ActionComplete

ActionComplete 3.1 for Web and ActionComplete 1.11 for Android Are Out

Borys Burnayev — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:40:20 +0000

ActionComplete LLC announces a simultaneous release of ActionComplete for Web and ActionComplete for Android. This release introduces a number of features and enhancements inspired by the feedback from ActionComplete users.

New and Improved in AC for Web

Since ActionComplete 3 was released about six weeks ago we started getting the feedback asking to show projects in the New/Edit Action/Wait forms regardless of their weight and due date. ActionComplete 3.1 shows all the projects linked to the active tag and ignores other filters.

ActionComplete 3.1 introduces two convinience features that further streamline and simplify the user experience when emailing tasks to ActionComplete.

Email aliases allow a user to pick a username - or alias - to be used for emailing tasks to ActionComplete. Once the alias is selected, the user's ActionComplete email address becomes alias@actioncomplete-pro.appspotmail.com, e.g. for alias john the corresponding ActionComplete email address is john@actioncomplete-pro.appspotmail.com.

An email alias can be chosen in Options form accessible via Tools/Options... menu.

The newly-introduced Acknowledge incoming tasks option is summoned to make the users sure that their emailed tasks made it safely to ActionComplete. When the option is enabled, AC for Web will send an acknowledgement email every time it receives a task via the incoming email address.

New and Improved in AC for Android

Project spinner in New/Edit Action/Wait form now shows all the projects linked to the active tag and ignores other filters.

Russian translation is updated, courtesy of Alexander Sidorenko.

ActionComplete^TM is a family of productivity applications based on David Allen's Getting Things Done® (GTD®) methodology. For more information on ActionComplete product family please visit actioncomplete.com and/or read the manuals at actioncomplete.com/web and actioncomplete.com/android.

1 Underutilized Strategy to Immensely Boost Your Productivity

Borys Burnayev — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:39:30 +0000

You've got things to do. Your plate is full. No matter how quickly you eat, the wily waiter - life - adds more while you are not looking.

In the beginning of the century David Allen copyrighted the phrase Getting Things Done and created a wonderful methodology for coping with the things on your plate - GTD®. Over the years the methodology got widely popular and at the time of this writing enjoys the following of millions. Its runaway success is based on the straightforward and practical approach to dealing with "stuff" - big or small - that comes at you. In the fast modern society our to-do plates are so chronically full that we feel good every time we clean them up, however temporary the effect is. That's why GTD became a godsend for many.

We are so busy emptying our plates that oftentimes we don't pay much attention to what's in there that we've got to eat, figuratively speaking. Once we care to cast a closer look we might notice that our a la cart task meal has bits and pieces that do not taste good, are not fresh, and otherwise should not be eaten.

About a decade before Allen, in his fundamental works The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) and First Things First (1994) Stephen Covey highlighted the paramount role of importance. According to Covey and common sense importance is the main differentiator between things that should be done and the ones to be bypassed, omitted, and gotten rid of.

Covey's four quadrants should become your litmus test for whether a task is a worthy candidate for your to-do list or your trash can. Having imposed Covey's matrix onto your task universe you'll be surprised by the share of your day-to-day activities that fall into the infamous fourth quandant. These are the things you should stop doing and the tasks you should ban from your to-do lists.

Start right now. Go over your Someday/Maybe/Ideas lists and delete everything that's not related to one of your life goals. Inspect your email inbox and trash or file all non-actionable messages. Challenge your physical in-basket and get rid of anything that doesn't absolutely have to be kept. Be daring.

Now you are ready for the productive life. From this moment on be vigilant and check every single piece before it ends up on your to-do plate. If it's a task-burger of Covey's fourth quadrant, refuse it politely but firmly. Your healthier to-do diet will make you more productive, more confident, and more energetic person.

New Refund Policy for ActionComplete for Android

Borys Burnayev — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:39:06 +0000

We are happy to announce a new customer-friendly refund policy for ActionComplete for Android. The policy extends standard Android Market evaluation period, which is 15 minutes at the time of this writing, to 7 full days. For trivia fans out there that's a 672-fold increase!

