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How I Use OmniFocus e-mail for more information on

our one-on-one coaching,
BY TIM STRINGER ON APRIL 3, 2012 ! IN ARTICLES
consulting and training services
and to learn more about our
OmniFocus is a personal task productivity courses.
management solution for Mac,
778.786.3222 | Vancouver,
iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad that is
Canada
designed and developed by the Omni
877.786.3222 | Toll Free
Group, a Seattle-based company that
(Canada & USA)
specializes in productivity software
for Mac and iOS. OmniFocus is what
I personally use to manage both personal and business TAGS
projects and day-to-day tasks. For me, OmniFocus is
integral to operating with a clear mind and having a coaching consulting
relaxed sense of control.
daylite gtd ios
I’m often asked why I chose OmniFocus, how I have it mac marketcircle

configured and what my day-to-day use of OmniFocus omnifocus

looks like. This article is all about how and why I use
OmniFocus and the best practices I’ve implemented
productivity
technology testimonials yoga
based on my in-depth study of David Allen’s GTD
methodology. It also draws on wisdom I’ve gained through
working with people as an OmniFocus Consultant and CATEGORIES

Trainer and is inspired by the many OmniFocus articles announcements

and training videos that I’ve consumed over the years. articles

TWITTER
A Trusted System That’s Up to Task
A key distinction that is often overlooked is the difference Looking for icons to spice up
between the GTD methodology and a GTD system. The your #OmniFocus
GTD methodology is essentially a set of best practices Perspectives? Check out
that David Allen documented in his wildly popular book, @dryicons
“Getting Things Done”. The principles he describes can be ([Link] and
applied using technology, pen and paper or any @Glyphish
combination of the two. A GTD system, on the other hand, ([Link]

refers to the specific tools and workflows that make up a @krrish Great to here the article
GTD implementation and is very individual by nature. A was helpful. I’ll be writing more
key benchmark for whether your GTD system is working on #OmniFocus and related
for you is whether you can truly let go of keeping track of topics. Stay tuned!
things in your head. Such a system is what David Allen @krrish Thanks for the shout-
calls a “trusted system” out on my OmniFocus article,
Chris!
My trusted GTD system includes OmniFocus as well as
other software, such as OmniOutliner, Evernote and
ONLINE PRODUCTIVITY
Daylite, as well as more traditional elements, including a TRAINING"FEATURING
physical inbox and a filing cabinet (though my workflow is MAC®, IOS® AND
OMNIFOCUS™
largely paperless at this point). Over the years I’ve looked
at wide range of task management solutions — many We’re in the process of
were attractively designed and very easy to use, but also developing an online “Holistic
tended to be overly simplistic. I found that I quickly Productivity” course with a focus
outgrew their capabilities. on Mac® and iOS®
technologies, including
I consider OmniFocus to be a professional system. It is OmniFocus™ — offered all over
more feature rich than most tasks managers and learning the world through the Internet.
to use it effectively requires an investment, albeit a Please take a moment to
relatively minor one, in time and energy — an investment, complete our ONLINE
I might add, that pays generous dividends. The more I use SURVEY"and be entered into a
OmniFocus, the more I appreciate the thought that has draw to win a free spot in the
gone into this software. Some key features I use regularly inaugural course.
that are notably lacking in many other task managers are:

Mac Integration — The Mac version of OmniFocus is

tightly integrated with many popular Mac applications. For
example, through the use of a hotkey, I can select a
message in Mail and create an OmniFocus task that
contains the contents of the e-mail and a reference to the
original message. At this point I can clear the e-mail from
my inbox and manage any actions that need to be taken
from within OmniFocus.
Cloud Sync — The Omni Group provides a free “Omni
Sync” service that keeps multiple Macs and iOS devices in
sync. In my case, I use Omni Sync with my iMac,
MacBook Air, iPhone and iPad and enjoy the freedom of
being able to access and edit my projects and tasks from
any of my devices.

Offline Access — I appreciate the fact that I can access

my OmniFocus projects and tasks on my Macs, iPhone
and iPad, even if I don’t have an Internet connection (e.g.
when I’m flying). When an Internet connection does
become available any changes and additions I made while
offline are synced to my other devices through OmniSync.

