[DamonC]

I've been using OmniOutliner for GTD in the past and I had a section for Someday / Maybe and kept lists in there. I had a list for Reading/Research which would contain books to read and web pages to read. OO can store clickable URLs that would open Safari. I don't seem to be able to do this in OF, although the text of the URL can be stored, but then I have to copy and paste this into Safari. Purchases consists of 2 lists - Definite Purchases and Possible Purchases. Items to buy online would contain the URL to the page, and other items would just be listed.

I'd like to keep these lists in OF but will lose the functionality I had with OO. How are you managing these types of lists or are you keeping them outside of OF? I don't want to have to use to separate lists for things like this. Am I missing something? If not, will URLs be actionable from within OF in 1.0?

[MEP]

Clickable urls work for me in the notes field in OF. I don't think they work in the actual action description though.

I don't keep a lot of my lists in OF, and honestly, I've never really wanted to. My Someday/Maybe list often has long notes or musings attached to some of the list items, and that just wouldn't work as well in OF's (or OO's) notes field as it does in the program I do use (VoodooPad). I have a "wishlist" I keep in OO which is a list of everything I need to purchase in the near future or would like to purchase at some point. Looking at this list every time I get the urge to make an impulse buy usually stops me cold (thank you Merlin Mann). Sounds similar to your purchase lists, but keeping them both in one gargantuan list makes the prospect of buying anything less attractive to me.

The only list I keep in OF is a list of actions cross-referenced to a list of projects and contexts. I kind of hope that the functionality of OF doesn't expand beyond that honestly. I'd rather OF be really really good at just one thing than suffer the debilitating effects of feature creep.

[DamonC]

Originally Posted by MEP

Clickable urls work for me in the notes field in OF. I don't think they work in the actual action description though.

Thanks, I hadn't noticed that.

Originally Posted by MEP

I don't keep a lot of my lists in OF, and honestly, I've never really wanted to. My Someday/Maybe list often has long notes or musings attached to some of the list items, and that just wouldn't work as well in OF's (or OO's) notes field as it does in the program I do use (VoodooPad). I have a "wishlist" I keep in OO which is a list of everything I need to purchase in the near future or would like to purchase at some point. Looking at this list every time I get the urge to make an impulse buy usually stops me cold (thank you Merlin Mann). Sounds similar to your purchase lists, but keeping them both in one gargantuan list makes the prospect of buying anything less attractive to me.

My problem is that I work in 2 different locations on 2 separate computers. I then have my personal computer so I have 3 different GTD OmniOutliner files. If I keep my lists separate, that's a lot of documents I have to carry with me as I like to be able to review my documents from any location that I'm currently at.

Originally Posted by MEP

The only list I keep in OF is a list of actions cross-referenced to a list of projects and contexts. I kind of hope that the functionality of OF doesn't expand beyond that honestly. I'd rather OF be really really good at just one thing than suffer the debilitating effects of feature creep.

Would you mind expanding on the cross-referencing part? It sounds interesting. I completely understand about feature bloat. I don't want to see it have too many things added to it. I want to keep everything as simple as possible for my different locations.

[MEP]

Originally Posted by DamonC

Would you mind expanding on the cross-referencing part? It sounds interesting. I completely understand about feature bloat. I don't want to see it have too many things added to it. I want to keep everything as simple as possible for my different locations.

That's what OF does by design. It keeps your list of actions, projects and contexts and cross-references them for you (by way of relational database). I wasn't trying to describe any unique process on my part, just stating in a roundabout way that I use OF for the task OF was designed for.

I can understand your point about the multiple documents and syncing them up between machines. I can see how having a list-like feature in OF would be helpful in that situation, but I'm not sure how to incorporate that feature into OF in any way that wouldn't clutter up the interface, thereby reducing the utility of OF's primary features.

