[tim.jeffries]

Originally Posted by Lightstorm

Just enabled SMS reminders using the MailMe option in Growl. Sending emails to the SMS address of AT&T works GREAT!

How does that work? Does your mobile provider have to have something setup?

I'm in Australia, AT&T doesn't even exist here.

[tim.jeffries]

Originally Posted by ksrhee

I think I suggested a solution elsewhere, but here we go again.

For me, the simplest solution is for OF to assign alarms to each task that can be passed onto iCal when we synchronize OF with iCal.

In other words, alarms will go off in iCal, but not in OF (thus not violating the sanctity of GTD, which I think should be viewed as a tool, not a unbreakable rule), but folks who need reminders (for those of us who manage multiple projects, tasks, and roles in our lives) will still get reminders.

Seems like a win-win solution to me.

Has this suggestion been responded to or implemented in any way? It seems to most obvious option to me.

[kidtreo]

Yes... I think that this really answers the core of what many users are dancing around when they start asking for new features.

GTD is entirely about implementing new habitats - and I'm the first to admit my progress in understanding OF and integrating it with my life is somewhat slow...but ongoing and succeeding more every day.

I don't think bloating the app with non core GTD features is the answer...certainly not in such an early incarnation of the the program as there are indeed many other apps out there with non GTD features galore - including endless eternal nags for those (like me sometimes!) who can't bring them selves to self manage their time and priorities which I believe is one of the things GTD is meant to help foster.

So I would LOVE a "life coach" book that helped me get more out of my OF desktop and OF iPhone...just as I'm really looking forward to Mr. Allen's new book in December which I hope will help draw attention to that which is really keeping me from a "mind like water".

Originally Posted by curt.clifton

devn,

Thanks for your thoughtful post. Lots of interesting ideas there.

I think you actually are asking for a little automated life coach. And I think that's a wonderful idea! Making GTD really work is all about developing a set of habits. An application that would help with that would be great.

Given the power of OmniFocus, somebody should write a book on "Getting Things Done with OmniFocus". I'm imagining a description of best practices, along with modifications that you might want to make for your own circumstances (for example, if all your work is computer based you might not have many different contexts). The end of each chapter could have a checklist that you could review periodically to see where you need to improve your habits. Then a companion application, like you suggested, could mine your OF data and provide you with coaching. The challenge would be keeping the application from nagging you about things when you consciously choose to do it your own way. That's an interesting problem.

[kidtreo]

This idea sounds very interesting - either as a separate (scripted) application or a "mode" in OF, having "AI" built into OF sounds very intriguing! Perhaps a way of putting the users nose in the core GTD philosophy they might be missing or slow to grasp otherwise?

"Hey there User...these projects have been sitting for 90 days...are you sure you want them active or perhaps it's time to move them to someday / mabey or delete them entirely?"

Hmmm!

Originally Posted by devn

Yay! I didn't come off as a lazy jerk with a bunch of feature requests!

I think you nailed exactly what I was talking about. We need some way to drill down into this gigantic wealth of information we're inputting into our system, and make it smart. It's a touchy subject because "smart" can mean so many things, but there has to be a few elegant tools that OmniGroup could build into OmniFocus that wouldn't detract from the idea behind the application, while still providing users with something to help them on their quest to GTD mastery. I've actually been thinking about writing that book myself. I don't know if I could get it published, but the blog traffic might be worth it. Anyway, thanks for your comments. Let's keep this discussion friendly and open and try to get /something/ in the words, even if that means parsing exported comma separated OmniFocus databases. I started writing a little application last night, but it's going to be a lonnngggg time coming, so beware.

Also, Curt: I'm not sure if you missed the way I was explaining it or if you were just discussing, in general, the interesting problem of nag vs. the will of the user, but just for clarification: It seems to me keeping the "Life Coach" confined to a sort of "scriptable project", if you will, would achieve the goal in question. I mean, after all, if it's only a project, then a user can most certainly just check it off or delete the task if they don't want to do it or they think it's a bad suggestion. Perhaps bad suggestions could be controlled by doing something similar to a spam filter.

1. You fire up OmniFocus for the first time and you input all of your information, and turn on the GTD preference pane.
2. Over the next few days it starts learning about tasks you avoid, tasks you keep re-evaluating, projects you keep avoiding, and begins sending you some helpful reminders, ideas, etc. based on this to a project called, I don't know "Personal Assistant".
3. You don't like some of the reminders, so you just delete them. It sees you doing this, and remembers you deleted its suggestion for that project, task, etc.
4. You like some of the reminders and you follow them: You click "complete." to show OmniFocus it was helpful. OmniFocus is watching you. ;)
5. Now, reminders and ideas you didn't like are still put into that "Personal Assistant" project, but they are marked automatically as completed, so if you'd like to see what you've been missing, you just change the view to "All", instead of Remaining, Next Actions, etc.
6. You see a good reminder that you think you would like to receive, so you uncheck the complete box, and boom, rule removed.

