Nested folders
 

I'm trying to decide if I should have a deeply nested folder structure or not. I currently have two top level folders Personal and Work, and then under that, different folders for areas of focus, like Family and "Software Development". I'm starting to think that the Personal and Work folders are unnecessary, it is obvious to me that Family is Personal and "Software Development" is Work. I know that David Allen recommends a shallow folder hierarchy for filing reference material, I'm wondering if the same should apply to the Folders in Omnifocus.

David Allen's filing system for reference material refers to paper files needing a simplified system for manual search, and the reference files themselves serve a different purpose than task management. So I don't think it's necessary to follow a shallow filing system based on that unless you really want to. It's more a personal choice.

At the top level in OF I have four folders (Actions, Projects, Goals, Checklists), and one project (Someday/Maybe). Some of the folders contain other folders in addition to projects.

This is for the purpose of managing my sidebar so it doesn't appear cluttered.

Even with a hierarchy of folders, OF can give a flattened view of all the folders by selecting Folders under the Grouping filter. For example, I have a perspective called Next Actions that groups everything by folder and shows the next action for each project. All the folders are presented at the same level giving you a bird's eye view.

[QUOTE=marcia;122875]
Even with a hierarchy of folders, OF can give a flattened view of all the folders by selecting Folders under the Grouping filter. [/QUOTE]

This is cool, now I can have both, a nested folder structure and a view that shows a flat list of folders. Thanks!