Todays Focus

Based on To Do List user feedback we developed a format that would display only the items that need your attention today. Called Today's Focus this is yet another tool you can use to ensure you stay focused on the things that matter. To access Today's Focus click on the 'Today's Focus' icon in the Analysis section of the ribbon.

We suggest that once you have established your To Do Lists that this feature is the first thing you should access when opening To Do List for the day. The top of the form displays all your To Do List and opens with the first incomplete activity from each of the To Do Lists that are set for work on the current date.

If a To Do List is not set for the current date as a valid work day then no details will be displayed in the list of activities for that list and it will be displayed in the list box of To Do Lists with a 'No' set for the Work day for List.

Form Features for Today's Focus

The form has been designed to make the job of finding and updating the items for action quick and easy. The key features of the form are

Current Date - Today's Date is set from the computer current date and will display at the top of the form. This is used to determine what should be today's focus

List of To Do Lists - at the top of the form the current To Do Lists are listed alongside an indicator that reports if the To Do List is valid for the current date

Number of Items - the number of items to display from each To Do List for focus is set by this control. You can type directly into the Text box or use the Up/Down arrows to increase or decrease the number of activities to be shown. The Default is set to 1 item from each list that is valid for the current date

List of Activities - the list of activities is shown in the middle of the form, the To Do List alongside an extract from the item description is shown

Select an Item - once an item is selected from the list the remainder of the form is displayed for action. Here you can update the status, estimated effort, due date, completion date or notes for the task. Once the details are updated click 'Update' to save those changes to the To Do List

Reset - this function will clear any selected items and show the original list of items for Today's Focus. If you have moved an item that was Today's Focus to a future date then the list of items may have changed as a result.

When to use Today's Focus

Start of the Day - using Today's Focus when you first open To Do List in the morning is the best time to get ensure you are working on the most important activities from your To Do Lists. We suggest opening To Do List as one of the first things you do each day.

After Completing Tasks - when you have completed a task or tasks it makes sense to use Today's Focus to see what you should be looking at next rather than just moving to the next item in a list. There could be a more important activity in another list that needs to be progressed and Today's Focus will help you prioritise what to work on next.