"Focus" is not a binary state, it's a dynamic process: you can shrink or enlarge the focus window.

I could have limited my routine to today's tasks (vs. the whole week) or to STRT tasks (vs. STRT and NEXT), but experience has shown me that this is not the right focus window for me. I need to see the whole week to reschedule tasks or update deadlines. I need to see tasks that are coming up to motivate me to finish the ones I have started.

For a long time, I tried to capture the priority of tasks as an absolute value, but that was a mistake, because priority is a relational property. You need context to judge how tasks relate to each other.

The local context is provided by the notion of "project": if you have a project to buy a boat, you have to find money first. I'd call this "bottom up" prioritisation. Agenda views provide several more global contexts: if your agenda commands are well adapted to your routine, they will nudge you towards better prioritisation of your tasks (when to SCHEDULED them, STRT vs. NEXT, or even setting priority cookies like [#A]). I'd call this "top down" prioritisation.

My routine is really quite simple: I work on what I need to do today, then what I need to finish or to do next. My agenda commands serve this routine well and help me to keep a sense of priorities because I can set them bottom up and top down.

It's easy to add or capture tasks in an Org file. It's good because you don't forget anything… if and only if every task is accessible from an agenda view that is part of your routine.

My "active" tasks fall into one or more of these categories:

• Is SCHEDULED
• Has a DEADLINE
• Has a STRT or NEXT keyword

For example, the task "Write a first draft of this paper" has a due date at the end of the month, and I have scheduled it for next Monday. It will be marked NEXT until I start working on it next Monday, when I will mark it STRT. Or, for another example, "Pay my rent" is a TODO that is scheduled every month.

"Inactive" tasks have a TODO or WAIT keyword but they are not planned, they have no SCHEDULED or DEADLINE information.

My routines go through tasks from all these categories:

• Every day, I first check the weekly view (handling SCHEDULED and DEADLINE).
• Every day, I then check the tasks that are in progress or to be done (STRT and NEXT).
• Every week I check the TODO and WAIT tasks that do not appear in my calendar.

This last step, processing TODO items without SCHEDULED or DEADLINE, is particularly important: it took me a long time to realise that my discomfort with my Org setup came from not knowing whether I could forget a task.

I do use a single Org file for all tasks and appointments.

(I do have several Org files for various notes, but tasks and appointments are in a single file.)

For organising projects, tasks and notes, I stick to these conventions:

• Projects are top-level or second-level items.
• Projects don't have a to-do keyword or tag.
• Only projects have the CATEGORY and ARCHIVE properties.
• All tasks belong to a project, which is their direct parent.
• All tasks and only tasks have a to-do keyword and optionally tags.
• All other entries are appointments or headings for notes.

What are the benefits of this approach?

• The search is efficient as everything I need is in one file.
• This file is readable, (un)folding shows me what's important.
• I can restrict agenda commands to projects/categories.
• All tasks for a project are at the same level, it's easy to act on them.

Here are the six to-do keywords I use:

• STRT : Task is in progress and must be completed.
• NEXT : Task is active and must be performed next.
• TODO : Task is something to do in general.
• WAIT : Task is waiting for something else.
• CANX : Task has been canceled or delegated.
• DONE : Task has been done.

Notice that mentally there are three groups:

• STRT/NEXT : For "activated" tasks that I need to do next.
• TODO/WAIT : For tasks I might need to do at some point.
• CANX/DONE : For tasks I can archive now.

For a while I used TODO for tasks I should do next and MAYBE for tasks I might want to do someday. But I found MAYBE semantically sloppy and a bit stressful. I switched to using NEXT and TODO, which is clearer: NEXT actions are active tasks without blockers, while TODO items are things to do in the standard sense of the word: I can do them (e.g. if they are habits) or review them before activating them and letting them enter my routine.

I set to-do keywords like this in my configuration:

(setopt org-todo-keywords
  '((sequence "STRT(s)" "NEXT(n)" "TODO(t)" "WAIT(w)" "|" "DONE(d)" "CANX(c)")))

I don't use tags to describe the task's project, category or status.

Here are the types of activity I use:

• Code : Something to code.
• Listen : Something to listen.
• Read : Something to read.
• Watch : Something to watch.
• Write : Something to write.

Here is my configuration for tags:

(setopt org-tag-alist
	'((:startgroup)
	  ("Handson" . ?o)
	  (:grouptags)
	  ("Write" . ?w) ("Code" . ?c)
	  (:endgroup)

	  (:startgroup)
	  ("Handsoff" . ?f)
	  (:grouptags)
	  ("Read" . ?r) ("Watch" . ?W) ("Listen" . ?l)
	  (:endgroup)))

Tags are grouped:

• Handsoff (Read, Listen and Watch): For when I consume something.
• Handson (Write and Code): For when I produce something.

Tag groups allow me to exclude tags from each other when setting them, and to filter by tags from the same group in agenda views.

