Feature Request: Alarm or Reminder [A: Supported, install Growl.]
 

Will the final version 1 have the reminder feature (and perhaps sync the reminder/alarm) to iCal?

Thanks.

I hpe so, as right now I'm having to add alarms manually to iCal after syncing.

I'm sure the Ninjas are on it.

NW

I would also like to request reminders. In addition to being able to set reminders for various tasks/projects. I'd like to see a reminder to do reviews as they are scheduled. Perhaps a dialog window or even growl integration.

[QUOTE=dave256;18881] I'd like to see a reminder to do reviews as they are scheduled. Perhaps a dialog window or even growl integration.[/QUOTE]

That would be too conspicuous, to my tastes. But I could imagine an inspector windowlet taking care of all reminders. If there's nothing to be reminded of, it will float there empty. If a review is due, or even a task, it will be listed there. But I would not like having 'popups' nagging me about overdue stuff.

yes, please
 

[QUOTE=dave256;18881]I would also like to request reminders. In addition to being able to set reminders for various tasks/projects. I'd like to see a reminder to do reviews as they are scheduled. [/QUOTE]

Me, too. I know that a pure GTDer would remember to do their weekly reviews and thus would never need a reminder of anything, but I can't remember what I'm doing from one minute to the next, and having the software remind me, even if it's just to remind me to do the review itself, is crucial.

-- Aimee

[QUOTE=aimee;18908]Me, too. I know that a pure GTDer would remember to do their weekly reviews and thus would never need a reminder of anything, but I can't remember what I'm doing from one minute to the next, and having the software remind me, even if it's just to remind me to do the review itself, is crucial.
[/QUOTE]

Part of GTD is programming yourself to be as automatic with these things as you are with say, brushing your teeth. My hope is that I'll get to that point eventually <grin>.

In the mean time, I have a Weekly Review repeater project, and I'm working on an AppleScript Studio app that gives me review checklists from a toolbox button. You can also set an alarm in iCal, or a reminder e-mail from Google Calendar. According to canonical GTD, the reviews are hard landscape and belong on the calendar anyway.

--Liz
waving to Aimee over the proverbial back fence -- we're IRL friends

[QUOTE=LizPf;18925]Part of GTD is programming yourself to be as automatic with these things as you are with say, brushing your teeth. My hope is that I'll get to that point eventually <grin>.

In the mean time, I have a Weekly Review repeater project, and I'm working on an AppleScript Studio app that gives me review checklists from a toolbox button. You can also set an alarm in iCal, or a reminder e-mail from Google Calendar. According to canonical GTD, the reviews are hard landscape and belong on the calendar anyway.

--Liz
waving to Aimee over the proverbial back fence -- we're IRL friends[/QUOTE]

I am all for following a good process, but a strict adherence to a rule seems rather constraining to me, and the rigid structure is what makes certain programs and processes fail since they fail to take account of different needs of the individual. If we want reminders, let us have it so that we can take advantage of the feature, and those who do not want it, then you don't have to use it at all.

Furthermore, it seems rather redundant and inefficient for me & others to create a task in OF and then having to go into iCal and set up a reminder. I for one would like to take care of it in one program rather than having to keep going back and forth between two programs.

[QUOTE=ksrhee;18988]Furthermore, it seems rather redundant and inefficient for me & others to create a task in OF and then having to go into iCal and set up a reminder. I for one would like to take care of it in one program rather than having to keep going back and forth between two programs.[/QUOTE]

Hopefully the iCal synchronization will take care of all of that.

Personally, I'd rather have a good task management program that can interoperate with a good calendaring/notification program, than have all of these programs have overlapping and duplicate functions.

[QUOTE=jelmore;18994]Hopefully the iCal synchronization will take care of all of that.

Personally, I'd rather have a good task management program that can interoperate with a good calendaring/notification program, than have all of these programs have overlapping and duplicate functions.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I'd much prefer to see OmniFocus remain lean and mean. The creeping featuritis is why I abandoned iGTD in favour of Omnifocus.

ueila

[QUOTE=ueila;19024]I agree. I'd much prefer to see OmniFocus remain lean and mean. The creeping featuritis is why I abandoned iGTD in favour of Omnifocus.

ueila[/QUOTE]

Also, there are good reasons to separate time-related activities (such as appointments) from "to do"s. What you need for the latter is project deadlines, though, which OF handles very well IMHO.

What I do is to flag, each morning, the next actions that I plan to do this day (my "A"s for the day, according to earlier gospels), and I have a "perspective" to focus on these and check them off.

Now it would be great if I could put these things -- just these -- on my Nokia N95 (no iPhones yet in Germany). But a full sync with iCal -- no.

Klaus

[QUOTE=jelmore;18994]Hopefully the iCal synchronization will take care of all of that.

Personally, I'd rather have a good task management program that can interoperate with a good calendaring/notification program, than have all of these programs have overlapping and duplicate functions.[/QUOTE]

What if you don't use iCal or any calendaring application? I don't really have a rigid schedule and I don't have a lot of appointments or meetings so keeping iCal open for the couple of items a week that I might have to remember to do something is overkill and unlikely to stick behaviorally and because my routine is not fixed it is even more important that I am alerted about important pending tasks lest they slip through the cracks.

To do items often reoccur and are time sensitive, that's why so many people held off on using OF until the repeat functionality was implemented even though technically they could have jerry-rigged something in iCal. A lot of people, including me, want all of this stuff in one place so we can [I]focus[/I] on what needs to be done rather than dipping in and out of several programs.

Should the file attachment feature in OF be gotten rid of because the Finder already allows you to organize files? Why does iCal have To Do's if it's a calendar app? Programs that address overlapping concerns are going to have overlapping features.

[QUOTE=whalt;19063]I don't really have a rigid schedule and I don't have a lot of appointments or meetings so keeping iCal open for the couple of items a week that I might have to remember to do something is overkill…

To do items often reoccur and are time sensitive, that's why so many people held off on using OF until the repeat functionality was implemented even though technically they could have jerry-rigged something in iCal. [/QUOTE]

I don't yet have a firm opinion on the "OF needs reminders" question, though I lean towards "against". But note that you don't have to have iCal open to be reminded of events. iCal alarms are issues whether or not iCal is running, unless you change a preference to disable that.

I currently use repeating iCal "appointments" to remind myself to do my evening and weekly reviews. It works well. Because I'm not frequently changing these reminders, I don't really have to develop a discipline of maintaining them in iCal. Once set up, they just work.

While waiting for the reminder question to be resolved for OmniFocus, you might give this use of iCal a try.

(I should note that reviews are the only items that I use reminders for. During my reviews I look at upcoming deadlines and adjust my focus accordingly.)