutes, yet
> not having to worry about where to file something right when I'm
> capturing it is a great bonus as it makes it really fast. A meeting or
> phone conversation which a client might result in me using capture
> several times as I record tasks or notes.
>
> I have a few stored agenda searches and a couple of customised agenda
> views, plus I frequently make use of the tags to do ad hoc searches. I
> have also defined additional TODO states (TODO, NEXT, STARTED, HOLD,
> DELEGATED, CANCELLED and DONE). Some are setup to prompt for an
> additional note e.g. DELEGATED to let me specify who it is delegated to
> and HOLD to specify why it is on hold).

I have done that but not done any customised agenda views.  Seems quite
difficult for me.

> The rest of my org customisation is mainly about data exports (tweaking
> PDFs, HTML, Markdown exports, babel settings and specialised reports,
> such as timesheets or invoices). I use org for all my documentation and
> some work situations and clients want these documents to comply with
> their corporate standards e.g. include logos, specific colours and fonts
> etc).

That's too advanced for me.

> Tim
>
> --
> Tim Cross
>
>