I switched from OF2 to Things 3 full time back in January. I then flirted with the OF3 beta.
When OF3 came out of beta I ping-ponged back and forth several times.
I finally moved in when OF3 came out of beta. After some more switching I finally decided I was just going to use OF3. Stop the insanity.
Today I caught myself putting tasks into Things again. I stopped what I was doing and backed away. Slowly. In horror.
But now I’m wondering about OF3.
OF just isn’t working for me like it used to. It used to be impossible to for me to pull away from OF. Now it just feels like … there’s too many features in search of benefits. Like I’m trying to reinvent how work is done using radical perspectives the likes of which have never been seen by humanity. But I’m not. I’m just flagging things into a dashboard.
But now the dashboard can be unnecessarily complex. With flagged and deferred and you can have tasks appear twice in a perspective because of the new tagging system which makes the whole thing feel like some kind of hack.
I’m thinking that I need to have a serious rebooting of my setup. Get back to extreme basics and then see if and how it needs to evolve.
If it still feels like I’m forcing it…then I give up. I’m a Things user.
We are blessed with alternatives. In recent weeks/months, I’ve been using both Things 3 and latest OmniFocus on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Can’t shake the urge to use both. Depends on my mood. Like David Sparks, the act of messing with the tasks clears my head. I’ve even been known to put tasks completed into both then clicking “done”. Jeez.
My biggest need is for OmniFocus to allow for “scheduled” tasks. Now they only have “Due” and “Deferred”. Things has the idea right. Tasks that are on Today’s list that don’t get done (for whatever reason) show up the next day, and keep doing that until handled. OmniFocus has the new Tag “forecast” to achieve this, but not quite working.
OmniFocus is full of professional tasks, projects, and probably everything. Things is holding the “todo” list. I suspect I’ll stay with that.
Even though the idea in GTD is to use ONE trusted system for both personal and professional tasks, I have always used two systems. One for work stuff and one for personal stuff. A big reason is the Windows environment that I have to suffer through at work ;). So I’m using Things 3 for personal stuff. And for my work I have recently switched to OmniFocus 3 on an iPad (seeing as there will be a web version at some point this year, I can tough it out on an iPad until then). So even though I have dabbled with OF in the past, it wasn’t until they announced the web version that it became a viable alternative to me.
I recently settled this very same decision in favour of OF. I think if OF had a nicer UI and the ability to hide features you don’t use it would be a clear winner. OF also has more structure to it which makes it more conducive to implementing a workflow around it.
I was also miffed that Things don’t value your loyalty. I have T2 and they expect me to pay full price to get T3. When is queried this, they were pretty cold about it. I find their customer service is not as friendly as OF.
OmniFocus 3 for the web will be a version 1.0 site. It is said to include basic features and will resemble a stripped down version of OF3 Standard edition. This will not include any pro features such as custom perspectives.
The web site version will not be capable of other things that are accessible with a native app such as a hot key to get to the quick entry, scripting, and the ability to host your OmniFocus database on your private server. You’ll need to use the free Omni Sync Server to host your database.
It will be a companion to the native app. You will need OmniFocus for Mac or iOS to create your OmniFocus database. Then you can do basic things such as adding, deleting, and editing projects and tasks.
There will be a monthly fee for using OmniFocus for the web. There is no word yet about pricing.
It is a version 1.0 site so there is room to grow. I imagine that if demand is strong enough, there might be a chance that Omnigroup will add more features. But that depends on user response. For now, at least you’ll be able to work with a web version.
This. I tried Things 3 a while back and loved it, but I always missed perspectives and once OF3 beta launched, I had to try that. Since then I’ve been bouncing back and forth a lot. I find OmnIFocus gives me greater flexibility (especially with perspectives and its handling of repeats), and I do like the design overall, but Things looks and feels so good to use. Decisions, decisions.
As an OmniFocus user I tried Things when version 3 released. Did enjoy it, but missed a few features. Now I am considering trying Things again. I really love how it looks and I mostly use OmniFocus with deferring tasks and a today perspective. Things seems to be built for a workflow similar to mine.
Also, let’s distinguish between “planning” and “fiddling” , where planning is using the system to plan one’s day, and fiddling is tweaking the system to get it “just right”. Time spent planning is generally time well spent, and is the purpose of the tool. Time spent fiddling is what I think tends to get people frustrated and feel like the tool is making them anti-productive.
Alright, folks. I spent the weekend just thinking about Things 3 and OmniFocus 3. Could I actually use a Things 3 workflow in OmniFocus 3? Was there anything that I couldn’t translate from Things 3 to OmniFocus 3?
I’ve played with Things 2 and 3 on and off throughout the years. This weekend, I wanted to explore OmniFocus 3 from a Things 3 perspective. Maybe I missed something in translation? If you could help me out, I’d like to see if there are any other Things 3 workflows that I couldn’t translate from Things 3 to OmniFocus. Thanks.
I’m a long time user of OF. Tried Things 3 recently. Also tried Todoist awhile back since it’s cross-platform. I’m always come back to OF. Probably because it’s ingrained more than the specific features. Although the ease of review is a killer feature. Interestingly, after trying the other apps I went back to OF and made some changes based on what I learned.
The other thing I see people talk about with Things 3 is how tasks are never past due (@Wilson_Ng) references it in his excellent project. I wonder if we could update all due dates from the past to today via workflow / Siri shortcuts to have a similar function?
I agree with the view that apps dont get things done people do. That said keeping a track of what you are committed to - large and small requires a trusted place - app or paper; and not just trusted but also enjoyable to use. Your personal practice comes first then supported by a trusted ands delightful app / paper
OF keeps crashing on me. Two different iPads. And they took out the option to long press on a project name in Forecast/Perspective to and go to that project. There’s no way to go directly to it without backing out of that perspective and then drill down in projects.
So I’m back to Things. Just so much friction at every step in OF now. I found an old screenshot of OF1 on iPad with the big blocks. It looked sooooo much nicer to me.
I had been using Things 3 for a year and loved it, but with my new job I was working at a Mac, I decided to do the Omnifocus 3 trial and see if it stuck. My trial runs out today and I really enjoyed omnifocus 3. It certainly feels more powerful with the custom perspectives. However, as I’m thinking about it now. I’m not sure I really need that power. I think I’m going to stick with Things 3 for now and try and implement some of those good habits I re-started from using Omnifocus. I definitely believe that it’s usually the habits that are actually more important than the tools (but the tools can help promote some habits).
Is there a position for Ambassador of Awesome? Rose is always super helpful. I vote to canonize her. Saint Rose.
I reported the crashes once long ago. But not since.
If you are in a project list, you can long press for an option to go to a project.
Or if you are in the project itself
But if you are in Forecast or a perspective, the option isn’t there on long press
And clicking on a project name (instead of a task) in said perspective doesn’t show option in the Inspector to click to a project that is available in a task.
But if anybody knows, it’s this gang. What am I dong wrong?
You are all awesome. I play Magic The Gathering and was thinking how much I like the community. Same goes for this bunch.
, where planning is using the system to plan one’s day, and fiddling is tweaking the system to get it “just right”. Time spent planning is generally time well spent, and is the purpose of the tool. Time spent fiddling is what I think tends to get people frustrated and feel like the tool is making them anti-productive.
