[kmtenor]

Hello.

I need to get up and running quickly with a GTD solution (I am a total newbie when it comes to GTD), and am unfortunately a PC/Outlook user. It is clear to me that the best solution available is OmniFocus, but that Toodledo would be a more open platform. The only "work" computer I have available is a PC, but I have also recently begun using an iPad at the office. I only have time to do this once, and would like to make the right choice from the beginning.

If I go forward with OF, I would exclusively be using it on the iPad, and nowhere else. From what I can tell, I would be able to email tasks to my iPad using the "send-to-omnifocus" address, and would be able to sync using the new mobile sync service. These two items go a long way to making me think this will work.

The only thing holding me up right now is the inability to share my to-do items with anyone else from the iPad. My list would be somewhat of an "island", and from what I can tell, it wouldn't integrate with my Outlook calendar, either (though I'm sketchy on the calendar point).

I'm wondering if anyone else out there is only using the iPad version of OmniFocus due to living in a PC environment, and if so, what methods are you using to a) make it efficient to manage your task list, and b) share your workflow with others in your environment?

Also, I get the sense from browsing the forums that there is a trend toward opening OmniFocus up to the rest of the world, and that the Omni Group is doing more to help Windows users get integrated to their software (send-to-omnifocus being a prime example). Am I just being hopeful, or are others sensing the same thing? Does the long-term roadmap for OmniFocus include more cross-platform integration?

Thanks.

-Kevin

[wilsonng]

I dunno. It seems like OmniFocus is set up more for a single user rather than a shared environment. I use OF more for my own personal task management and just enter tasks into Outlook to share with my coworkers.

Workflows are different from person to person. Some folks will resist the GTD workflow because they never took the time or don't want to take the time to learn GTD. Other folks might have developed or used a different task management workflow such as Franklin-Covey, Do-It-Tomorrow, Personal Kanban, or Workday Now.

So it would be futile to try to get your coworkers into the GTD workflow if they resist embracing GTD. So I'd probably use OF to work on my personal GTD workflow and than leave it up to others to figure out heir own workflow. But in OF, I would make sure to have a task to remind me to follow up on what other people are doing.

I listened to a GTD podcast a few months ago and remembered that one person had OF and his company's CRM co-existing. He had to rely on two different systems to make it work. OF for his personal workflow, task management and then Outlook for his company stuff....

[Cantankerous]

Kevin,

As a project manager in a Windows office I've tried using OmniFocus on my iPad as my main task management tool. I've been a fan of OmniFocus for years and I've used it when self employed on my home mac. The iPad app looks great and is pretty easy to use but after a couple of months I've finally decided to switch back to my previous solution of Remember the Milk.

The main reason I've decided to abandon OmniFocus is the effort required to enter tasks in the iPad interface. I've even bought a keyboard to make the typing quicker but the process is just too slow and tedious to be a workable solution for me.

Running a number of teams means that I need to track tasks across various departments and work streams, so I make use of folder and sub projects, but as deadlines are important to me, I find myself in the forecast view most of the time. The folder structure I required to organise my information just became to cluttered to be useful.

Remember the milk has a great web interface that allows me to quickly bang in tasks from whatever machine I happen to be using at the time. They don't have an ipad app yet (it is due out at the end of March) but the iPhone app is as good as OmniFocus and the keyboard shortcuts help make the web app as good as a desktop one.

The killer feature for me is email integration, RTM allow me to email tasks from any email client (so I can quickly forward a task) and as well as the iPhone app having pop-ups, it will email me reminders.

So in summary, OmniFocus on the iPad is a well designed app that is great for your own tasks but is slow for entering lots of tasks and a pain if you work in a WindowsPC world.

Hope that helps

Alex

[Brian]

Just in case it helps: info on the Send to OmniFocus service we started running a while back.

[Stephenmclark]

I have a slightly different but related question, I have been using OF for iPad and iPhone for a while for managing my tasks at work. At work we are windows only. Are there any advantages in getting OF for Mac if I am mainly using the iPad/iPhone versions?

[whpalmer4]

There are a number of features which are difficult to use without the UI from the Mac version, and some which are impossible to use except on the Mac. Some of the features where the Mac UI comes in handy can be accessed with a little bit of clicking on magic URLs and so on.

Features enabled by Mac UI: (many obeyed by iPad/iPhone, but not visible)

• building your own perspectives (custom displays of tasks)
• simultaneous manipulation of multiple items
• control of Inbox behavior (actions need project/context/both before auto filing)
• selection of default single action list
• selection of default due time
• selection of default parallel/sequential project preference
• selection of default auto-complete/no auto-complete project/action group preference
• selection of per project/action group behavior on completion
• editing/displaying duration estimates for tasks (can't edit, or display directly on iOS, but can be used to filter perspectives)
• editing next review date for a project
• editing completion date for an action or project
• viewing added or changed date for an action or project
  

Features only provided by Mac version:

• archiving of completed tasks/projects
• Applescript support (reports, extended searching, etc.)
• Clip-o-tron conversion of email into actions with working links to original message
• intelligent clipping support other than sending page URL
• perspectives based on Project view, not Context
• automatic database backups
• automatic creation of actions from incoming email
• display of client sync status
• syncing of actions to iCal todo lists
• drag and drop attachment access

No doubt I've omitted some things from both lists, but it should at least give you an idea of what you are missing.

[magobaol]

Originally Posted by whpalmer4

There are a number of features which are difficult to use without the UI from the Mac version, and some which are impossible to use except on the Mac.

What whpalmer4 listed are the reasons why I can't use OF on my iPad in a decent way.
Particularly I miss the ability to edit the review date and the project based perspectives, since I have a setup like the one described by curt.clifton in this thread.

I can process my inbox on the iPad, but that's the only "bulk process" I can do on it :-(
When OG folks will give us these features?

Bye,
Francesco