Project and Single Action

Lists — OmniFocus tasks
can be added to two types of
containers: projects and
single action lists. A project,
in GTD speak, is a clearly
defined objective that
requires two or more actions to complete. By definition,
projects have a beginning and an end. Single actions lists,
on the other hand, are essentially a bucket of tasks related
to a specific area of focus and, by definition, don’t have a
defined starting or ending point. OmniFocus is one of the
few task management solutions that I’ve seen that
distinguishes between projects and single action lists. This
is a key distinction that greatly enhances the usefulness of
this software.

Sequential Lists — In some cases the first task on a list

must be completed before the second becomes available.
For example, I wouldn’t be able to send out invitations to a
party if I don’t know where the party’s going to be held.
OmniFocus makes it easy to define groups of tasks or
even entire projects that are sequential in nature.
OmniFocus can then be configured to only show tasks
that are available — in this case, the next available task in
a sequence.

Perspectives — One of my motivations for tracking my

projects and tasks through my electronic devices, rather
than through pen and paper, is the ability to easily see
different views of my data. For example, I may only want
to see business-related projects, or may choose to focus
on all of the phone calls on my list, regardless of which
areas of my life they relate to. OmniFocus’ Perspective
feature makes gaining access to these common task and
project views very fast and convenient. More on
Perspectives later.

Start Date and Time —

Projects and tasks can be
assigned both a start date and
a start time. For example, if I
tell a client that I’ll call them
back tomorrow afternoon, I
can create a task that starts
tomorrow at 1pm and can
configure OmniFocus such
that this tasks doesn’t show up
until tomorrow at 1pm rolls
around, keeping my task lists
relevant and focused.

Review — Regular reviews are a key component of the

GTD methodology, and this is the aspect of GTD that I’ve
found most challenging to implement. OmniFocus is one
of the few task management applications that provides an
easy way to perform and track reviews. Having this
support at the software level has greatly increased the
likelihood that I’ll perform regular reviews and makes the
review process much more efficient (and even fun).

Efficiency — The folks at The Omni Group have put a lot

of thought into making OmniFocus as efficient as possible.
This includes the ability to efficiently perform actions, such
as sorting tasks into projects and assigning contexts,
using the keyboard. For example, rather than selecting a
project from a menu or dragging the task to the sidebar, I
can type a few letters of the project name to quickly hone
in on the target project. Assigning start dates and due
dates is equally efficient. Abbreviations such as “1d” and
“1w” equate to a date that is one day or one week into the
future. Similarly, typing “mon” or “apr 1” will translate to
the appropriate day.

Looking at the BIG Picture

Before delving into OmniFocus I took a look at the big
picture of my life. Specifically, I started by looking at all of
the responsibilities that I’ve assumed in various areas of
my life and all of things that are important to me, including
fun and recreation, my health and creative pursuits. In
GTD speak, I took a look at my life from 20,000 feet,
identifying my “areas of focus”. I expressed this
information as a mind map, a graphical representation of
my thoughts, using my mind mapping software of choice,
MindNode Pro. This mind map document continues to
evolve as I take on new responsibilities in my life and as I
delegate or let go of existing responsibilities. I have shown
a high level version of my mind map below.

I also created a second mind map identifying the various

tools, people and locations that are part of my daily life —
what David Allen calls “contexts”. Having a clear
understanding of these delineations up front was also key
to configuring OmniFocus effectively.

Creating Containers for Tasks and Projects

Once I had identified my Areas of Focus I was well on my
way to setting up OmniFocus, even though I hadn’t even
touched the software. I started by creating two folders in
OmniFocus —“Business” and “Personal”, with the
intention of creating a clear separation between areas of
my life that have a business focus and personal aspects of
my life.

With this simple foundation in

place, I created folders
representing each of the major
areas of my life. For example,
under “Personal” I created
folders such as “Car
Maintenance”, “Health”, “Fun &
Recreation” and “Family &
Friends”. Similarly, under the
“Business” folder I added
various folders, including
“Accounting”, “Clients”,
“Professional Development” and
“Marketing”.