Here is what I "capture" (M-x org-capture RET), by order of frequency:

• Appointments (mostly from Gnus)
• Things to read for my work (from eww or dired)
• Things to read for leisure (from eww or dired)
• Other things for work or leisure

Here is my configuration for org-capture-templates:

(setopt org-capture-templates
	
	'(;; One capture for appointments
	  ("r" "Rendez-vous" entry (file+headline "~/org/bzg.org" "Rendez-vous")
	   "* %:fromname %?\n  SCHEDULED: %^T\n\n- %a" :prepend t)

	  ;; A capture template for things to sort out later
	  ;; (!) To indicate the captured item is immediately stored
	  ("c" "A trier (!)" entry (file "~/org/bzg.org")
	   "* TODO %a" :prepend t :immediate-finish t)

	  ;; A capture for misc things to read      
	  ("d" "Divers à lire (!)" entry (file+headline "~/org/bzg.org" "Divers")
	   "* TODO %a :Read:" :prepend t :immediate-finish t)

	  ;; A capture template for work items
	  ("m" "Mission" entry (file+headline "~/org/bzg.org" "Mission")
	   "* TODO %?\n\n- %a\n\n%i" :prepend t)))

Some capture templates have lowercase and uppercase keybindings: in these cases, the lowercase keybinding is for when I need to edit the item further (most of the time), while the uppercase keybinding is for when I can save the entry immediately.

Agenda views for my daily routine:

• The weekly agenda of tasks with SCHEDULED or DEADLINE
• The list of in progress and next tasks (STRT and NEXT)

Agenda views for my weekly routine:

• The list of upcoming due tasks (DEADLINE)
• The list of to-do or pending tasks with no SCHEDULED or DEADLINE
• The list of completed and cancelled tasks to archive (DONE and CANX)

Agenda views for things I may want to check anytime:

• The weekly calendar for appointments (i.e., scheduled events with a time)
• The list of started "hands on" tasks (Write and Code)
• The list of started "hands off" tasks (Read, Watch and Listen)

"Appointments" are defined as scheduled events with a start time (see Special Agenda Views). I occasionally check them manually, but they are not part of my daily routine because (org-agenda-to-appt) lets me be warned about upcoming ones.

The list of started "hands on/off" tasks is the reason why I have a separate STRT to-do keyword: sometimes I just want to finish tasks.

Here is my org-agenda-custom-commands:

(setopt org-agenda-custom-commands
   	'(;; For weekly archiving
   	  ("#" "To archive" todo "DONE|CANX")

   	  ;; Agenda view of appointments for this week
   	  ("$" "Weekly appointments" agenda* "Weekly appointments")

   	  ;; Agenda view to see SCHEDULED/DEADLINE non-appt tasks for this week
   	  ;; MLL is for "Mission logiciels libres", my work
   	  ;; RDV is for "Rendez-vous" (personal appointments)
   	  ("ù" . "Scheduled/deadline tasks for this week")
   	  ("ùù" "Week tasks" agenda "Scheduled tasks for this week"
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("-RDV"))
   	    (org-agenda-use-time-grid nil)))
   	  ("ù," "Work week tasks" agenda "Scheduled work tasks for this week"
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("+MLL" "-RDV"))
   	    (org-agenda-use-time-grid nil)))
   	  ("ù?" "Non-work week tasks" agenda "Scheduled non-work tasks for this week"
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("-MLL" "-RDV"))
   	    (org-agenda-use-time-grid nil)))

   	  ;; Agenda view to see STRT/NEXT tasks for this week
   	  ("*" . "What's next?")
   	  ("**" "STRT/NEXT" tags-todo "TODO={STRT\\|NEXT}")
   	  ("*," "STRT/NEXT (Work)" tags-todo "TODO={STRT\\|NEXT}"
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("+MLL"))))
   	  ("*?" "STRT/NEXT (Non-work)" tags-todo "TODO={STRT\\|NEXT}"
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("-MLL"))))

   	  ;; Agenda view to list TODO items with no SCHEDULED/DEADLINE
   	  (";" . "What's to do?")
   	  (";;" "TODO" tags-todo "TODO={TODO}+DEADLINE=\"\"+SCHEDULED=\"\"")
   	  (";," "TODO (Work)" tags-todo "TODO={TODO}+DEADLINE=\"\"+SCHEDULED=\"\""
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("+MLL"))))
   	  (";?" "TODO (Non-work)" tags-todo "TODO={TODO}+DEADLINE=\"\"+SCHEDULED=\"\""
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("-MLL"))))

   	  ;; Agenda view to see WAIT tasks with no SCHEDULED/DEADLINE
   	  (":" . "What's waiting?")
   	  ("::" "WAIT all" tags-todo "TODO={WAIT}+DEADLINE=\"\"+SCHEDULED=\"\"")
   	  (":," "WAIT MLL" tags-todo "TODO={WAIT}+DEADLINE=\"\"+SCHEDULED=\"\""
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("+MLL"))))
   	  (":?" "WAIT -MLL" tags-todo "TODO={WAIT}+DEADLINE=\"\"+SCHEDULED=\"\""
   	   ((org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("-MLL"))))

   	  ;; Agenda view to see upcoming deadlines with 60 days of warning period
   	  ("!" . "Upcoming deadlines")
   	  ("!!" "Deadlines all" agenda "Past/upcoming deadlines"
   	   ((org-agenda-span 1)
   	    (org-deadline-warning-days 60)
   	    (org-agenda-entry-types '(:deadline))))
   	  ("!," "Deadlines MLL" agenda "Past/upcoming work deadlines"
   	   ((org-agenda-span 1)
   	    (org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("+MLL"))
   	    (org-deadline-warning-days 60)
   	    (org-agenda-entry-types '(:deadline))))
   	  ("!?" "Deadlines -MLL" agenda "Past/upcoming non-work deadlines"
   	   ((org-agenda-span 1)
   	    (org-agenda-category-filter-preset '("-MLL"))
   	    (org-deadline-warning-days 60)
   	    (org-agenda-entry-types '(:deadline))))))