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My "Today" perspective is the first one I look at. It is a context perspective with the following filters:

Context Filter: Active
Grouping: Context
Sorting: Due
Availability Filter: Available
Status Filter: Due or Flagged
Estimated Time Filter: Any Duration


I figured that the next actions I should work on first are anything that is due within the next 7 days and a very small handful of "flagged" tasks. Every week, I choose unflag everything and then start flagging the group of non-urgent but important tasks that I want to focus on for the week.

I'll work on just these next actions in my Today perspective. If I'm done with these tasks, then I'll go to my "Available" perspective. It is the same as the Today perspective but I changed the Status Filter to "Any". This lets me look at all of the other available next actions I can work on. But I don't go to this perspective until I finish my Today perspective.

If you see all of your available next actions, you might just go crazy and depressed at seeing a massive laundry list that seems to never shrink.


At this moment, my Today perspective has 9 actions. Two next actions are due and seven next actions are flagged).

My Available perspective has 43 next actions that I could actually do.

It's easier to look at a list of 9 actions that you are focused on doing this week. If I had to stare at my Available perspective with 43 next actions, I'd probably feel really miserable right now. Because 43 sounds like a big number and I'll feel like completing 1 action will be like a drop in the bucket. But if I finish 1 out of the 9 actions in my Today perspective, I'll gain more confidence that I'm closer to achieving this week's goals.

Stay focused by looking at the Today perspective. I lose focus on what I want to do today if I'm staring at my Available perspective.

That's the point of OmniFocus' perspective feature. Look at all of your tasks through different filters or perspectives. One perspective to look at Errands only tasks. Another perspective that focuses on work tasks. Another perspective for just home tasks. Another perspective for errands. You can create your own Today perspective to focus on what you want to do today and not look at something that is due next month.

Last edited by wilsonng; 2014-02-11 at 05:08 PM..