Having these folders in

OmniFocus provides a basic
organizational structure, while
also reminding me of the many
aspects that make up my multi-faceted life. Having this
visual reminder helps ensure that I’m giving the
appropriate amount of attention to each of these areas
and helps to prevent me from becoming overcommitted.

With this basic folder structure in place I went on to add

projects and single action lists. As mentioned previously,
projects are used for anything that has a clear outcome
(e.g. “Install new car stereo”), whereas single action lists
are containers for tasks that relate to a specific area of
responsibility (e.g. a task called “Make appointment for
annual service” within a single action list called “Car
Maintenance”).

Keeping Things in Context

With my folder and project structure in place I set out to
add the appropriate contexts. Just as folders allow me to
separate, for example, my business related tasks from my
personal tasks, contexts allow me to easily identify tasks
that are most relevant based on where I am, who I’m with
and what tools I have at my disposal.

I placed the most general contexts

at the top level. For example, I have
a context called Errands that
encompasses all the errands that I
run when I’m out and about.
Similarly, everything that I
accomplish using my computers and
portable devices falls under the
general heading of Technology.

In some cases I defined sub-

contexts to provide added
granularity. For example, I often
shop at Whole Foods and find it
useful to have a sub-context of
Errands that allows me to easily
access any tasks that relate to this
location. Using the OmniFocus
iPhone app I associated each of
these sub-contexts with a physical
location and am notified by
OmniFocus if I have any available
tasks when I’m physically close to
each of these locations.

On the technology side of things, I also use contexts to

distinguish tasks that can be performed on any of my
devices from ones that can only be performed on a
specific device. For example, I can browse a website from
any of my devices, as long as I’m connected to the
Internet (and assuming it’s not a Flash-based website).
Such tasks are given a context of “Technology, Online”.
Conversely, maintenance on my iMac can only be
performed if my iMac is available. Such tasks are
assigned a context of “Technology, iMac”.

It’s a Matter of Perspective

Perspectives are one of the most powerful features of
OmniFocus. As the name implies, they make it possible to
see projects and tasks from whatever angle I choose. For
example, if it’s the weekend and I’m taking a break from
my business ventures, I’m most interested in seeing
projects and tasks that are related to the personal areas of
my life. And when I’m out and about, I may be interested
in seeing a list of errands in a way that encompasses both
personal and business aspects of my life.

I make regular use of the Perspective feature in

OmniFocus and the following Perspectives adorn my
toolbar. On a side note, the custom Perspective icons
come courtesy of DryIcons — they have an impressive
array of icons that are free for non-commercial use.

Available — A list of all tasks that I could do, assuming

I’m in a context that makes them available. In practice, this
is a list of all tasks that are incomplete that either don’t
have any defined start date/time, or have a start date/time
that is now or in the past. Tasks that are complete, are not
on the top of a sequential list or have a start date/time that
is in the future don’t appear on this list. What I’m left with
is a relevant list of tasks without the unnecessary clutter of
projects and tasks that are not yet available.
Important — All of my
tasks and projects are
important. If they aren’t,
why would they be in
OmniFocus in the first
place? At the risk of
sounding a tad Orwellian,
some tasks are decidedly
more important than
others. The tasks that
populate the”Important”
Perspective have either
been flagged or are due
today. Generally speaking,
these are the tasks that get accomplished first.

Business — The “Business” Perspective lists all tasks

that are contained within projects in the “Business” folder
that are incomplete and available. It provides me with a
convenient of honing in on my business-related tasks
without being distracted by things that are going on in my
personal life.

Business+ — The “Business+” Perspective is a

refinement of the Business Perspective. It contains all
available business tasks that are either flagged or due
today.

Personal — The “Personal” Perspective is equivalent to

the Business Perspective, with the focus shifted to
personal aspects of my life. I often use this Perspective
during the evening and on weekends.

Personal+ — Similarly, the “Personal+” perspective

allows me to readily identify personal tasks that have been
flagged as important or are due today.
Errands — The “Errands”
Perspective allows me to
easily identify tasks that
are available and have
either a context or sub-
context of “Errands”. I
often use this context
when I’m out and about.
Conveniently, any context
that I create on either of
my Macs is automatically
available on my iPhone
and iPad.