If it were me, I'd keep copies of my lists (from whatever application I decided to use for my lists) on a USB key drive (automatically synced with Chronosync or some hacked up open-source-based solution of my own) and just take that with me to each machine. Such lists would probably be really small and would easily fit on a USB key (or the spare space on my iPod or my Palm (which might actually be able to read those lists if I saved them in the right format)). Obviously, that's not exactly ideal for every user.

Maybe it would be worth thinking of ways to include some kind of basic list-making feature in OF, but it would have to really well-thought out, and probably not something tacked onto the 1.0 release. Such a feature would likely require a third view (in addition to Planning and Context view) and could easily clutter up the interface so I'm not really sure it would be all that great an idea. The more I think about it really, the less I like the idea, but who knows what the Omni folks will think.

At the very least, such feature would be related to the primary function of OF, as list making is an integral part of GTD.

[brianogilvie]

Originally Posted by MEP

The more I think about it really, the less I like the idea, but who knows what the Omni folks will think.

At the very least, such feature would be related to the primary function of OF, as list making is an integral part of GTD.

I think that Omni has a great list-making application already: OmniOutliner (Pro). I keep plenty of checklists in OOP, and I've been linking to them from the notes field of relevant actions or projects. For instance, one of my projects is planning a series of workshops; in the project notes I put a link to the OOP outline with a list of possible topics and presenters. I have lists of habits, checklists for getting my house ready for winter, etc. Part of my weekly and monthly reviews involves going over the relevant lists.

Some of them can be moved into OmniFocus: my someday-maybe list, for instance, though for the moment I find it psychologically helpful to keep it separate. (Putting something into OmniFocus seems to involve a commitment, even if I mark it as on hold.) Others I prefer to keep separate, and if it makes sense, to link to them from OmniFocus. But I can see how others might prefer having lists in OmniFocus, and it would be in keeping with the GTD approach. (After all, the context and project modes are different lists, albeit with the same data.) Still, it seems to me that one of the strengths of OF as it evolves is that its list-manipulating features are being tweaked to the specific needs of a GTD project and action manager. I find it more useful for general lists to use OOP's feature set. (Or NovaMind, for mind-mapping "lists.")

[dhm2006]

Originally Posted by MEP

Clickable urls work for me in the notes field in OF.

I have a "wishlist" I keep in OO which is a list of everything I need to purchase in the near future or would like to purchase at some point.

Originally Posted by jasong

If you put the URL into the attachments section of an action, it becomes clickable.

I was also keeping lists inside OF but stopped because they were cluttering my view of stuff I needed to do.

Originally Posted by brianogilvie

I think that Omni has a great list-making application already: OmniOutliner (Pro). I keep plenty of checklists in OOP, and I've been linking to them from the notes field of relevant actions or projects.

Thank you all for this great idea. I have been very resistant to the idea of moving my grocery list out of OF on the theory that it represents an errand and *should* be in OF. However, I decided to give it a try. I have to say that it is working like a charm.

I have a link to an OmniOutliner "Grocery List" file in the note field of an action in OF called "Buy Groceries" in "Out - Errands" context. The OmniOutliner "Grocery List" file has a list of all the different things I am likely to buy (a list I made several years ago), and I just select the things I need from the list using the status checkbox.

It is working so well that I am going to try moving some of the other lists I maintain and keep just a link to them in OF.

I used to do something very similar to this in a program called ECCO before (a) it was orphaned, (b) I switched to Macs, and (c) I started following GTD. It is nice to be able to do it again.

As an aside, I never realized how functional OmniOutliner Pro is. I bought it to run KGTD and never really explored it until I tried out this idea.

Edit: Added MEP's comment since it was the same/similar idea.

[DamonC]

Originally Posted by MEP

That's what OF does by design. It keeps your list of actions, projects and contexts and cross-references them for you (by way of relational database). I wasn't trying to describe any unique process on my part, just stating in a roundabout way that I use OF for the task OF was designed for.

Thanks for clarifying that.

