What are practical applications of Queues?

GTD Applications: GQueues power users: How did you set up your queues & categories for max productivity and minimum friction?

• I'm a little stymied by the "requirement" (if you want to use quick-add syntax) that every queue in every Category have a unique name... I can't have a "Waiting" queue in both Home and Work categories? Etc.

• Answer:

  The most elegant, least intrusive way to use GQueues for Getting Things Done: Set up one- or two-letter tags for your contexts.  This way when you create tasks, you can quickly tag them with #O for tasks to do when I'm Out, #H for tasks at Home, etc.  Also set up #W for Waiting On, and some for the initials of the people you often need to discuss tasks with. (your spouse, boss, etc.) Set up Smart Queues (Which are really saved searches) for your contexts.  For example, create a Smart Queue called @Home with this search: crossedOut=0 AND tag:(H) AND NOT tag:(W) crossedOut=0 filters out the tasks that you've checked off as done. tag:(H) would give you tasks you tagged #H NOT tag:(W) filters out tasks that are not actionable because they're waiting on something. Optional: create smart queues that return tasks that are missing tags.  crossedOut=0 AND NOT tag:H AND NOT tag:O AND NOT tag:W This will quickly let you find tasks that were created and need to be tagged. The workflow at this point is pretty smooth.  With the app on your android phone, you can always say "Ok Google" ... "Note to self, schedule an oil change" and then Google Now will add the task to your GQueues inbox.  There are also plugins for Chrome and Gmail to quickly add tasks without leaving the site/browser.  As part of your daily processing, look at your GQueues Inbox, tag tasks as needed, and move them from Inbox to Projects.  When you're in whatever context you've created (For example, when you're at home) just click the @Home Smart Queue and all of your tasks are there.  While you're processing, or doing your weekly review, if you have a project with multiple steps that you want to track, just use the left and right arrows to move a task to display as a subtask to the one listed above.   Each task can then be tagged for separate contexts, but during your review, you'll see each step of the project listed in one organized tree-style view within your Projects folder.  They can be marked complete as a group, or individually, and moved, as a group to other folders however you see fit. Finally, you can add smart queues to your home page.  For example, I've added the @Out smart queue to mine, so when I'm out running errands, I don't even need to open the app to see everything that I could accomplish, or to mark tasks complete.  The best part is, with the android app, everything syncs offline, so you can access and manage your tasks even when you don't have a connection.  (Think when you're in a store or office building that blocks your cell signal, or while you're sitting on an airplane.)