Waiting — The “Waiting”

Perspective gives me a convenient way to view all of the
tasks that have a context of “Waiting”. Unlike most other
contexts, tasks with a context of “Waiting” are paused,
meaning that they never show up on lists of available
tasks. The “Waiting” Perspective helps ensure that I don’t
lose track of things that I’m waiting for.

My OmniFocus Workflow
I typically start my day by going through all of the tasks in
the “Available” Perspective. I flag tasks that I’d like to get
done that day — these tasks automatically appear in the
“Important” Perspectives. Tasks that I definitely won’t get
to today are assigned a start date that is off in the future or
are deleted if they’re no longer relevant.
 Throughout the day I
generally work from my
“Important” Perspectives.
During times of the day
that I’m focused on
business-related activities
I work from my
“Business+” Perspective
and during times set aside
for personal activities I
work from the “Personal+”
Perspective. Once all of
my the tasks in my
“Important” Perspectives
are complete I typically go back and look at all “Available”
tasks, focusing on “Business” or “Personal” as
appropriate.

As things come my way during the day, whether it’s e-

mails, thoughts or phone calls, I capture them into
OmniFocus using the Quick Capture tool. In some cases I
simply add the item to the OmniFocus Inbox for later
processing. Sometimes I take a few extra seconds to
assign the appropriate project, context and start date to
avoid the need to process the item later.

At the end of the day I typically go through all of my

“Available” tasks. I mark tasks complete, as appropriate
 and assign new start dates, if necessary with the goal of
keeping my workload balanced as I go through the week.
As part of this process, I sometimes use the Forecast
feature on my iPhone or iPad to make sure that I’m not
over (or under) committed. I also process any items in the
OmniFocus Inbox.

Once a week, more or less, I perform a “weekly review”.

This is a key component in keeping my system current
and accurate and helps ensure that nothing slips through
the cracks. As part of my weekly review, I process items in
the OmniFocus Inbox and review my “Waiting”
Perspective. I often perform weekly reviews using the iPad
version of OmniFocus. The Review feature is
exceptionally well implemented on the iPad and I find that
the portability of this device makes it much more likely I’ll
follow through on my commitment to do the weekly review,
even if I happen to be travelling at the time. I also find it
useful to schedule a specific date/time for each review (an
hour works well in my case) and typically choose a time
that is outside of my normal business hours to minimize
the possibility of being interrupted.

Best Practices with OmniFocus

The following are a series of best practices for using
OmniFocus as part of a GTD system. They’re based on
my own experiences of using OmniFocus as well as the
wisdom I’ve gained through helping numerous consulting
clients learn, configure and use OmniFocus.

Stay Current and Relevant — Keeping your OmniFocus

setup up-to-date is key in getting maximum value from
using this software. Collecting data into OmniFocus is
easy, but keep in mind that this is only part of the process.
If you don’t trust yourself to regularly review and process
what you’ve collected you’ll continue to track things
mentally, which doesn’t tend to work very well in this day
and age where many of us have a lot of inputs to deal
with.

Keep Organized — Having an organizational structure

that makes sense to you is key to using OmniFocus
effectively. Create as many containers (i.e. projects and
single action lists) as you need with the simplest folder
layout and context definitions that you can get away with.
Also take care when naming each of these elements —
choose names that you’ll remember later and use words
that you find inspiring. A best practice of GTD is to name a
project in a way that defines its outcome and includes a
verb. For example, “Plan trip to Hawaii” is preferable to
“Trip to Hawaii”.

Make OmniFocus a Sacred Space — It may be tempting

to put everything under the sun into OmniFocus, including
lists of books that you might read one day and movies that
have been recommended by friends. While, it’s certainly
technically possible to store this information in
OmniFocus, I recommend storing it elsewhere and
reserving OmniFocus for all the projects and tasks that
you intend to complete and not using it as a dumping
ground for things that are of questionable importance. To
give a few specific examples, Movies that I’d like to watch
go into the Watchlist that comes with my free IMDB
account and books that I have been recommended to me
by friends and colleagues are added to my “to read” list in
GoodReads. I also make extensive use of OmniOutliner
when capturing project details and use Evernote to
capture a variety of information that I may want to refer
back to in the future. All of this information is easily
accessible when I need it and doesn’t add clutter to
OmniFocus. For added convenience I often create
OmniFocus tasks and projects that reference a particular
source of information — for example, an OmniOutliner
document or a note in Evernote.