100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEE OR YOUR MONEY BACK. Buy ActionComplete for Android and evaluate it for up to 7 days. If you don't like the product request a refund within 7 days of the date of purchase and we'll honor it no questions asked.

Kind regards,
Borys Burnayev
Founder
ActionComplete LLC

GTD-Based Task Manager for Android ActionComplete is Updated to Version 1.10.0

Borys Burnayev — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:42:55 +0000

ActionComplete 1.10.0 for Android is released to Android Market.

In this release:

Active task tab (Actions, Waits, Projects, Ideas) is memorized at exit and restored at restart so you can pick up where you left off. Start in preference is gone for good.
Norwegian, German, and Spanish translations are brought up to date courtesy of Thomas Kjemperud, Thomas Pauli, and Antonio Tabasco Cabezas.
Bug fixes.

At the same time ActionComplete for Web is updated with minor bug fixes. To get the updates please force-refresh (Ctrl-F5 or Cmd-R) your browser window.

ZTD with ActionComplete: Big Rocks and Most Important Tasks (MITs)

Borys Burnayev — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:56:20 +0000

Over the next few weeks we are going to run a series of articles highlighting lesser known features of ActionComplete, describing ActionComplete best practices, and providing tips on implementing certain aspects of GTD and derivative methodologies with ActionComplete.

This article is devoted to procedural and technical aspects of implementing the concepts of Big Rocks and Most Important Tasks crucial to Leo Babauta's Zen To Done (ZTD) methodology.

In a nutshell ZTD is a very useful extension of the original GTD methodology emphasizing the dimension of importance or priority. In a sense it alloys the excellent "operational", or runway-level, qualities of David Allen's GTD teaching with the leadership philosophy laid out by Stephen Covey in First Things First and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. When implemented properly ZTD allows you to be not only efficient (do many things fast) but also effective (do things that matter).

At the core of ZTD are the concepts of Big Rocks and Most Important Tasks.

Big Rocks are tasks that are closely related to your short- or long-term life goals. Oftentimes they are not urgent but they are always crucial for the progress towards a meaningful goal. It goes without saying that "meaningful" is not necessarily the same as "tied to career growth". Most Important Tasks can be described as the scaled down versions of Big Rocks. They usually exist within a relatively short time interval such as a day.

ZTD recommends accomplishing a few Big Rocks a week and a few MITs every day. Your daily MITs might include a Big Rock among the other things. ZTD also advocates a more structured process, as compared to "classic" GTD, with fixed time slots for recurring activities such as weekly and daily planning. It is during the weekly and daily planning when Big Rocks and MITs are identified and scheduled for execution.

This is where ActionComplete comes into play. During a weekly review you identify the most important tasks for the coming week - your Big Rocks - and change their weight to above 60 or 80, which will color the tasks either orange or red. You might want to do that for all aspects of your life as represented by tags in ActionComplete. Similarly during the daily review you identify your MITs for the next day and increase their weight in AC.

During the day, when you are in the "execution" mode, you can apply the weight filter to cut off the tasks with the weight below the agreed-upon threshold and view the important only. At the same time you might want to reset the tag filter to get a context-independent view. The context-independent view might tell you that you need to get in a different context to accomplish an important task for the day.

ActionComplete 3 for Web Released, Features Smart Layout (TM), Flexible Task Panel Display Options, Filtering Enhancements

Borys Burnayev — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:01:52 +0000

ActionComplete LLC starts the year with a major release of its flagship product - ActionComplete for Web. The release delivers several major user experience improvements including Smart Layout (TM) technology, options to independently show and hide task panels, and several filtering enhancements.

Smart Layout (TM) technology makes sure you get the best view of your tasks for your setup. Smart Layout takes into consideration such factors as the screen or browser window size and the number of active task panels to present the information to you in the most meaningful way. On a high-resolution screen you will see your task panels arranged in a four-column layout and a view of your calendar whereas on a low-resolution netbook the task panels might be arranged in a two-column layout with the calendar panel suppressed.

You have the ultimate control over the dashboard layout via the Layout option (Tools/Options... menu) that allows you to select a particular number of columns as well as Auto option to enable the Smart Layout (TM) technology.

You might not need all four task panels at all times.

