But if I can search for a workflow that doesn’t require a specific tool, the workflow becomes evergreen and not tied to a specific app.
Many times, I’ll come to a blog site or the Discourse forums or pick up one of the books/vdeo courses and go through it. I’ll discover something and see if it fits me. Hopefully it can translate to other apps. Life is about experimenting and trying different things. We won’t know it all and we might encounter a new life hack because life demands it. When it comes to the “best possible workflow”, I can’t say there is one beyond reviewing. I might have a best practice for a particular part of my life. My college life demanded a different workflow and it wouldn’t work in my life today.
An app is a tool and not the problem solver. It can help grease the wheels but ultimately, completing the task is up to us. I’ve got a power drill but my wife wouldn’t know how to use it. She needs to learn the basics of drilling (the right drill bit, the right drill, etc) before she can master it. When she has the basics down, she can figure out how to drill something without asking me for assistance.
I think, that some people spend so much time looking for a perfect app/workflow that you’ll never see them, eehm… getting things done. Eddie seems to be one of them so many others, too - I remember one guy wo made a couple of posts in his blog about switching from OF to Org-mode, only to find out some months later that he is back to OF. Similar story with taskpaper where people would accept it enthusiastically and then drop it some months later.
I think, more often than not people fiddling with productivity apps are too afraid to admit “the problem is you, not your app”. I am not perfectly happy with OF, but I clearly see that my problems with it rise from general frictions with GTD.
The Sweet Setup has a course on Things. I haven’t seen it (I don’t use Things) but I bought and learned a lot from two other courses they sell, for Day One and for Ulysses. Three levels of video instruction, priced $29/$39/$57
I absolutely do too. Sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy with this.
Bottom line: Things is simple and very easy to learn and use. OmniFocus is much more robust and full featured.
Things works great just for me and my stuff, but I can’t really share a list with my wife when we need to collaborate on a project.
I am also retired from my primary career but have been tinkering around with a business on the side - so that introduces another set of contacts, commitments, projects, etc.
Overall, I think OmniFocus would serve me better, but it is a bit overwhelming.
My own experience is that I eventually run off the end of less robust and full featured apps in any given class and even if it takes me a long time to get comfortable with them I’m better of starting with the top end app no matter how confusing it at first appears. I save all the time I spent learning the “easier” app and become better at the app I will eventually end up with sooner.
Ok, I have to admit it, after over a year on Things, I finally gave in and went back to OmniFocus. It might help that I’ve moved from managing people into an actual project management role, but I needed the big guns again. I still think Things is prettier, but after reading GTD again I realized Things was working against me by hiding everything that isn’t “available” today. Could be that I was just bored again…
One thing I enjoy about Todoist is the ‘Next Seven Days’ view, which is the main way I view tasks. The update to Apple Reminders only has ‘Today’ and ‘Scheduled’ but Schedules is broken down with day separators so it might be sufficiently usable for me.
Me too. I was on Things for a year, but it simply wasn’t robust enough for me. Omnifocus isn’t as pretty, but it definitely meets my needs better than Things.
For me Things is more of a personal GTD. I did not need all the options in Omnifocus. But I imagine if I had to run various projects with inputs from more sources, Omnifocus would be better. I also think a GTD app should be as simple to possible. You just put it in the information and need a quick look to know what is needing to get done. That is why I like Things. I was always adjusting something in Omnifocus, which was fun but I realized I spent too much time in the app itself and I just do not need all the options. And in the end it is necessary to realize that if you spent 1 hour doing something to save 10s on a task, you need to repeat that task 360 times to get the time back.
I think it really is pretty easy to decide between Things and OF 3. If Things has the power and features you want and meets your needs, go with Things. It is far easier and more intuitive to use, much less expensive and, at least IMHO, has a more attractive interface.
On the other hand, OmniFocus has a lot of power and features for those who have more complex task management needs. I think some people can get overwhelmed in OF if they don’t really need its advanced features and that frustration can cause the back and forth switching.
OmniFocus has a much larger online training and support community, but that is primarily because Things is intuitive enough to use that there is no need for a lot of extra training beyond their provided tutorial.
Neither of them is good for collaboration and both of them must be tweaked a bit if you want to use them with the GTD system, although Things is probably closer to the GTD system than OF is in their native formats.
If you are really into GTD and want an app built and designed from the ground up exclusively for GTD, check out Nirvana on iOS. It also has a web version so you can access it from any desktop or laptop computer with an internet connection.
I wouldn’t recommend it for any other individuals who need a task manager, but it is beautiful for GTDers (you know who you are).
I’ve just ready through GTD again over the summer and it motivated me to take another look at OmniFocus.
The result is that I have it set up with perspectives that I can tap in different contexts, and I’ve been finding it amazingly useful again in helping me focus on the right task for where I am at any particular time. Things is beautiful and I used it for a while but, for me, it falls short of being able to successfully apply GTD as I want.
Combined with DEVONthink for ticklers and reference materials, I now feel really on top of things in terms of organising my life and applying the methodology.
In case anyone’s interested, this was the result of configuring OF while reading GTD again:
I only use Things on IOS and I was trying to find a way to open a tag through Shortcuts. Currently it’s not possible as you need to specify a list first prior to selecting the tag. I emailed their support address and explained the situation and what I wanted and they have said they’ll look into it.
I like the Sweet Setup and this is just my opinion… but most people won’t need this. Things is simple enough that, with a knowledge of GTD, you can learn to apply it by yourself. Here are some free resources I’ve found useful as well:
I bounced back and forth between OmniFocus and Things several times. When I’d switch to Things it always made me feel more under control, like I had less to do. However, this was only an illusion created by the simpler UI. I have switched back to OmniFocus for good as while it sometimes makes me feel more overwhelmed, I believe it gives me a more honest look at what I really have to get done. I just had to admit I have a really complex list of tasks and that this simpler UI of Things just could not do the job.
so many others, too - I remember one guy wo made a couple of posts in his blog about switching from OF to Org-mode, only to find out some months later that he is back to OF. Similar story with taskpaper where people would accept it enthusiastically and then drop it some months later.