Use Due Dates Sparingly — OmniFocus is a great way

of keeping track of your commitments. If I tell someone I’m
going to call them next week I create a task with a start
date of Monday and a due date of Friday. This way I can
rest assured that this task will appear on my “Important”
list the day it’s due, assuming it hasn’t already been
completed. If, however, there’s no commitment around
having something complete by a specific date, I highly
recommend leaving the due date blank. If you use due
dates arbitrarily it becomes difficult to distinguish between
what’s actually due and what you’d like to get done by a
specific date. If a particular task is important and is
something you’d like to get done today, even though it’s
not technically due, I recommend flagging the task to
make it stand out from your other available tasks.

Keep Fiddling to a Minimum — Unless, of course, you

play the violin. OmniFocus is a highly configurable
solution, which is generally a good thing as it means that
you can create a setup that matches the way that you
work. The potential pitfall here is that it’s easy to fall into a
trap of spending hours fine-tuning OmniFocus and not end
up getting much done, which largely defeats the purpose
of using OmniFocus in the first place.

Conclusion
I’ve come to think of OmniFocus as a trusted personal
assistant. It provides a systematic way of keeping track of
all my commitments in a way that frees my mind for more
creative pursuits. Like most professional tools, using
OmniFocus effectively requires that you put some thought
into how you’re going to use this solution and that you
take the time too learn the software. It’s equally important
to spend the time necessary to make sure that the
projects and tasks that are stored in OmniFocus are
complete and updated regularly. If you’re willing to make
this investment I think that you’ll find OmniFocus to be a
trusted sidekick that supports you in having a relaxed,
productive, healthy and enjoyable life.

Acknowledgments
I’d like to begin by thanking the Omni Group for all of the
time and energy they’ve put into creating OmniFocus and
their other productivity applications that support me and
many other people around the world in a very tangible
way.

Owning a calculator doesn’t make you a mathematician.

The GTD methodology, developed by David Allen, allows
me to use OmniFocus effectively. GTD has had a
profoundly positive impact on all aspects of my life and
applying this methodology helped me get through the
most challenging life circumstance I’ve ever faced. I wrote
about this experience in an article called A Healing
Journey that was published on the GTD Times blog in
2009. Later that year I was interviewed by David Allen
himself as part of his “In Conversation” interview series,
available through the David Allen Company’s information
rich GTD Connect service.

My decision to adopt OmniFocus as my personal task

manager was strongly influenced by David Sparks and
Katie Floyd, who co-host the Mac Power Users podcast. I
listen to this podcast regularly and consider it to be one of
the top productivity/technology podcasts on the Internet.
Many thanks to you both for the time and energy you put
into creating this podcast. Whether you’re relatively new to
OmniFocus or are a seasoned user, I strongly recommend
checking out a series of OmniFocus workflow videos
produced by David Sparks. These videos, as well as a
wealth of video content from the Omni Group and other
sources, are available on the OmniFocus Video
Tutorials page of the Omni Group’s website.

Last, buy certainly not least thank you to all of the people
who have enlisted my consulting services and participated
in the courses I offer through Technically Simple. I feel
blessed to have the privilege to work with such amazing
people and to play a role in the inspiring work that they’re
doing in the world. And, I find that I gain some valuable
insights through the work that I do, that ultimately help me
be more effective as a consultant and trainer and more
effective in my life in general.

My OmniFocus Training and Consulting

Services
I work with people, both individually and in groups, to help
them get up and running with OmniFocus and to fine tune
their OmniFocus setups — ultimately supporting them in
leading lives that are healthy, productive and aligned with
their values. The process I go through when working with
people draws upon my professional coaching training and
goes beyond OmniFocus and technology. Through the
consulting and training work that I do, individuals have an
opportunity to look at the big picture of their lives and to
reconnect with their dreams and passions. As part of this
process they also have opportunity to take a close look at
all of the incompletions and indecisions in their life that are
holding them back and to put a plan in place to tie up
loose ends.