Note that this is just an example of implementation, but I'd love to hear some different views on this. How would everyone go about implementing a personal assistant in OmniFocus?

All the best,
Devin

[kidtreo]

In complete Agreement...PLEASE do not allow OF to get too non GTD in it's nature as the whole reason I use it - is to get better at implementing GTD in my life! There are PLENTY of other apps and scripts options that will blast you with nags 24/7. While I'm intrigued a little by the idea of building a full calendaring (tickler functionality) app into OF, I just don't think that is the answer... personally...my 2 cents.

[CorgiGirl]

Originally Posted by kidtreo

In complete Agreement...PLEASE do not allow OF to get too non GTD in it's nature as the whole reason I use it - is to get better at implementing GTD in my life! There are PLENTY of other apps and scripts options that will blast you with nags 24/7. While I'm intrigued a little by the idea of building a full calendaring (tickler functionality) app into OF, I just don't think that is the answer... personally...my 2 cents.

Actually, in quick response, there aren't ANY task management systems that blast you with "nags" that (1) do a great job of collecting and organizing like OF does and (2) most importantly, there are currently NO task management systems right now that sync two-way between ical, MobileMe, My iphone, My main computer and my laptop. (If you do any traveling at all or have a lot of meetings on the road, or have anyone but yourself entering in a task, this really becomes important.) I think that is why you are getting a lot of posters like myself who are here using Omni for task management vs. the GTD philosophy alone. I'm not just using OF for just my personal life management, I am using it for my business and some project management as well. And honestly folks, there aren't even project management systems right now that can do this (all of the syncing + reminders) - I've looked at everything, and I mean everything. Even Omni's own Omni Plan doesn't do the syncing. There is a gaping hole in this area on the Mac, and this is coming from a die-hard Mac user since 1990.

If these feature requests were options that simply could be an add-on module vs part of the core program, I don't understand why there is such resistance from those who live and breath GTD. Furthermore, just because there is an option to set an alarm doesn't mean you have to set any. In the task entry field, we're talking about adding in ONE small area by the due date that would set reminders or set as events with reminders. How is one line in the inspector palette going to clog up anything?

I think Omni is sitting on a gold mine if they get this right. And if they are afraid of ticking off true GTD's, add in the functions and wrap it up under another Omni Software name. This way GTDs are happy, and they fill a hole in the task management software marketplace at the same time.

[tim.jeffries]

@CorgiGirl

I've worked out that it's unfortunately not possible to do what you (and I) are looking for at the moment anway. Currently the iPhone isn't syncing tasks with iCal, so it won't make any difference on the iPhone if OF allows alarms to be set and sync with iCal. In terms of the iPhone version of OF having alarms, this would be useless unless the application was always open because of the way the iPhone OS works with applications not being able to run in the background.

I'm just trying to change my personal approach to fit with what is possible for now.

[CorgiGirl]

Hi... Actually I would like an alert on a task while I am working on my work, home or laptop computer. Instead of having to go in and manually add then in ical. For my iphone, while alarms would be great, I was only looking to have my tasks with me, which I could check off, as a lot of my tasks are mobile. I have been able to do this by synching ical manually with OF, and the OF pushes tasks through MobileMe to my iphone. The only missing link is automatically synching with both ical and mobileme from Omni focus vs. this manual sync.

But you are right, there is nothing out there... yet. Hopefully one day :)

[wealthychef]

This is a funny discussion, because Omnifocus already has "alarms" -- the tasks turn color when they reach their start and due dates, etc. There is nothing about setting alarms and reminders that violates GTD principles. In fact, David Allen specifically mentioned tossing a bag in front of the front door to remind yourself as an effective principle. In Landmark Education, we call these "existence structures." I think that OmniGroup is doing their best with this app, but need to broaden its features a bit to help those of us who like alarms.

[tim.jeffries]

Originally Posted by CorgiGirl

Hi... Actually I would like an alert on a task while I am working on my work, home or laptop computer. Instead of having to go in and manually add then in ical.

Well this is entirely possible with the current system. You need to use Growl notifications which are actually much nicer than the way iCal does them.

Auto syncing doesn't exist though. :-(