[historydoll]

Anybody out there have ADD? I do, and as much as I appreciate OmniFocus, I'm starting to find its complexities a little overwhelming. I'm hoping another ADD-er has made it work better for them and is willing to share.

[Brian]

In addition to the suggestions in this thread, maybe it would be helpful to adjust your perspectives to hide columns you don't really need? (I suppose hiding the inspector window may also help.)

First, I'd suggest bringing up the quick entry window and clicking the gear button in the lower left. Turn on whichever columns you use frequently here, so you can enter new tasks with all the info you want to capture... without needing to switch over to OmniFocus and away from whatever else you're doing. Hopefully, this'll also reduce the need to use the inspector window in OF.

Next, try switching to the Due perspective, then use the settings under
View -> Columns
to turn off any columns that might disturb your flow. Once you've got a view that works for you
Perspectives -> Save Snapshot
will lock those settings in so you can use them in the future.

(Repeat with your other perspectives as needed.)

There's also (what sounds to me, but I haven't been diagnosed with ADHD so take with a grain of salt) like some good advice in this post over on the Davidco forums.

Hope that helps!

[historydoll]

First of all, thanks very much for the fast and helpful response!

My original post was prompted by an article on an ADD forum about organizing programs for people with ADD: the main thrust was that you needed something that is *simple*, in order not to get caught up in the mechanics, which I confess I do with OF.

I've already done most of what you suggest, and unlike the poster in the thread you sent me to, visually I have no problems with OF. I have tweaked it to my satisfaction, so that it's pleasant to look at, and I can find my information quickly and clearly.

I think the problem is more a conceptual one. I certainly agree with the poster over at the Davidco forums--a post which I had just read yesterday, in fact--that GTD is perfect for ADDers, or at least for this one. The idea of achieving clarity by breaking things down both by project and by context works well for me, particularly the granularity of the actions. Where I have difficult is with the start date/due date and prioritizing aspects of it. I invariably wind up with 27 actions starting on the same date and then get discouraged :)

The best solution for me at the moment seems to be a daily review in which I flag the things I need/want to do today, but I know things are slipping through the cracks. Maybe I just need to review more often?

Any simpler approaches to OF which you can think of would really help. Thanks for listening :)

[DrJJWMac]

Originally Posted by historydoll

The idea of achieving clarity by breaking things down both by project and by context works well for me, particularly the granularity of the actions. Where I have difficult is with the start date/due date and prioritizing aspects of it. I invariably wind up with 27 actions starting on the same date and then get discouraged :)

Perhaps you should reconsider what START DATE should mean. I find it easier, rather than using start date as a date for when I WANT to do something, to set a start date on an action only to define when I CANNOT ACTUALLY do that action UNTIL that date.

Then, I flag actions that I want to make "active" for the day.

--
JJW

[historydoll]

Thanks for the suggestion, and I think you are suggesting the right approach for me: essentially ignoring the whole Start Date thing unless there really is something that can't be approached until a certain date, which works for me.

What do you do about things that must be done ON a certain day? I imagine I could do the same: use it ONLY for things that have a specific date.

Perhaps the reason I am finding all of this overly complex is that I'm trying to use all of its aspects, including the ones I don't need! (very ADD of me :)

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by historydoll

Thanks for the suggestion, and I think you are suggesting the right approach for me: essentially ignoring the whole Start Date thing unless there really is something that can't be approached until a certain date, which works for me.

You're not ignoring the start date feature, but rather using it as intended. It isn't intended for scheduling your work (I plan to work on this task starting tomorrow at 9 AM), but rather for hiding work from you until it is possible to do it (it isn't possible to work on this task until tomorrow at 9 AM). Similarly, contexts are for hiding tasks from you when you are not in the right context to work on them. If you're easily distracted, hiding anything you shouldn't or can't be working on right now is probably a good thing, right?

What do you do about things that must be done ON a certain day? I imagine I could do the same: use it ONLY for things that have a specific date.

Well, you can't work on it before that certain day, so you put on a start date of the morning of that day. It must be completed that day, so you put on a due date of the end of that day. In both cases, you'll use an appropriate time, perhaps the start and end of normal "business hours" if it is a task that involves calling some business, for example. It may appear that you are "scheduling" yourself to work on it by doing so, but that isn't really what you are doing — it just turns out that the window in which you are able to work on it is so small that in this case it approaches the limiting case where the time between start date and due date is the amount of time it takes to do it.

[DrJJWMac]

I make very sparse use of START and DUE on a task, mostly until something outside sets these time frames for a task. Here are some examples ....

START DATES
My lab studies have a start date because I will not have access to the measurement system until on that day. My monthly review has a (repeating monthly) start date by definition. My follow-up chat with a colleague has a start date because he is on travel until that day.

DUE DATES
My taxes have due dates. The thesis I am reviewing has a due date, otherwise the thesis get shifted to a different semester, with financial consequences to the student. The follow-up chat I must have with my colleague has a due date (because I am leaving town the next day).

NO START OR DUE DATES
* confirm PC system upgrade
* transfer funds for yard work project
* estimate contract costs for house painting
* ...

HTH

--
JJW

[historydoll]

Thanks to both of you, these replies were really helpful. I particularly appreciated the following, which is *exactly* right :)

Originally Posted by whpalmer4

If you're easily distracted, hiding anything you shouldn't or can't be working on right now is probably a good thing, right?

[historydoll]

P.S.: You are both reinforcing something I said earlier, which is that I was essentially trying too hard. The Start and Due dates were becoming cages for me rather than tools with which to free myself, and I thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

[mwillems]

I have ADD (clinically diagnosed) - and so of course instead of entering tasks I am skipping through this forum.

But yes, ADD is exactly why I bought OF. I'll keep it simple (on the iPad version). So far, so good, but time will tell whether it'll stick!