Contact me to learn more about the services I offer and to

book a session or register in one of my upcoming courses.

Tagged with: gtd • omnifocus

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24 Responses to How I Use OmniFocus

Craig says:
April 6, 2012 at 6:08 am
Thanks for this. Wondering how you are
able to create a perspective that includes
only items within a folder AND has only
flagged or due tasks?
Thanks
Craig

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

April 6, 2012 at 7:40 am
You’re welcome, Craig. To create
this Perspective:

1. Select the folder you want to focus on.

2. Click the Focus button in the toolbar or
choose “Focus on {folder name}” from the
View menu.
3. Click the Contexts button in the toolbar
or choose “Context Mode” from the View
menu.
4. Click the View button in the toolbar or
choose “Show View Bar” from the View
menu (assuming the View Bar is hidden).
5. Choose “Due or Flagged” from the
View Bar’s Status Filter menu.
6. Choose “Save Window As, New
Perspective” from the Perspectives
menu.

REPLY

Des Dougan says:

April 7, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Excellent article – and it’s good to see local
expertise.

Thanks for putting it together in such an

easy-to-understand way.

REPLY
Jeffrey Inscho says:
April 7, 2012 at 3:19 pm
This was wonderful. Thanks so much for
publishing these helpful tactics!

REPLY

Awesome Icons for OmniFocus | Collin

Donnell says:
April 7, 2012 at 6:08 pm
[...] a great article last night by someone
named Tim Stringer on how he uses
OmniFocus (via MacSparky). One of the [...]

REPLY

Mo says:
April 7, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Thanks for the great article. I’m going to give
your perspectives a try.

REPLY

bookkeeper adelaide says:

April 8, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Amazing Site, Thx! Keep up the good work.

REPLY

Andres hernandez says:

April 8, 2012 at 8:29 pm
Amazing article!! Thanks

REPLY

Eurobubba says:
April 10, 2012 at 9:44 am
Thanks for this! I’d love to see a write-up of
how you combine OmniFocus and Daylite.

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

May 8, 2012 at 11:32 am
 You’re very welcome. And stay tuned for
more information on how Daylite fits into
the picture.

REPLY

Brian Sheehan says:

April 17, 2012 at 11:42 pm
What an extraordinary catalog of life
snapshots you have provided. I am a noobie
to the iPhone and GTD. A friend of mine
recommended OmniFocus as I begin to
launch a side-business while continuing a
very busy tv career. Your insights are very
valuable. Bookmark city. Thank you. And all
the best to you.

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

May 8, 2012 at 11:40 am
Great to hear you found my
insights useful. Best wishes with your
new side business!

REPLY

Alex says:
April 28, 2012 at 5:25 am
Fabulous insight into your Omnifocus
workflow and one of the best Omnifocus
articles I have read in a while

I would be intrigued to know more about the

way you have your custom perspectives
setup as this was only briefly covered with a
single screenshot.

You appear to have your focus perspectives

grouped by folder instead of context. Are all
your focus perspectives setup in a similar
way and is it not more difficult to see items
in context in such a view

Also, for your Available / business / personal

perspectives are these viewed in project
view with focus filtering applied

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

May 8, 2012 at 11:27 am
Glad to hear you found the article
useful, Alex.

To give a specific example, you can

create the “Personal” context as follows:

1. Select the folder you want to focus on.

2. Click the Focus button in the toolbar or
choose “Focus on {folder name}” from the
View menu.
3. Click the Contexts button in the toolbar
or choose “Context Mode” from the View
menu.
5. Click the View button in the toolbar or
choose “Show View Bar” from the View
menu (assuming the View Bar is hidden).
6. Set the Availability Filter to “Available”.
7. Choose “Save Window As, New
Perspective” from the Perspectives
menu.

The Perspective will default to Context

Mode, but you can easily switch to
Planning Mode by choosing “Planning
Mode” from the View menu or by
pressing ⌘1. When in Context Mode I
generally prefer to have the tasks
grouped by Project rather than by
Context. This is a personal choice —
others may prefer to group by context.
Keep in mind you can always use the
sidebar to focus in on a specific context.

