We’ve just released a new feature we calle value tags. Value tags are special tags that allow you to save a numeric value for each action they appear in.
This new feature allows you to define custom numeric fields in your tasks and track their progress, sums, and averages.
For example, if you are self-employed, you can create a value tag #invoice and use it to write down the hours you are going to invoice for each task (decimals must be indicated with a period):
web page design #invoice 5.5
Another example: If you’re on a diet to lose weight, you could create a routine with a value tag of #weight and periodically record your weight to see how you’re doing. The text of the routine could be Diet tracking #weight, and on each occurrence you’d record your weight before marking the action as done:
— March 2 → Diet tracking #weight 84.5
— March 9 → Diet tracking #weight 84.1
— March 16 → Diet tracking #weight 82.6
You get the idea. You can use these tags to record any data you need to track in your day-to-day life: the temperature of your garden at 9 AM, the kilometers traveled on your walks, your spending on books, etc.
Value tags
To define a value tag, it must first exist. Then, go to the Tags option under the Organize menu, select the tag and edit it, checking the Capture values option:
The tag editor itself displays analytics data for tracking by day, month, and year, which can be filtered by project. Values are added to the statistic when the actions they belong to are completed, i.e. are in the Done list.
Charts show the sum of data found on the same day or month (bar) and the arithmetic mean if there are several values in the same period (line). Depending on the nature of the value, you’ll want to look at the sum or the mean. If it’s time or money, you’ll want to see the sum; if it’s weight or temperature, you’ll want to see the mean.
Other improvements
- The focus tool in the top navigation bar displays a special label when the “Personal” or “Professional” filter is selected. Additionally, you can activate the “Professional” filter at any time immediately with the keyboard shortcut
CTRL+0. - The palette of colors that can be associated with areas of focus has been modified and expanded. There are now 24 colors.
- In Perspective, it is not allowed to create two identical area, goal or vision names. Some users have done this by mistake and this caused some problems.
- In Engage, the graph of actions completed in the week is now correctly updated when, when marking an action as completed, an earlier end date is chosen.
- In the task editor, the completion date of the task (if completed) is also displayed in the “more” menu.
- Emails to external collaborators are sent from a facilethings.com address instead of using the user’s email address, since email protection policies blocked most of these emails.
- Evernote integration has been adapted to the new Evernote web links.
- A lot of minor bugs have been fixed.
2 comments
Thanks for the updates.
The value tags are making me scratch my head. From what the article suggests, these values are added at the time they are captured. However, I don't understand how this approach is easily integrated into the GTD workflow. We capture, clarify, organize, reflect, and then engage. By the time I am engaging, I'm no longer adding or updating my tags. These values appear to be intended to make adjustments on the go. For example, I only know how many miles I ran after I finish my workout. Is the idea that I capture in FacileThings "I ran today" instead of completing my routine that tells me to make the time to run, or to go back and reclarify that which I have already clarified and engaged with?
I like the prominent Personal and Professional display that is now available. Please consider always having it set when I move from Type (personal or professional) to my Areas of Focus associated with Personal and Professional levels. It helps me see what overall level I am looking at, even though I am digging deeper. Maybe "Personal +" to communicate that I am looking at more than just Personal at a deeper level?
Additional color selection for Areas of Focus is nice, but I think the community has been asking for a "Dark Mode" and other options to change the application's color palate. I hope that comes out sooner rather than later.
Thanks for the updates.
The value tags are making me scratch my head. From what the article suggests, these values are added at the time they are captured. However, I don't understand how this approach is easily integrated into the GTD workflow. We capture, clarify, organize, reflect, and then engage. By the time I am engaging, I'm no longer adding or updating my tags. These values appear to be intended to make adjustments on the go. For example, I only know how many miles I ran after I finish my workout. Is the idea that I capture in FacileThings "I ran today" instead of completing my routine that tells me to make the time to run, or to go back and reclarify that which I have already clarified and engaged with?
I like the prominent Personal and Professional display that is now available. Please consider always having it set when I move from Type (personal or professional) to my Areas of Focus associated with Personal and Professional levels. It helps me see what overall level I am looking at, even though I am digging deeper. Maybe "Personal +" to communicate that I am looking at more than just Personal at a deeper level?
Additional color selection for Areas of Focus is nice, but I think the community has been asking for a "Dark Mode" and other options to change the application's color palate. I hope that comes out sooner rather than later.
Hi Cyrus,
Don't think of these tags as contexts, they have nothing to do with them. Within GTD, they would be more like Reference Material: there are actions that when completed may require writing down information in other places (a project document, an excel sheet, etc.). These tags are simply a utility that allows you to write down numerical information in the action itself. You will usually update the value at the time of completing the action.
Dark mode will come with the new application we are developing.
Thanks for you comments! :)
Hi Cyrus,
Don't think of these tags as contexts, they have nothing to do with them. Within GTD, they would be more like Reference Material: there are actions that when completed may require writing down information in other places (a project document, an excel sheet, etc.). These tags are simply a utility that allows you to write down numerical information in the action itself. You will usually update the value at the time of completing the action.
Dark mode will come with the new application we are developing.
Thanks for you comments! :)