This release asserts the statement above by introducing independent view options for the four task panels (Actions, Waits, Projects, and Ideas). If you don't delegate your tasks you might want to turn the Waits panel off to make more room for other task panels. If you consider Ideas during a weekly review only, you can keep the Ideas panel hidden for the rest of the week.

Task panels can be switched on and off via View/Show Actions/Waits/Projects/Ideas menu options.

This release brings a number of additions and changes to the way ActionComplete uses filters. First of all, you can now filter on weight, which is the term used in ActionComplete to denote the importance, or priority, of a task. Being able to zoom in on the most important is a key in a successful productivity solution. With the addition of the weight filter it's easier than ever with ActionComplete.

While filtering on a project has been at the core of ActionComplete since day one, this release introduces a significant change - and simplification - in the semantics and application of a project filter. This change institutionalizes a key ActionComplete paradigm of always working within a context or a broad area of responsibility that is oftentimes represented by a tag.

Now the project filter is a secondary filter that applies within a wider context encompassed by the other - primary - filters. To deliver this new semantics the project filter is displayed on a separate toolbar by default and can be reset separately from the other filters. A project filter can be applied quickly by clicking the project summary line listing the counts of child tasks.

At the same time a new version of ActionComplete for Android - 1.9 - is released to Android Market. The new version of the Android application incorporates the same filtering enhancements as the web application.

For a limited time ActionComplete for Android can be purchased for $0.99 (80% off the regular price of $4.99).

ActionComplete 1.8 Released to Android Market, Holiday Discounts for ActionComplete Products

Borys Burnayev — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:09:06 +0000

Holiday greetings from ActionComplete!

We are happy to announce the immediate availability of ActionComplete 1.8 for Android. This release delivers several highly requested features:

Due Date now drives the Reminder Date. To finish setting the reminder you need to specify the time. If you don't care for the reminder just tap the OK button and the task will be saved without one.
View Actions and View Waits project context menu options are there waiting for you. If a project has linked actions, View Actions item appears in the context menu accessible via the long tap on a project in the Projects list. Ditto for waits.
Task sorting options are now separate from the context (filters). Here's how it works now:
- To change or reset the sort order for a task list, tap and hold the header of the list (Actions, Waits, Projects, of Ideas) until the sort dialog pops up, select the desired sort order, and tap OK.
- To set or reset the context, use the context bar at the bottom of the screen.
This release introduces a homescreen shortcut for adding actions by voice. While voice task entry has been available for quite some time via both the main application and the widgets, many users requested a more compact user interface element for this crucial function. It's available now.

That's not all. Through January 3, 2012 ActionComplete for Android can be purchased from Android Market for $1.99. This is 60% off regular price.

There's even more. During the same period - through January 3, 2012 - you can purchase or renew your annual subscription to ActionComplete for Web for $14.99. If you are wondering, this is $5 off the regular price. To redeem the offer please use Google Checkout and apply coupon code holidays2011.

Black Friday Deal: %25 Off One-Year Subscription to ActionComplete for Web

Borys Burnayev — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:38:57 +0000

Black Friday deal: %25 off one-year subscription to ActionComplete for Web. That's $14.99!

Purchase via Google Checkout and enter coupon code thanks2011.

The offer is good for both new orders and renewals.

ActionComplete 1.7.0 Released to Android Market, $1.99 (60% off) for a Limited Time

Borys Burnayev — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:16:04 +0000

New and noteworthy in this release:

The application is now called ActionComplete Task & To-Do.
Translations to Croatian, German, Norwegian, Russian, and Spanish are updated courtesy of Nikola Radunović, Thomas Pauli, Thomas Kjemperud, Alexander Sidorenko, and Antonio Tabasco Cabezas, respectively.

For a limited time ActionComplete Task & To-Do is available for $1.99. That's 60% off regular price.

Happy Thanksgiving from ActionComplete! Please eat & drink responsibly and drive safely.

Halloween Treat: ActionComplete Pro for $1.99 (60% off)

Borys Burnayev — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:13:36 +0000

ActionComplete LLC wishes you a Happy Halloween!

Get ActionComplete Pro from Android market for $1.99. That's 60% off the regular price of $4.99.