REPLY
Alessandro Melchiorre says:
April 30, 2012 at 9:13 am
hello,
you don’t need any type if sync with Ical?
Thanks

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

May 8, 2012 at 11:29 am
I’m not sure I understand the
question, Alessandro. I don’t currently
use the iCal syncing. I keep my calendar
for appointments and to remind me of key
events (e.g. income taxes due) and tasks
and projects are managed through
OmniFocus.

REPLY

Jim Woolnough says:

May 2, 2012 at 9:33 am
Ive just found this blog and must say its very
insightful. The part on creating your own
perspectives seems like it could be very
useful.

Would it be possible for someone to explain

how to create the ‘available’ perspective Tim
mentions.
Thanks

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

May 8, 2012 at 11:36 am
I’m glad to hear you’re finding the
blog useful, Jim.

The key to creating the “Available”

 perspective is to set the View filter to
“Available”. Once this filter is set, tasks
and projects that have a start date that is
in the future won’t appear until that
date/time arrives. If you look through the
comments you’ll see more information on
how specific Perspectives are created.

REPLY

My Customer Story Video on the Omni

Group Blog | Tim Stringer | Vancouver BC
Canada says:
May 4, 2012 at 12:08 pm
[...] If you’re curious to read more about
GTD and OmniFocus"check out the GTD®
“The Art of Stress Free Productivity” and
How I Use OmniFocus articles. [...]

REPLY

Kyle Hayes says:

May 19, 2012 at 8:14 am
Tim, thank you for writing this in-depth
article about your OmniFocus workflow. I’ve
longed for reading how someone else who
has similar goals and desires in organization
and productivity as I do works in OmniFocus
using the GTD methodology.

Your level of categorization is a lot lower

level than I would have thought efficient but
I’m certainly willing to give it a try. I also
appreciate the links to the other tools that
you use such as Evernote.

There have been times when I’ve though to

myself, “Should I be putting my books to
read and movies to see in OmniFocus?”.
After reading your clear explanation and self
implied commitment to keep OmniFocus
sacred, I quickly pulled out those two lists
and moved them into my IMDB and
GoodReader accounts (good call on that
one).

I plan on archiving this article and referring

and reviewing to it as I find a system that
works for me. I read the book a couple of
years ago and have had the OmniFocus
products on my MacBook Pro, iPad, and
iPhone but never felt that I was using them
as efficiently as I could have. Thank you for
exposing my weak points and areas where I
could improve.

Cheers!

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

May 22, 2012 at 5:37 pm
Thanks for your detailed feedback,
Kyle and I’m happy to hear the article
was useful.

Your level of categorization is a lot

lower level than I would have thought
efficient but I’m certainly willing to give
it a try. I also appreciate the links to
the other tools that you use such as
Evernote.

I purposely called this article “How I Use

OmniFocus”. Different people’s
OmniFocus setups may look quite
different. The key is to provide an easy
way to hone in on the data that is most
relevant, keeping things as simple as
possible, while being careful not to
oversimplify.

REPLY
Andy Odom says:
May 26, 2012 at 10:46 pm
I’ve been waiting on an article like this one
for a while. I’ve tinkered far too much with
how I work (or, sometimes, don’t work) with
OmniFocus and the detail and explanation
you gave were very helpful in me developing
a better system.

One question: can you explain how you got

your project perspectives over to the
iPhone? I read that this isn’t possible at the
moment, but you appear to have a
screenshot – complete with icons! – that
shows project perspectives.

Thanks again!

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

May 30, 2012 at 1:38 pm
I’m glad to hear the article was
useful, Andy!

To answer your questions, Perspectives

sync over to the iOS apps automatically
as part of the Sync operation and can be
accessed by tapping on “Perspectives”
on the Home screen. For convenience,
you can click the Edit button, located in
the top left-hand corner and tap the star
to display selected Perspectives on the
Home screen.

REPLY

Tim Stringer says:

June 1, 2012 at 12:21 pm
To add to my previous comment
— it turns out that only Context-based
Perspectives sync over to iOS devices.
Planning/Project-based perspectives
sync between Macs, but don’t show up
 on iOS devices.

REPLY

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