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Omnifocus as a Tool for Lists, not Tasks
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Posted by Paul Korm
Mar 21, 2019 at 10:38 PM
Beck this is certainly an interesting way to “use” OmniFocus, but when I read Allen Co.‘s description of how to set up OF as a list app, it sounded a bit like taking a hammer to a Phillips-head screwdriver and banging away it until it becomes a flat-head screwdriver.
Or just buy the right tool.
I like lists—not to get things out of my brain but because I forget things that are important but not important right now. Like talk to my estate attorney once a year. I don’t need to remember that.
I hate OmniFocus because it is huge, ugly and clunky; feels like software designed by the politburo; and the Microsoft logo would look right at home on it. But, on a quarterly cycle I return to it and feed and care for it for a few weeks or a month or two, then abandon it again. Because the software alternatives are more lacking than OmniFocus is lacking.
Nothing like a good sheet of paper. I write my list for the day every morning on a little index card and that’s just fine.
Posted by JakeBernsteinWA
Mar 21, 2019 at 11:19 PM
Thanks, Beck! I had no idea those guides existed. They IMMEDIATELY solved one of my biggest issues with OF3 (the fact that tasks “must” be in projects). The “—-” hint alone was worth the price of admission. Plus I got one for Evernote and Trello too!
Posted by Beck
Mar 21, 2019 at 11:44 PM
Alessandro Vernet wrote:
>So I can’t recommend using OmniFocus this way. Which is too bad, because
>it is tempting to look at OmniFocus as an outliner in which you can put
>any type of items (project, reference, next actions, logs…), but
>with the ability to attach to each item tags, files (images, audio
>recording), and dates (start date, due date, notifications), and the
>ability to create views on the content based on search/tags/dates, all
>this in a tool actively being developed and supported on Apple
>platforms.
You have just managed to articulate more hope and disappointment than should be allowable in less than 100 words. :)
>If anyone knows of an alternative software (or approach), please let us
>know!
So I presume you are still using it this way even though you experience its shortcomings? Or have you migrated your notes away from your tasks in some other system?
Beck
Posted by Beck
Mar 21, 2019 at 11:49 PM
Paul Korm wrote:
>read Allen Co.‘s description of how to set up OF as a list app, it
>sounded a bit like taking a hammer to a Phillips-head screwdriver and
>banging away it until it becomes a flat-head screwdriver.
I got a whiff of that myself, tbh.
>Or just buy the right tool.
Which is??
>Nothing like a good sheet of paper. I write my list for the day every
>morning on a little index card and that’s just fine.
How long has this been working well for you?
Posted by Paul Korm
Mar 22, 2019 at 01:32 AM
Beck wrote:
>>Or just buy the right tool.
>
>Which is??
I’m not sure. No software I’ve used seems like “it”.
>I write my list for the day every
>>morning on a little index card and that’s just fine.
>
>How long has this been working well for you?
Many years. It is simple. Portable.