Like I mentioned earlier, I used Todoist and Remind a lot for many years. My way of working was always tied to my weekly review. I would go through all my tasks and distribute them across the week. If something was a bigger task, I’d break it down into smaller parts and assign those to specific days. That way I felt like I controlled my own momentum.
But as everyone who’s worked for a while knows, in a perfect world you could just follow your to do list. In reality, that’s not how it works. Things come up all the time, urgent issues need attention, and priorities suddenly shift. That meant I constantly had to move due dates around and rethink my plan.
What I’ve noticed during the short time I’ve been using OmniFocus is that I work more from a project perspective. I see all my lists, and every Sunday I use the built in review system to go through everything and check the status.
After that, I set deferred dates on tasks that I need to start on a specific date, and only use due dates when something is actually urgent. Then every morning at work, I sit down, review my projects, decide what to prioritize for the day, and flag the tasks I want to focus on.
If I don’t get through everything because something unexpected comes up, the tasks don’t become overdue. They’re just still there the next day when I review my list again. And honestly, that reduces a lot of stress. I used to feel a bit bad seeing overdue tasks all the time.
Another thing I like is that I focus more on projects than individual tasks. Instead of asking “what tasks should I do?”, I ask “what project should I work on?”. I open the project, look at the tasks, and flag the ones I want to work on that day.
And if they’re not finished, that’s fine. They stay in my forecast, so I still have a clear view of what’s coming up.
Overall, it just feels like a simpler and more flexible system for me, and it helps me focus more on projects rather than constantly managing tasks.
Does that make sense?
