OmniFocus 2: Feel the power of GTD on OS X

The power of GTD lies in the system of collection, sorting, scanning, monitoring and decision-making. GTD-application in the minimum version should allow all these processes. In an ideal - all these processes must, through the application, take place quickly and easily. Let's see to the validity of claims OmniFocus 2 for the best applications for GTD system.

Collection ( "Inbox")

In OmniFocus 2 has everything for a quick introduction to the Inbox tasks. You can display the window for creating a task through customizable hot keys:

As you can see in the window, you can enter all of the data of the problem (note, project, context, start time and duration) or quickly drive a name and send the task to the basket.

Create a task in the folder "Inbox", send an email to a special email address. The theme will be the name of the task of writing and the content will be placed in the notes. On their iOS devices, I drove email OmniFocus in the application and thus creating problems in the two tapas.

And another way - via the context menu "Services":

And so you do not have to every time you select text to cause the context menu, go down to the item "Services" and there find the selection of departure option in OmniFocus, adjust the combination keys. This is done on the tab "Keyboard shortcuts" Keyboard settings:

After this setting when using shortcuts every selected text will be sent to the section "Incoming» OmniFocus 2.

Sort ( "Projects")

For the opportunities and easy sorting, you can create folders and three types of projects: serial, parallel and individual cases. In the case of consecutive cases in a project will always be active only one thing after the next of which will be active. Thus, if you choose Filter "Available", only the first task will be shown from successive projects.

Why projects, I think no need to explain, and folders can be adapted to the areas of responsibility: profdeyatelnosti, health, relationships, development, spirituality, finances and so on.

View ( "Check")

"Verification" - a periodic review of projects and tasks in order to keep abreast of and miss nothing. We are putting every project viewing frequency, and this frequency it appears on the tab "Test."

It looks like this: we open the tab "Check" and look at the NNN project tasks. One problem noted flag, another set deadline, and a third suffered a beginning. After all the necessary manipulations note proven project and forget about it until the next hit on the tab "Test."

It helps not to miss anything important and saves us from everyday view projects that are checked once a week or even a month.

Control ( "Weather")

In the tab "forecast" a similar problem, but with actions and meetings scheduled for the day or for a certain time of the day. It syncs with your calendar in one place gathers the planned deadline in OmniFocus and scheduled in the calendar.

This tab helps us not to miss appointments and events or dates of the task.

Decision-making ( "context" and "Perspectives")

The Greeks had two words for time: "chronos" and "kairos". Chronos - the concept of time, which tells us the date or the length of time remaining before the event or the last of him. Kairos - the right time (kairos - the ancient Greek god of a happy moment).

They say that Pushkin was collecting names avid critics of his works in a special vase and when insisted that it was a kairos sarcastic mood, I took out one at random and wrote a venomous epigram on hapless criticism.

The concept of kairos GTD system transmits the word "context":

Context can be assigned to mental and physical condition (cheerful, headache, exhausted ...), the place of residence (location, hypermarket, house ...), according to the people with whom it is necessary to discuss the issues (works council, Ivan Ivanovich ...), according to the available tools, and so Further.

Under the rules of the GTD, the task can be assigned to only one context, and OmniFocus 2 strictly adheres to this rule. But this is not always justified, and it is necessary to create contexts such as "internet + Mas". Instead, the application allows you to define contexts geographic coordinates to remind worked well with the approach to the target site.

And for even more rapid decision-making have the opportunity to create perspectives:

As you can see from the screenshot, a simple filtering of the project tasks (folder), state (marked in the near future, in time ...) availability (first available, left all satisfied), the duration of the context or content of the text fragment in the name or notes tasks.

For quick access to the long term it is possible to specify a combination of shortcuts or add to that place it in the left sidebar. The top four tabs in the screenshots - created by me perspective.

Prospects synced with iOS-versions in both directions and significantly facilitate decision-making on the next task.

Disadvantages OmniFocus 2

How would a developer tried, but imperfect people in an imperfect world, it is simply impossible to create a perfect application without flaws and shortcomings. OmniFocus 2 is no exception.

The first drawback (relative) - price: a basic version for OS X and iOS will cost $ 40; Upgrade to Pro-version - $ 40 for OS X and iOS for $ 20 (if you had bought the previous version of OmniFocus, the upgrade to the Pro-version is free).

The second drawback - sync. It is slow and produces an error, if you have created or modified a task in offline, are not synchronized to that device with current data on the server.

The third flaw is difficult for me to describe in words. For three years the "relationship" with OmniFocus 1 and 2, we have not been able to become good friends with him and why - is unclear. It seems to have everything you need for a perfect GTD-applications (synchronization disadvantages I resigned), but I always had difficulty in making decisions and vision of the whole picture of projects and tasks.

Perhaps the problem is that five years before that, I used the MLO and was not able to adjust to the OmniFocus. Therefore, I have recently installed CrossOver and again moved to MyLifeOrganized. But that is another story…

So. Given the organizers under OS X, and plan to use the power of GTD system, it is better to OmniFocus 2 today you will not find.