r/emacs•
Mitchical

Yet another org workflow question

So I've been using emacs for about a year now and exploring different packages and integrating more and more functions into my config. I use org babel for my emacs init and have a few general org files laying around for things but I figured since I am entering a new semester at University I might as well start integrating it fully into my study workflow.

I know most of the basics of orgs actual functions but I am not experienced with using agenda so much and how to integrate it properly. I am wondering if anybody has an interesting solution for things such as syncing with google calendars or just agenda workflows in general. Sorry for the wall of text of a request!

Posted Jul 24, 2015, 11:17 AM UTC

76
ares623•

I don't sync with Google calendar personally, but I hope the links below help

http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-google-sync.html

https://github.com/dengste/org-caldav

As for my personal workflow, I just call org-agenda every morning. I have a custom command that lists:

  • My agenda for the week
  • What I am currently working on
  • List of remaining TODO items
2
lawlist•

I recommend a GTD workflow using keywords that coincide.

1
squiter•

Can you give some examples?

1
lawlist•

I'm not an expert on GTD -- there are books written on the subject, but essentially it is a method of prioritizing/organizing. I primarily use priorities for varying degrees of Active today -- beyond today is Next Action (future deadline with date, but no time of day which defaults to midnight) or Someday (no deadline). Because I synchronize with Toodledo -- https://github.com/christopherjwhite/org-toodledo -- and I need events and tasks as part of my business calendar, I chose to use Reference for things like special appearances and I use Delegated for regular meetings. Reference and Delegated both have deadlines (with dates and times of day) and scheduled (with dates). The None keyword is when things are completed/done. I have a series of custom functions that automatically move overdue projects to today, and I sort by several levels of criteria -- by date, then by keyword, then by priority then alphabetic based on title -- e.g., org-sort-entries ?a ?o ?p ?t. Tasks and events are subheadings at the second level with two stars. The main headings have one star and are labeled TASKS, EVENTS, UNDATED, CONTACTS, and DONE. My custom function automatically examines each task/event and sends them to the correct main heading and then sorts everything under that main heading. I use bbdb for contacts, so I really never put much work into the org-mode potential for contacts -- I have a couple assigned to the Planning keyword just as a place holder for me to continue to think about how I may want to implement that in the future.

(setq org-todo-keywords '((sequence
  "Active(a)"
  "Next Action(n)"
  "Canceled(c)"
  "Hold(h)"
  "Reference(r)"
  "Delegated(d)"
  "Waiting(w)"
  "Postponed(P)"
  "Someday(s)"
  "Planning(p)"
  "|"
  "None(N)")))

(setq org-highest-priority ?A)

(setq org-lowest-priority ?E)

(setq org-default-priority ?A)

Birthdays and hand-selected holidays (e.g., state court holidays) are programmed into org-mode with a custom modification of org-agenda-list: http://emacs.stackexchange.com/a/10872/2287

My tasks, events, birthdays and holidays are color-coded and show up on a 3-month calendar, a 12-month rotating calendar -- http://stackoverflow.com/a/21409154/2112489 -- and the CFW library: https://github.com/kiwanami/emacs-calfw

I use contexts and tags for my client names and for personal projects -- ** Active [#A] smith_john @ document production. :smith_john: or for personal ** Someday [#D] 0 @ laundry list. :lawlist:. Tags or useful when calling M-x org-tags-view.

I have a custom *Org Agenda* buffer/display that shows the headline, plus the deadline/scheduled line, plus all of the notes that follow the :PROPERTIES: drawers, but that is beyond the scope of this thread.

2
MitchicalOP•

Thank you, I will have to spend some time seeing how I can work this in for my needs. Will probably have to spend a solid week on it haha

1
verdigris2014•

I use org-trello

Trello has a nice interface for where you can't use emacs.

I don't use org mobile sync anymore

2