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Actions with Due Date but without Due Time Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3ltr View Post
ok... you must know GTD better than David Allen.
This is stupid.

You can pick the time of the day. Or not, and get the default. But if you want something due on a specific day, at some point it is overdue. Is that at midnight? Is that at 4 AM? Who really cares?

I rarely set the due time, but I configured it to be 5 PM. That's the "end of the day" for me, but you can pick whatever you want.

Things uses midnight for its due time and there are people who are apoplectic about that fact. If you want "no time," what time would you like OF to use to determine when something is overdue? If that's 11:59 PM, then set it to that.
 
Omnifocus does sync with ical (and actions with due dates). I'm aware the Omnifocus developers have said in the past, but the fact is, Omnifocus currently does sync with your calendar.

to be able to sync actions with a due day and time, but not just a due day, does not make sense.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CatOne View Post
This is stupid.

You can pick the time of the day. Or not, and get the default. But if you want something due on a specific day, at some point it is overdue. Is that at midnight? Is that at 4 AM? Who really cares?

I rarely set the due time, but I configured it to be 5 PM. That's the "end of the day" for me, but you can pick whatever you want.

Things uses midnight for its due time and there are people who are apoplectic about that fact. If you want "no time," what time would you like OF to use to determine when something is overdue? If that's 11:59 PM, then set it to that.
ummmm... most calendars have options for "all day" events.

Have you even read GTD? DA specifically talks about using "day-specific" information and reminders and to not make them "time-specific".

and yes, this forum is for discussion on Omnifocus. And Omnifocus is based on GTD principles, so I think it's very relevant.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3ltr View Post
ummmm... most calendars have options for "all day" events.

Have you even read GTD? DA specifically talks about using "day-specific" information and reminders and to not make them "time-specific".

and yes, this forum is for discussion on Omnifocus. And Omnifocus is based on GTD principles, so I think it's very relevant.
Correct. And when do you actually see the due time on a task? I never see it! I see the due date. I know it's due today, but I don't really know or care about the time. The time is simply when it turns from orange to red. This is date specific. I never (well, VERY rarely) use a time when I set a due date for a task. You can also set the default time to 12:01 AM if you want and never type a time again.

You are confusing the fact that in OF you CAN set and use the due time, or you can ignore the specific time. As I stated before, task management software is going to have to pick an actual time when a task becomes overdue. Whether or not you are able to pick that time (as you can with OmniFocus), or are unable to pick that time (as with Things, where it automatically chooses 12 AM) is really immaterial.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3ltr View Post
ummmm... most calendars have options for "all day" events.

Have you even read GTD? DA specifically talks about using "day-specific" information and reminders and to not make them "time-specific".

and yes, this forum is for discussion on Omnifocus. And Omnifocus is based on GTD principles, so I think it's very relevant.
I have read GTD - many times. On page 35, it states:

"To manage actionable things, you will need a list of projects, storage or files for project plans and materials, a calendar, a list of reminders of next actions, and a list of reminders of things you're waiting for."

On page 39, it states:

"Three things go on your calendar:
  • time-specific actions;
  • day-specific actions; and
  • day-specific information.

OF is several of those things, but it is not a calendar. The fact that it syncs with iCal does not make it a calendar. Since it is not a calendar, it does not need to specify "day-specific actions." It DOES allow you to specify due date and due time. If you want to specify a day-specific action, then 11:59 pm is the obvious time for that day-specific action. You can set the default due time in the Preferences. I happen to set the default at 5:00 pm, like CatOne. But if the day-specific actions are important to you, and you don't want to put them on a calendar like David Allen suggests, then set the default to 11:59 pm and you will have your "day-specific" actions. Or else find another app - one that is actually a calendar.

Last edited by dpvanwormer; 2009-12-26 at 10:30 PM..
 
nowhere did I state that Omnifocus is a calendar, nor do I want it to be.

Omnifocus has the ability to add entries to your calendar, but only time-specific events and not "day-specific".

To quote DA again, "Day-specific actions: these are things that you need to do sometime on a certain day, but not necessarily at a specific time. Perhaps you told Mioko you would call her on Friday to check that report you're sending her is OK She won't have the report until Thursday, and she's leaving the country on Saturday, so Friday is the time window for taking action- but anytime Friday will be fine. That should be tracked on the calendar for Friday but not tied to any particular time slot- it should just go on the day. It's useful to have a calendar on which you can note both time-specific and day-specific actions."

So, go ahead and tell me Omnifocus is not a calendar again. The fact is Omnifocus allows you to add actions to your calendar, but only "time-specific" and not "day-specific" actions.

all I'm asking is that it allow you the choice of either.

oh, and by the way, 11:59pm is a specific time.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3ltr View Post
nowhere did I state that Omnifocus is a calendar, nor do I want it to be.

Omnifocus has the ability to add entries to your calendar, but only time-specific events and not "day-specific".

To quote DA again, "Day-specific actions: these are things that you need to do sometime on a certain day, but not necessarily at a specific time. Perhaps you told Mioko you would call her on Friday to check that report you're sending her is OK She won't have the report until Thursday, and she's leaving the country on Saturday, so Friday is the time window for taking action- but anytime Friday will be fine. That should be tracked on the calendar for Friday but not tied to any particular time slot- it should just go on the day. It's useful to have a calendar on which you can note both time-specific and day-specific actions."

So, go ahead and tell me Omnifocus is not a calendar again. The fact is Omnifocus allows you to add actions to your calendar, but only "time-specific" and not "day-specific" actions.

all I'm asking is that it allow you the choice of either.

oh, and by the way, 11:59pm is a specific time.
Again, I use OF for _day specific_ actions all the time. I never even SEE the time, so I can't really see how the fact that there's a specific minute when something changes from orange to red is even material. Because, again, I"ll say... there is a TIME when the application has to decide when a task changes from NOT OVERDUE to OVERDUE. That's a binary event, and whether it happens at 11:59 PM or 12:00 AM isn't really material.

Unless, of course, you specifically are speaking about OF synching to iCal and how you want the events to appear in iCal itself.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by CatOne View Post
Unless, of course, you specifically are speaking about OF synching to iCal and how you want the events to appear in iCal itself.
This is what I'm talking about. Because I DO use a separate calendar, I would like the options to have actions appear as all day events on said calendar.
 
This appears to just be going around and around. It's important to remember that the only reason events are added to the calendar on the iPhone is because Apple doesn't provide any other way to pop-up an alert. It's not meant to be calendar integration - it's using the calendar to provide time-specific notifications, which can't be gotten any other way.
 
It's also important to note that feature requests posted on the forums don't count. Use Help → Send Feedback on the desktop app or the mail link in settings on the iPhone to submit them to Omni if you want them considered.

Cheers,

Curt
__________________
Cheers,

Curt
 
 


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