Automating Omnifocus question

Cool Workflows
1

Maybe I’m just running ahead of myself because I have and watch the OF Field Guide and just haven’t gotten to the automation part yet. But while overhauling my task management system I could really need some advice on automation right now.
This is what I would like to do: I have a bunch of review questions (like “have you tried breaking up this task into smaller parts?”) that I want to apply to each task in a specific list as subtasks once a week. I have these questions in a template and I tried to just copy and paste them into each of the items I want to review this way. This works. But it is tedious.
So my question is how I could automtate this process: “add four predefined tasks to each item in a specific list on each friday”
Thanks in advance!
Robert

2

If you use the same list every Friday, why not just add them to a repeating project, then when you close off the project once a week, it will recreate with all actions and sub actions for the next week.

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3

Are you by any chance on the Omni Forum also? This is a great question and there are a lot of people that have sample automations that that might do something exactly or very like this. You may even be able to download pre-created versions that might address your need. I’d post it in the automation section.

In the meantime, I’ll point you to @timstringer and @Kaitlin who are members of both forums and who are both particularly helpful (and creative) when it comes to Omni automation.

1 Like
4

I could make a repeating list with these questions, but then they wouldn’t be tied to the existing tasks I‘d like to review. Of course I can just get through my tasks with these questions in in my mind, but I catch myself skipping over it this way. That’s why I‘d like to have it as a subtask for each item that I have to physically check off.

5

I am on this forum but my experience was that there wasn’t much activity and questions didn’t get replies. Maybe just bad luck.

6

Are you wanting to “insert” these questions as sub-tasks on arbitrary tasks in a list? The solution that comes to mind is an OmniAutomation plugin that, when a task to which you want to apply the questions is selected, turns the task into an action group and adds your predefined questions as sub-tasks that you can check off. The benefit of this approach is that you would be able to perform the action on any task, in any list. Ask if it can be done for multiple selections, as well!

The automation channel of the OmniGroup Slack is the best place to ask this. The great Sal Soghoian often responds personally!

2 Likes
7

This would make a set of questions in a list inside a project. You could use flattenedProjects instead of flattenedTasks if the list is a project. For weekly automation, you could run from a shortcut via automations in iOS, or use Shortery (great app) on macOS.

(() => {
    const action = new PlugIn.Action(() => {
        const subtaskTitles = [
            "Do I still want to do this?",
            "Do I really still want to do this?",
            "Do I really, really, really still want to do this?"
        ];

        const list = flattenedTasks.byName("Name of your list parent task");

        list.tasks.forEach(task => {
            subtaskTitles.forEach(title => {
                const subtask = new Task(title, task);
            });
        });
    });

    return action;
})();
1 Like
8

Thanks, I‘ll look into that! I really like your example questions! :smiley:

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