The Omni Group
These forums are now read-only. Please visit our new forums to participate in discussion. A new account will be required to post in the new forums. For more info on the switch, see this post. Thank you!

Go Back   The Omni Group Forums > OmniFocus > OmniFocus 1 for Mac
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

 
Deadlines that eliminate a task Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
I don't even have my sneak peek build yet, but I'd bet my boots that this feature is not yet in it, because I've never seen it in a task manager, and I would LOVE to see OF do this.

I think it can best be described with an example. I play viola and try to practice every day. Thus, what I need is on every day, a new task that says "Play viola" to appear with that day as the deadline. HOWEVER, should life get in the way and I be unable to practice that day, obviously, I don't want that task to just float on to the next day. I need some way of specifying that if I don't get it done, it's too late.
 
For these kind of things, I just use start dates and set the task to repeat daily...then I call the task "practice playing the triangle daily"...

Perhaps the GTD experts can remind us, but isn't there something in GTD cannon about not pretending that something is part of the 'hard' landscape unless it actually is.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by markbrown00
For these kind of things, I just use start dates and set the task to repeat daily...then I call the task "practice playing the triangle daily"...

Perhaps the GTD experts can remind us, but isn't there something in GTD cannon about not pretending that something is part of the 'hard' landscape unless it actually is.
This is one of the areas where I struggle to find the right system: actions that I want to complete on a regular basis but that don't have to happen on a particular day.

I have no trouble with items that have to happen on a particular day, like "Call Dad and wish him a happy father's day". These go on my calendar. (I use iCal To-dos for these.)

But some items don't really fit on the hard landscape of the calendar and also aren't exactly actions to be done based on the "big four" (context, time available, energy available, and priority). Examples of these for me are Daily Reviews, Weekly Reviews, and Exercising. I'm currently treating these as appointments with myself. I block out time on my calendar and regularly review how well I'm doing at keeping these appointments. Occasionally I have to "no-show" for an appointment with myself, but as long as I'm doing that for a consciously chosen reason that is in line with my personal priorities, then I refuse to feel guilty about it.

I tried putting items like this on my next actions lists, and found that they somehow induced more guilt there. Perhaps because I saw them and skipped over them multiple times in a day, rather than consciously choosing to skip them once.

That said, I think that OF handles lowfatsourcreme's request (or it will when repeating actions are debugged). An action set to "Repeat every 1 day after the completion date" when just sit in the action list. When it's checked-off it will disappear until the next day, when it shows up again.
 
However, my issue is that if I *don't* do something, I want it to not "carry over" to the next day. If I don't practice, and it repeats the next day, won't it show up twice?
 
This should actually work with a repeating/recurring task.

My example: Vitamins --I'm still using LifeBalance since I haven't received my invite yet :'(

I try to take my vitamins every day, so I have a recurring/repeating task, if I tick it off, it will be back after 24h, if not, it just sits there until I tick it off.

I would expect the same to be happening in OF.

NB: there was in some other thread a lengthy discussion about repeating vs. recurring...
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lowfatsourcreme
However, my issue is that if I *don't* do something, I want it to not "carry over" to the next day. If I don't practice, and it repeats the next day, won't it show up twice?
Not at all. The task repeats 1 day after completion. If you haven't completed it, it doesn't repeat. So it just sits there and reminds you to practice. Once you practice, you get a 1 day reprieve from the reminder.

The planned behavior is exactly what you're asking for.
 
Curt beat me to it ...

Set up your task with a one-day repeat and the "Completion Date" radio button. Your task will not repeat until the day after you check it off.

All we need now is a way to automatically delete old repetitions -- but that's another thread.

--Liz
 
Not entirely related to OmniFocus, but what about simply putting a recurring appointment into iCal? Then when you can't attend the "Viola Practice" appointment, just delete that appointment.

This means that you have the time already blocked out for that task, and there's no messing about with plonking other appointments into that time slot without consciously making the decision to move Viola practice back or forward in that slot.

If you're doing "Viola Practice" every second day, or three times a week, or whatever - you can just move the appointment around in iCal.

I have the same thing in my calendar for things as trivial as "Bed Time!" and "Guitar Practice" - I'm a gamer, and I need my Palm to nag me about bed time otherwise I'll be thinking, "just one more level/quest..." then it's 3am. And my guitar sits next to my computer untouched.
 
 


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Other people's deadlines aszekely Applying OmniFocus 1 2012-10-30 01:13 PM
minimize or eliminate tabs for activity input reob78 OmniFocus for iPad 3 2011-02-25 08:04 AM
artificial deadlines or no deadlines at all? avandelay Applying OmniFocus 7 2010-07-07 03:31 PM
Feature Req: Eliminate Inspectors rebunkerjr OmniFocus 1 for Mac 12 2009-04-11 05:29 AM
How do I eliminate huge files dheisler1 OmniDiskSweeper 1 2009-03-10 01:03 PM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:01 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.