[wilsonng]

Originally Posted by M_N

Working with a paper-based list most of the time is also important for me: My computer usage has been a lax one most of the time: when I stare on a screen a part of my brain screams "emails!", "flash games" and "lets have fun". This is not a problem of OF, it is me: The medium has become the message.

I have an iPod touch so that I don't have to go back to my computer and "accidentally" check my e-mail.

OmniFocus is probably the most accessed program on my iPod touch. I don't have to be anywhere near my computer to check off an item or to scan my next action lists. Thus, it prevents me from hitting YouTube.

I never thought I would like OmniFocus for the iPhone that much! But it's actually pretty cool to have my next actions at my fingertip.


The best thing to do is to set your default home page to a blank page instead of your favorite web page. Or better yet, just quit the web browser, e-mail, and instant messenger program to avoid distraction....

[wilsonng]

Maybe you should try using the weekly review (either in AutoFocus or GTD).

The weekly review is part of the GTD system that allows you to trust that you are on top of your task list. You will trust your system and know that you will not be missing anything if you would do the weekly review.

The weekly review is used to look at what you have on your task list, prune here and there (either delete it if it's not important or delegate to someone with better resources for the job) or re-evaluate goals and objectives.

I use the weekly review to look at my Someday/Maybe list and see which projects/tasks I want to make active. I also look at the currently active tasks/projects and determine whether I should delete it (the work put into it isn't worth the effort or there is minimal gain), delegate it to someone else (take it off my list of to-do's), or send it back into Someday/Maybe (I've spent enough time on something and just want to put it on the backburner for a while because something else on my Someday/Maybe became a higher priority).

Everybody loves the capturing part. But if you don't do some pruning, your task list will just get bigger and bigger, uglier, and messier.

Use the weekly review to evaluate the tasks/projects and determine whether they fit into your personal goals and objectives. A project that sounded interesting a week ago or a year ago may no longer be as interesting and should be deleted or delegated. Or maybe your goals have changed (I'm not really as interested in my skateboarding project so I might want to start deleting the projects that are connected to skateboarding).

I imagine my task list like my backyard. To keep it nice and orderly, I gotta cut the cut grass, prune around some plants, and move flower pots around to keep things manageable.

Buying plants, flowers, and trees is exciting (kinda like the capturing phase). But If you let it grow wild, it'll soon become a mess. You gotta start looking at your backyard (the weekly review phase) and start taking out the dead trees or plants, or move them around.

Otherwise you'll just have a huge jungle that is similar to a messy task list.

[InAccuFacts]

I'd like to hear more about your method. Are you saying that you're doing AutoFocus on your OmniFocus list?

Also, even though, AutoFocus does not encourage contexts, the directions clearly state you should use a separate list for each location--work and home for example. That might help with some of your un-doables.

(To me, separate lists basically IS contexts, but AF doesn't suggest using them for anything except truly separate physical locations, so you don't loose that intentionally somewhat messy overview).

[wilsonng]

tunesmith says he/she uses OF for project planning but then uses AF for the "doing" part by copy/paste to OmniOutliner.


I think the only thing I found interesting in AF was the "scanning" part. I scan my "work" context until something "pops" up at me. Using my intution, I'll feel if something has an urgent need to be done or I know it's got a due date or I feel I have the energy available for it.