Fans of the Blade Runner film know well that this gritty sci-fi noir is based on Phillip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (which, like many adaptations, differs in significant ways from the source novel). I never knew, though, why it was called “Blade Runner” (although that was the title of Rick Deckard’s job, in the movie). The film’s name was cribbed from another novel for which no one less than William S. Burroughs had adapted to a screenplay:

No film was produced from the Burroughs treatment, but Hampton Fancher, a screenwriter for a film based on Philip K. Dick‘s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), had a copy. He suggested “Blade Runner”, as preferable to the earlier working titles “Android” and “Dangerous Days”, for the Dick adaptation.[3] In the film, released as Blade Runner in 1982, the term is never explained, and the plot has no connection to the Nourse and Burroughs stories.

The Bladerunner

One of OmniFocus’s best features is its structuring of a weekly review. OmniFocus basically makes a to-do list of your to-do list, and presents your projects to you for review, which you then tick off as done. This review is saved as metadata, so you can keep yourself accountable about reviewing your open loops.

I would argue that, besides capturing your commitments, the most important part of effectively using GTD is reviewing, weekly, your open loops: projects, tasks, calendar items, and notes.

So using Todoist requires you to create your own review, set a reminder, and dedicate time to doing so. There’s no GUI prompt as there is in OmniFocus. (You can, however, use one of Todoists’s templates.)

 

Todoist’s Weekly Review Template

There’s no reason you can’t just work your way down your projects list, and of course your inbox, as part of your weekly review. But I didn’t want to do that. So I created two filters:

My Weekly Review Filters

These filters show me what would be the equivalent of what OmniFocus would categorize as “active” (as opposed to deferred), and grouped by Home and Work projects.¹ (I otherwise create future projects as a subjproject under a project called “Future.”) Within these two projects, I use filters to show me available tasks, grouped by project. On one scrollable screen.

^{Home Weekly Review}    

 

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¹I’m jumping the gun a bit here, but I essentially created two projects: Home and Work, and then create specific projects under each area. This is because Todoist doesn’t (yet) support separating projects with a higher-level filing option (like areas of responsibility).

The Pete Plan alternates steady-state distance rowing with two different kinds of intervals. Just when you think you’re stuck on one mode, you find something like the Pete Plan.

Also: this morning’s 5k took me 20:25.8. Almost intermediate for a 45 y/o.

The Pete Plan

There are many articles on the Eisenhower Matrix, but here’s a handy infographic from Asana:

I’m trying out Todoist’s rather fixed priority setting thus:

Priority 1 = Important and Urgent (or what I call “Do it”)

Priority 2 = Important but Not Urgent (or what I call “Plan it”

Priority 3 = Not Important but Urgent

Priority 4 = I should probably either prioritize or junk these tasks

GTD has you avoid prioritizing tasks, but I never found a large body of tasks, even properly organized into projects and contexts, deferred or active, to be useful for getting through a day. I can’t say for sure that this scheme will work, but I do find myself working off of Todoist’s Today filter and then my “Do It” and “Plan It” filters each day.

Do It filter syntax:

    @important & @urgent | @Today | Today | p1

Plan It filter syntax:

    @important & !@urgent | P2

FDA Approves Drug to Fight Alzheimer’s:

Leqembi targets and reduces amyloid beta plaque in the brain, which slows progression of the disease. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has previously said it would pay for the drug — at a cost of $26,500 per year — upon full authorization.  

Q&A: What to know about new Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi