[Mischka07]

Hi all,

One of my main problems is keeping track of projects. I'm looking for suggestions on ways I can make project management easier and more efficient. How does everyone here do it?

As a background, I currently use Google Docs for project management. For instance, if I'm building an aquarium, I will create a folder in Google Docs called "Project: Home aquarium". In it will be a document where all my ideas for the aquarium are laid out step-by-step. I then create a project in Omnifocus under the same name as the Google Doc project, with the Next Actions I determined in the planning stage. As I knock of those tasks, I go into the Google Doc to update the plan, i.e. cross out those items I've completed.

That said, it's very unwieldy. Sometimes I'll forget to update the task list because I'm in a hurry, or I'll forget to input the Next Action in Omnifocus, etc. So if you have a better suggestion on project management, please let me know!

[whpalmer4]

What value do you see yourself creating by trying to track the project in two different places instead of just one? Why not do it all with OmniFocus, with links to external documents if you don't like keeping them internally? I'm not understanding why you would want to maintain two parallel lists of next actions, for starters.

[Mischka07]

I'm not really tracking my projects in OF, rather, OF is more of the "bookmark" that tells me what my immediate NA is for a project. The external document is where I track the project's status. Many times the project is fairly large and requires some subprojects, I can't track this on OF and to do so would require serious tweaking (though this may have changed recently), so I opt to keep the project page separate.

I guess another example would be a mindmap with parts that have been ID'd as sub-projects. I can link multiple projects to that mindmap document, and check off on the sub-projects as they're completed.

If you all know of a way to keep track of this on OF itself, let me know as it would help me be much more efficient.

[whpalmer4]

Again, I'm a bit puzzled as to why you think you can't track a large project in OmniFocus. If you want to be able to manage each sub-project with all of the project management tools, make a folder to contain all of the pieces, and make the sub-projects into projects in that folder.

Perhaps if you outlined the specific obstacles you see to managing a large project in OmniFocus (and your idea of the scale a project needs to be large) we could find some solutions...

[Mischka07]

Hmmm, would you be able to describe how you would do it on OF? I guess I don't quite know how to explain it. Apologies.

[Hope]

:-) I'm afraid if you don't know how to explain what your question is, no one will be able to answer it.

I'd suggest that you start by watching the tutorial videos here. If that doesn't answer your question, it may help you reformulate your question so we know what the problem is.

If you do still have questions after watching the videos and want to try asking again, it might be helpful to describe an example of a project and sub-projects, and which parts you are currently using OmniFocus for. Even better, you could include some screenshots to show what you're doing. Believe it or not, it is really hard to tell what the actual difficulty is from what you've described.

You could also try contacting the OmniGroup support gurus by email or phone (+1-800-315-6664). There's also a guy who indicates in this thread that he might be willing to screen-share with people looking for help.

OmniFocus is designed to have the flexibility to manage and keep track of complex projects. You probably won't need any hacks or work-arounds once you understand how the software works. Watching the videos will give you a good start.