OmniFocus 1.0
For those who have read David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done” (GTD) and are looking for a software program that will aid you in implementing the GTD system then OmniFocus is a must have.
I have been using OmniFocus for the past month or so and can already see huge improvements versus my previous chewing gum solution (Ta-Da List + Stickies). I won’t deny that getting started with OmniFocus does take time. At least for me, it took a day to capture all tasks, thoughts, and ideas into OmniFocus and then a few more days to sort out all the details into proper projects, contexts, and actions while, at the same time, learning how to use OmniFocus. Despite the learning curve, the payoff is worthwhile as I am able to quickly capture and complete my actions faster than I could before.
The following illustrates how I have configured OmniFocus for my purposes.
My Projects
I tend to keep my projects concise and streamlined. I also find having semi-generically named projects to be easier to remember and reuse than specifically named projects. I could, of course, could change my stance on this in the future.
My Contexts
As you can see, the same naming conventions are applied to contexts.
My Workspace (Context View)
(click to view)
As shown above, I like to leave my Inspector dialog open at all times for quick reference. I find that much more useful than maximizing OmniFocus to take up the entire desktop. I also tend to work out of “Context” view focused on my “Next Action” list. Although, I sometimes switch to a “Due Soon” view.
Quick Entry
The quick entry window can be displayed at anytime, in any Leopard Space, via a simple keyboard shortcut when using OmniFocus:
(click to view)
I use this feature often to capture thoughts without being forced to toggle back to the OmniFocus application.
Next Steps
I recommend watching the OmniFocus Overview Video (15 minutes), reading the GTD book, and even checking out my OmniFocus page to learn more.
9 Comments to OmniFocus 1.0
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From the looks, I’m guessing some of your projects might be a bit too grossly defined. E.g. Personal::Repairs is defined as a single project but I’ll bet (if you’re anything like me) it represents a bunch of projects. For example, here’s a couple slices of my projects list:
* http://skitch.com/brantherbert/ftrx/projects1
* http://skitch.com/brantherbert/ftrq/projects2
Fairly narrowly defined projects, each representing one specific goal and an ordered list of actions.
I’m still evolving my OF workflows but I have to agree, it’s definitely the best solution I’ve found for managing all this stuff, and I’ve looked at a lot of ways of organizating (and acting on) this kind of info over the years
Gee, you list your lover as one of your “contexts.” How romantic.
Yes, I’m being very, very, very sarcastic.
Brant, that is correct, I like to use a mix of generically and specifically defined projects. The “Repairs” project is one that is a bit more generic because it catches the random, one-off, actions that don’t need a specific project defined for them. Additionally, this is where parallel processing comes in handy for a project like this (instead of sequential). Of course, for more complex projects, I like to use sequential processing with clearly defined actions and sub-actions like your screen shots demonstrate.
Kate, sarcastic indeed. Hey, at least it keeps me honest so that I don’t forget to inform you of news and information.
>> I also find having semi-generically named projects to be easier to remember and reuse than specifically named projects.
Doesn’t that kinda miss the point of what a “project” is? You have general buckets of “somewhat related stuff”, each of which probably has a NextAction. The “code completion” on the project and context lists makes remembering projects pretty easy to do.
Generally:
project = Project.new if steps_to_complete >= 2
and what happened to the post editing feature here?
Yes, but that is where OmniFocus breaks the GTD mold a bit. OmniFocus allows one to create the following project types: sequential, parallel, and single actions. Here is what the OmniFocus help documentation has to say about sequential and parallel project types:
“Some projects consist of actions that can be done in any order, like picking up items at a few different shops; these are parallel projects. Other projects require one action to be done before the next one start, like building a papier-mâché pterodactyl; these are sequential projects. In a parallel project, all incomplete actions are available, and the “next action” is just the first one in the list. In a sequential project, only the next action is available.”
Additionally, here is what the OmniFocus help has to say about single action types (which are fairly similar to parallel types):
“Sometimes you need to do something that doesn’t really fit into a project. “Make rosemary lemonade” or “Buy a new cowboy hat”, for example, probably don’t contribute to the completion of any particular project. To keep track of such actions, you can use single-action lists. Single-action lists are always parallel; the actions in them don’t block each other from becoming available.”
In my case, I have been using single action project types for things like grocery lists or random things I need to buy (i.e. supplies or items that I am out of). This is where I break the GTD mold a bit and make use of a unique OmniFocus feature because as the documentation above states, I don’t really have a project to associate these with and I don’t really have to buy them in a particular order (i.e. there is no next action because they are all actionable at the same time).
BTW, to answer your question about editing comments, yes you can edit your comment. You only get a set amount of time (roughly 8 minutes). Once the timer has run out, the comment is forever locked as read only. However, if you edit your comment before the timer runs out, it will reset. Here is a example of a test account that made a comment (notice the countdown timer).
I was thinking about this more and while I do like to use sequential and parallel projects, I would agree that I probably need to tighten some of my actions into more clearly defined projects. Your question about the “Personal::Repairs” is probably one such project that needs to be sub-categorized.
I guess that will be an item for my next weekly review as I’ll need to do a little project refactoring.
Right. And I understand all that.
I do a combination of all of the above as well, but most (?) of my projects, it seems, are expressed as a goal or outcome-seeking statement because, for me, that’s why the project exists, to achieve the desired change of state. For me, “Repairs” is a category (folder) in which the various specific “Repair X” projects live. I *do* usually have a generic single-action “General” project in each folder for those tasks that don’t fit elsewhere for whatever reason.
For me, “Buy a new cowboy hat” would probably go something like this: It would get promoted to a Sequential project on first review after initially getting dumped into a more general “Stuff to buy” SingleAction project on transitioning out of the InBox. After that review (and promotion) I’d probably have a new Sequential project something like: 1) Research hat styles I like (Ctx=Online); 2) Source a new hat (Ctx=Online); 3) Purchase new hat (Ctx=Online | Errands). That tends to be my workflow — capture things into a general bucket, then more formally project-ize after review into discrete actionable steps.
I guess I was more commenting on the kinds of projects in your screen shot; they all looked like general buckets and I was kinda surprised not to see at least a couple of the desired-outcome form. That’s all.
re: the post editing:: yes, I was able to edit the first reply I posted on this thread, but on the next one I did NOT get any edit timer. I’m reporting a bug
Hmm, I like your idea of having a “General” single action project for each category (folder) instead of a single catch-all like I have set up.
I have opted, in my initial setup as shown above, to keep things simple and use general categorization but as shown in your screen shots, there are better ways of fine tuning this. I’ll be experimenting with this more.
I didn’t write the WordPress plugin responsible for comment editing. So I’m off the hook!
I’ll follow up on this though, maybe there is a new version or maybe I can find time to fix it.
Thanks for the feedback.