Unwanted Loc. reminders now for an action due in Jan [A: add start date to action]
 

I've turned on location services on my iPhone so that when I'm near a certain location and have things on my "To Do" list that are in that area, I will get an OF notification on my screen.

I have a certain task that isn't due until mid-January....however, every time I drive near that store, my phone goes off telling me to do that action.

How can I make the OF on the iPhone stop prompting me with this task until it's within the "Available" time window of 2 days until due date?

Thanks,

J.

Do you have a start date on the action? That two day window you are referring to is merely the amount of time you want OmniFocus to warn you in advance that an action or project is about to be due. It has nothing to do with availability (in fact, you'll get the warning whether it is available or not!)

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;104592]Do you have a start date on the action? That two day window you are referring to is merely the amount of time you want OmniFocus to warn you in advance that an action or project is about to be due. It has nothing to do with availability (in fact, you'll get the warning whether it is available or not!)[/QUOTE]

So if I put a "Start Date" on the action, OF will see it as "off limits" until that start date?

You can understand my frustration...imagine you have a reminder to buy X-Mas presents on Dec 15th,...but every time you drive by the mall from June thru Dec 15th, OF is be-bonging you with a reminder.

[QUOTE=jman995x;104594]So if I put a "Start Date" on the action, OF will see it as "off limits" until that start date?

You can understand my frustration...imagine you have a reminder to buy X-Mas presents on Dec 15th,...but every time you drive by the mall from June thru Dec 15th, OF is be-bonging you with a reminder.[/QUOTE]

OmniFocus doesn't do reminders to do something on a certain date, it does reminders to do something by a certain date. Start date is the earliest date you can work on something, or the earliest you want to be shown something. Due date is the date by which it must be completed. The idea isn't to schedule your life with OmniFocus — it isn't a calendar. Rather, it keeps track of tasks that may not have a fixed time when they must be done, but they need to get done and perhaps by a certain date. That's not to say that you can't assign start and due dates as if they were start and end, but that's sort of like using a screwdriver as a chisel, or vice versa — it works, after a fashion, but you can get better results using the tool the proper way.

And yes, OmniFocus only gives location notifications for available actions, so if the action has a future start date, or isn't the first uncompleted action in a sequence, or is assigned a context (or project) which is on hold (or dropped), or is in a project or action group which has a future start date, you won't get a notification.

[QUOTE=jman995x;104594]So if I put a "Start Date" on the action, OF will see it as "off limits" until that start date?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, OmniFocus really uses this as a "don't bother me about this until" date, but that was awfully long to fit at the top of a column header. ;-)

Less cheekily: it sounds like a start date 2 days before the due date will cause OmniFocus to do what you want. The location reminders will only appear once that date has passed.