Using OF to Track Activities beyond tasks?
 

Say I have a project in OF and someone who is a part of the project calls me and asks me some questions. There is no specific task for me to accomplish that comes out of the conversation, but I want to remember that so and so called me and I want to remember what we talked about.

Instead of taking down a note and storing it somewhere else, is it feasible to implement this type of simple record keeping into OF?

Is anyone keeping activity records that relate to projects? Is it better to use some type of note taking application in conjunction with OF to keep notes and times of received phone calls or meetings notes?

Or, what about doing research or collecting information that is relevant to a project. Is there an application that works well in conjunction with OF for this?

Thanks, looking forward to input on this...

Personally I use OmniOutliner for capturing this kind of information outside of OF.

There is a script in the extras forum that automatically creates folders for your support files, as well as a script that automatically creates Outliner files. I use both of these constantly. Even if you don't end up using Outliner, the folder creating / opening script is an excellent way to manage support files.

I tend to keep these kind of "status update" notes in the the note fields of my projects and actions. I just prepend each entry with the current date and time (In OmniFocus, go to Edit -> Insert Time Stamp -> Short Date and Time, or hit Command-|), followed by whatever status notes I want to add. Sometimes I'll even make the time stamp bold so it stands out a bit more. For example:

[QUOTE]
[B]6/15/09 1:30 PM[/B] - Looks like marshallj asked some interesting questions about OmniFocus that I'd like to think about. Maybe I'll post a response later.

[B]6/15/09 2:01 PM[/B] - I posted some ideas on the OmniFocus forum.
[/QUOTE]

I like this approach because all those notes then get preserved with my actions and projects in my OmniFocus Archive file. This makes it very easy to reconstruct a project I completed months ago and see exactly what happened and when.

I also like the fact that the status updates get synced to OmniFocus on my iPhone as well. I can add/review updates from anywhere.

As for other project support/reference material, lots of people use a database app like DEVONthink or Yojimbo. But I've personally found the Finder and Spotlight to work well for my needs. It's robust, easy to transfer to another system, and allows me to use whatever file format or editing application I want to modify the files.

Of course, different people have different needs, so ultimately you should use whatever works best for your specific workflow.

-Dennis

Thanks, I had not thought of using the notes field of a project header. All I need to do is create an alias to a folder in the finder containing any type of reference file I want. Or, an OO file with a running record of communications and activities. The key for me is a quickly accessible link from within the project.

I'm guessing that I can use the script to create the folder or OO reference file and then just drag the folder back into the project notes area to create an alias back to the folder/file.

I'm going to using the time stamps to record quick status updates too.

Thanks again,

[QUOTE=marshallj;61251]
I'm guessing that I can use the script to create the folder or OO reference file and then just drag the folder back into the project notes area to create an alias back to the folder/file.

I'm going to using the time stamps to record quick status updates too.

Thanks again,[/QUOTE]

Just a note on the script I mentioned in my earlier message. The first time you run it, it creates the folder / OO script. From the on, clicking on it when you have a task / project selected actually opens the relevant folder / file. So some of the steps you listed are redundant.