I am a long time OmniFocus user (like waaay back before it WAS OmniFocus), but I can’t say I LIKE using OmniFocus. I no longer have the need for all the granularity that OmniFocus provides (and I never bought into the GTD “discipline”), and I like the “look and feel” of Things (easier to read note fields on the Mac,etc, etc.) but there are 2 features that OF has that Things does not, and I wonder if any Things users have any “tips” for how to get a replica of that functionality.
Perspectives - only really use this to sort what I need to pick up at which hardware store . I am thinking that with Things search and tags, I can get just about the same thing. Any other approaches?
Photos - I sometime wish to refer to a photo on a to-do. Any suggestions to easy ways to link to a photo in a Things note?
In Things this kind of filtering is done by “tags”. You can filter any list by them, just by clicking the proper tag on the top of the Window (Mac), taping on the “Filter by tag” command, or just typing the name of the tag anywhere on the app (except for you’re editing text input fields, of course), that’s what they call Type Travel.
As per photos, there’s no way to attach them directly. For years, I’ve used to photograph send a picture to Evernote, grab its note link, and paste it into Evernote. This still works and I even built a Shortcut to help with this process on my iPhone/iPad.
I talked to Things 3 tech support and requested that we be able to put photos in there. They told me no, that essentially would need a major overhaul, it’s a shame.
I just tried to share a photo in Photos and it wasn’t on the share list. Kind of ridiculous but I really don’t know.
Things doesn’t try to be a data depository like other apps. To embedd photos (and other attachments), use other apps which do it well including OmniFocus et. al. I “link” (point) to these other files when needed. Otherwise, it’s a tool to keep track of things “to-do”. Used to use OmniFocus but as my needs/goals changed, i switched to Things and haven’t looked back.
Same here. Don’t feel like I have to project everything with every small todo in Things. Just pop in what I need to do and it works perfectly. Keeping it simple was a game changer for me. Trying to be an OmniFocus user was just overkill for my need.
And, I think this is good good practice. Adding lots of files and photos to a task-management system will over the long haul slow it down. I much prefer adding links to needed documents, photos, etc. This also ensures that whatever I have linked in Things is always the current version.
And I’d add for readers of this thread that simple doesn’t mean lacking in features. Things is feature rich, not as rich as OF, but Things has plenty of features including some that OF lacks, e.g., Headings, sub-lists, markdown support for notes, “This evening” etc.
I only rarely wish for photo attachments in Things. When I do, I use the iCloud link workaround, noted above.
More often, though, I just don’t use Things for that. My primary need is for grocery shopping—photos of packages to remind me what I’m looking for. I just use Reminders for the grocery list.
For Word documents, Markdown documents, PDFs, etc. I just keep those in Obsidian and link to the project from Things.
As for Perspectives—aka saved searches—in theory they seem essential but in reality I don’t really miss having them. For what it’s worth.
I’ve come to the same conclusion. Being consistent with the weekly review enables me to adjust “when” and “due” dates so that I am completely on top of my projects. OF is a great app but I don’t miss the complexity, fiddliness, and the shear number of clicks required to manage the tasks.
I also use things for the same reasons already mentioned, namely simplicity.
I would love to learn how everyone else uses Things. I feel there are many workflow tips we could learn from one another.
Linking Photos using iCloud Link
@Katie I don’t know if you were referring to @rms’s Evernote trick or the iCloud link, but in case it was the latter here’s a photo. Within the photos app, when you’re on the photo you want, the Copy iCloud link is in the share menu. This creates an iCloud version that I believe is shareable for 30 days.
I did not know abut the different way to access tag filtering - nice!
Thanks for the link to your Evernote Shortcut - not an Evernote user, but that was how I was thinking that photo attachment might need to be done (if needed).
. I am thinking that with Things search and tags, I can get just about the same thing. Any other approaches?
…!!!
