Switch from Nirvana
Relay reads your Nirvana export and keeps the structure. Your next actions arrive as next actions, your someday list as someday, your contexts as contexts. Nothing lands in a pile for you to sort out again.
You already run this method. The reason switching usually costs so much is that most apps can only take your words and leave the thinking behind. Nirvana's export carries the thinking, so Relay reads it.
Where everything lands
| Inbox | Inbox, still unprocessed |
|---|---|
| Next | Next Actions |
| Waiting For | Waiting For, with the person you are waiting on |
| Scheduled | Scheduled, on the same date |
| Someday | Someday and Maybe, actions and projects alike |
| Projects | Projects, with their actions still attached |
| Reference | Reference, each list keeping its entries |
| Logbook | Completed, so finished work stays finished |
And the detail comes too
- Energy levels, low through high, on every action that had one.
- Time estimates, in the same minutes you set them in.
- Due dates and deadlines, on the day you chose.
- Someday projects stay parked instead of joining your live ones.
- Contexts, once you have told Relay which of your labels they are.
Relay asks you one thing
Nirvana keeps areas, contexts and people in three separate places. Its export file lists them all together, and there is nothing in the file to tell them apart, so Relay shows you your own labels once and asks which is which. Most systems have a handful, and it takes under a minute.
Nothing is written until you have answered. Relay then shows you how many items are going to each list, and flags anything that will not land where Nirvana had it, before you press the button.
How to do it
- In Nirvana, open Settings, then Export, and choose JSON.
- In Relay, open Settings, then Integrations.
- Choose Import from Nirvana, and pick the file you just saved.
- Sort your labels, check the summary, and import.
If it does not look right, one button removes the whole import. That button is still there later, so you can go and read your lists properly before deciding.
What works differently here
Relay is not a copy of Nirvana, so a few things land differently. Worth knowing before you move rather than after.
- A next action needs a context
- Relay files an action into Next Actions by its context. An action that had no context in Nirvana waits in your Inbox instead, and the import tells you how many that is before you commit.
- Workspaces group, they do not file
- Nirvana's areas become Relay workspaces, which organise your lists without deciding what belongs where. Relay allows five.
- Repeating tasks arrive once
- A repeating action comes across on its next date, as a single action. Set the repeat again in Relay.
- Reference lists become checklists
- A Nirvana reference list arrives as one item in Reference, with its entries as a checklist on it, so a trigger list stays in one piece rather than scattering.
Try it with your own system
The import is the fastest way to see whether Relay suits you, because you are looking at your own work rather than a demo. It runs in your browser, and you can undo it.
30-day trial. Runs in your browser, no install needed.