managing big things on a small phone
 

I'm not sure if this is a question or just an observation - but i'm genuinely interested in what others' think.

Like many, i'm a mac person at home, a windows person at work, and an iPhone person everywhere else. What this means is that apart from those times when i'm doing general planning and reviewing at home, i'm pretty much using the iPhone app as a stand-alone application. When i first start using OmniFocus and the number of projects and actions was relatively small the whole system seemed to work well.

However, as the number of projects and tasks has grown, i'm finding it hard to feel on top of this material when using my phone at work. I constantly feel like i'm missing something because i can neither see my projects or contexts in a single view nor can i search for specific things that i know are in the system, somewhere.

Apart from simply printing everything out before i leave for work, i'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do. I'd love some suggestion for getting back on top of this material?

Try a MacBook
 

@Chris101 - I like you and many others was in the same situation. For a year I used a web-based GTD app, but I was always envying those Mac folks who could use OF.

I finally bit the bullet and purchased a MacBook (cheapest alluminum) so I could have my complete OF system at work. I am not advocating that for everyone, but with 100's of projects and over 2,000 tasks in my database, mostly work related, it was a very worthwhile investment. Don't get me wrong, the iPhone app is great and I use it at meetings and when traveling, but at my desk, I need all of the customized perspectives and scripts, that have made OF so powerful for me.

Plus - its cool to see the looks when folks come into my office and see the glowing Apple in an all Windows shop. John

Same here. I bought a MSI Wind netbook for under $400 and hacked on OSX. Now I have a very portable OSX netbook to do heavy weight OF work during the day when necessary.

[URL="http://forums.msiwind.net/"]http://forums.msiwind.net/[/URL]

I agree with jbkendrick and Zack42: as nice as the iPhone app is for ubiquitous access to your tasks, I still far prefer using the desktop app whenever possible.

My recommendation would be to try using a Mac laptop at work. I know some companies are more strict on that than others, so YMMV. But you can't beat having all your best software tools at hand. My productivity certainly improved.

-Dennis

I saw a really good movie from Pixar this weekend, and the bit I like the best is when the friendly dog, apropos of nothing, just randomly shouts
"[URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost.php?p=57395&postcount=10"]SQUIRREL![/URL]"

Makes me laugh every time. Oh, hey, what am I doing in this thread? Must have gotten confused.

<wanders off>

thanks for the suggestions, guys.

i do have a MacBook and have occasionally taken it in to work but lugging it around seems more hassle than it's worth - given that our IT department won't provide network access to Macs because of 'security concerns'.

hadn't thought of the netbook approach though, so thanks for the tip.

@Brian (and following the link to Ken's post): sorry, i wasn't suggesting/requesting/demanding a windows omnifocus app (or even a web-based version) but more a way of putting the iPhone application to better use. i really just wanted to know about others' attempts to manage large numbers of projects primarily out of the iPhone.

Another thing to consider is I think some kind of search capability is coming to OmniFocus for iPhone in a future update. At least that's what I read several weeks ago. Not sure if that idea is still on course or when it'll arrive.

Oh, one more thing: Ken has mentioned on Twitter that eventually OmniFocus will be able to sync perspectives to the iPhone as well. So that also might help.

-Dennis

[QUOTE=chris101;60753]given that our IT department won't provide network access to Macs because of 'security concerns'.
[/QUOTE]
And yet they let Windows machines have access? I bet the primary "security concern" they have is job security!

Does the Mac need internet access to be of use? Do you need to get a lot of stuff into OF via email? I would think the added power of desktop OF would be worth carrying a MacBook to the office, but then again, I carry mine just about everywhere, internet or no. You could sync the iPhone over an ad hoc network with Bonjour if you needed to update without begging them for network access.

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;60758]And yet they let Windows machines have access? I bet the primary "security concern" they have is job security!
[/QUOTE]

Either that or they're totally ignorant about Macs and not sure how to give them access to network resources .

I'm a systems admin and I use my MacBook to admin a windows network via Windows remote desktop for 75% of my needs . hehe the Macs are the most secure machines on our network .

A few years ago I read how Robert Peake the CTO for David Allen co . used a mac to run their whole I.T. operation , best decision I ever made : )

sorry , personal rant there ; ) MacBook with bonjour sync with iPhone would be a great solution.

I agree. Carrying my Macbook is well worth the investment I made in purchasing it and in carrying into work each day. While it is convenient to have Internet access, I'm not sure it is absolutely necessary. What I use it for most is forwarding email to OF inbox, and then I organize it later. I'm not permitted on the network either, but I do have wireless access to the net, so it works great for me.

@ext555 - I too use my iMac while at home to remote via Citrix Secure into the training center I manage and can operate any of the 70 Windows workstations right from my Mac! John