The Bible teaches me to flee temptation. I think I will start running. 
6 Likes
I also have a free upgrade, but no matter what I use I always seem to end back on pen and paper.
2 Likes
I’m hoping, now that the devs have rewritten the apps (and they worked VERY hard to do this thoroughly and competently before releasing OF4), they will add the ability to view and manipulate tasks via:
- An Eisenhower Matrix or similar, and
- A Kanban board.
I have so many projects, each with many tasks, that I’d like to be able to view my current tasks in a simplified layout like one of these, to help wrap my head around all the things I have to do.
2 Likes
I agree here. OmniFocus 4 is literally (IMHO) the best version. However, I’ll be reviewing whether I need all of the bells and whistles when I sit down to do my annual review over the winter break. It’s such an amazing product. But sometimes (yesterday) I sort of panicked because I just knew something was in my database and yet couldn’t find it - only to learn that it was blocked by a perspective.
User error? Yup.
However, the overall complexity of my system (not just OmniFocus) has given me an opportunity to rethink.
Plus, I do wish we had proper checklists (like Things does). Nothing’s perfect!
5 Likes
To you, what distinguishes a checklist from a list of sub-tasks?
Is it just me or has Textexpander been removed from Omnifocus 4 ?
I really don’t want to see the children in the Forecast’s “Due” task count. I’d only want to see the parent.
Example…
Pack for trip
- shoes
- suit
- toothbrush
- Books
In that example I’d want to see just 1 task due count (Pack for trip) instead of all 5 items being counted.
As another example, I have a startup and shutdown routine for each day. Each of the tasks, “Complete morning startup routine”, and Complete evening shutdown routine" each have about 5 tasks associated with them. In OmniFocus’s current state, that’s “12” tasks between them, which quickly makes my Forecast look very busy and is a bit deflating to see.
I’ve got workarounds where the primary task (which has a due date) links to a perspective which has a repeating set of tasks for my routines (these have no due date), but then I can’t check it off on my watch without including that perspective and now we are making it more work than it should be.
Things does the checklists thing very well and I wish that OmniFocus would have that.
3 Likes
Not just you. TextExpander discontinued that integration in favor of their own app/keyboard, and told devs to start removing it last year.
I thought you could now hit the arrow and then collapse the children?
You can. But the count of how many tasks exist for the day is affected by children tasks.
I don’t know who I thought I was kidding… of course I bought the upgrade. I’ve got everything in OmniFocus, and while I’ve toyed with the idea of moving to different task managers (or not having a task manager at all), my work and life are sufficiently complex that if I don’t have something to help things get lost.
The Omni Group and OmniFocus have earned my trust over the past two decades. They’ve been rock solid and dedicated to the Apple community since I first bought OmniGraffle back in 2003 (searching for a Mac alternative for Microsoft Visio for network diagrams).
It’s a complex app, but I know it really well. It can seem intimidating at first, but once you understand how it works it really does just flow in your life.
4 Likes
add it back with this.
1 Like
Overly complicated systems kind of defeat the foundational reason for GTD, which was to reduce stress by getting all your tasks out of your brain and into a reliable system you trust. 
7 Likes
While the point about over-complicated systems is absolutely true, some of this would’ve been the exact same problem with a paper system. Accidentally dropped something in the wrong file, accidentally put it in the wrong tickler folder, etc.
At a basic level, I don’t hold that sort of thing against an app. There are definitely times when removing complexity does affect functionality.
Now if somebody is using 37 automations in the UI and has multiple backend systems that are shoveling data in and out, that would be a whole different thing. 
1 Like
Right, periodic double-checking is just endemic to having a lot going on. Complete trust in your system is something that you asymptotically approach over time. I think it’s better to have a calm way to handle uncertainty than to try to set up a perfect system to achieve ‘mind like water’ (a concept I don’t agree with philosophically or biochemically, but anyway.)
When I’m not sure I’ve captured something I just do it again and risk repeating myself if it’s faster than searching. Duplicates sort themselves out over time. This applies to tasks, notes, events, even messages to people (“I apologize if I’ve already told you this, but…”)
3 Likes
If a paper-based system is on one end of the complexity spectrum and Omnifocus on the other, there still are a lot of useful, less complicated, apps that one could use that fall between these two extremes.
3 Likes
Love the feedback on systems here. OmniFocus is my favorite - and I think that I over-automated, to your points. Rethinking how I use OmniFocus may be in order. At least with version 4 we’ve got a fresh outlook on that sort of thing. Thanks all!
4 Likes
Definitely. You are using Noteplan, right? That’s a nice option.
…
I’ve been testing this since launch with the trial and just pulled the trigger.
I was put off during the beta and switched to Things. While I love Things’ interface, I hate that I cannot configure most things as I want and I missed OF’s review.
All the bugs and issues that bothered me in the beta are fixed (massive respect to the developers), and I love the new interface. It’s fast and responsive and makes using the application a pleasure.
I develop software and switching frameworks is a huge task. This was done really well and they managed to reimplement everything. I’ll be a happy OF user for the foreseeable future!
4 Likes