Originally Posted by MEP

I can understand your point about the multiple documents and syncing them up between machines. I can see how having a list-like feature in OF would be helpful in that situation, but I'm not sure how to incorporate that feature into OF in any way that wouldn't clutter up the interface, thereby reducing the utility of OF's primary features.

I'm not sure I can think of a way that this could work and I don't want to ask for something that could reduce OF's ease of use. This is one of the major benefits over other GTD apps as they seem overburdened with features or making you do things in a very linear fashion.

Originally Posted by MEP

If it were me, I'd keep copies of my lists (from whatever application I decided to use for my lists) on a USB key drive (automatically synced with Chronosync or some hacked up open-source-based solution of my own) and just take that with me to each machine. Such lists would probably be really small and would easily fit on a USB key (or the spare space on my iPod or my Palm (which might actually be able to read those lists if I saved them in the right format)). Obviously, that's not exactly ideal for every user.

I've been thinking of using Chronosync for a number of other items in my workflow. Do you use it? If so, what do you think of it?

Originally Posted by MEP

Maybe it would be worth thinking of ways to include some kind of basic list-making feature in OF, but it would have to really well-thought out, and probably not something tacked onto the 1.0 release. Such a feature would likely require a third view (in addition to Planning and Context view) and could easily clutter up the interface so I'm not really sure it would be all that great an idea. The more I think about it really, the less I like the idea, but who knows what the Omni folks will think.

At the very least, such feature would be related to the primary function of OF, as list making is an integral part of GTD.

It's an idea, as brianogilvie says OO is great for this though. I like his idea of integrating the lists outside of OF into the reviews. I hadn't thought much about that before.

[curt.clifton]

Originally Posted by DamonC

I've been thinking of using Chronosync for a number of other items in my workflow. Do you use it? If so, what do you think of it?

I use Chronosync to keep my Macbook Pro synchronized with my PowerMac at the office. (I mount the MBP in target disk mode on the PowerMac to do this.) I also use Chronosync to synchronize the iPhoto album on my MBP with the one on my wife's iMac at home. It's a powerful application, which means that it has a fairly significant learning curve. But Econ does a great job with their manual and with posting examples of how to use it.

Originally Posted by DamonC

It's an idea, as brianogilvie says OO is great for this though. I like his idea of integrating the lists outside of OF into the reviews. I hadn't thought much about that before.

I also use OO for checklists and more free-form planning. Example OO lists that I'm using regularly include Morning Review, Evening Review, Weekly Review, Monthly Review, Monthly Goals, Bi-annual Review, and One and Five Year Goals. If I have something that I want to bring in to OmniFocus from OO, I use my Send to OmniFocus script.

[MEP]

Originally Posted by DamonC

I've been thinking of using Chronosync for a number of other items in my workflow. Do you use it? If so, what do you think of it?

I've used Chronosync for a lot of things (including keeping my old KGTD action list synced up on my iPod in Notes HTML format) and I like the app a lot. I wouldn't use it for actual backup and recovery (no metadata support the last time I checked), but for synchronizing files across computers, network connections and external storage devices it's really great. I was initially surprised by how well it keeps files on my USB stick in sync without any user-intervention. There's a bit of a learning curve getting it to work perfectly, but it's worth it if you have a lot of things you need to carry around from machine to machine (unless you have the yearning to hack up a solution of your own and save $30). I suggest downloading the trial and giving it a whirl.

[jasong]

Originally Posted by DamonC

OO can store clickable URLs that would open Safari. I don't seem to be able to do this in OF, although the text of the URL can be stored, but then I have to copy and paste this into Safari.

If you put the URL into the attachments section of an action, it becomes clickable. URLs in the title are (currently?) just treated as text.

Originally Posted by DamonC

I had a list for Reading/Research which would contain books to read and web pages to read. [...] How are you managing these types of lists or are you keeping them outside of OF? I don't want to have to use to separate lists for things like this.

I was also keeping lists inside OF but stopped because they were cluttering my view of stuff I needed to do. I had movies I'd like to see, books to read, places to eat, etc.

I use Journler for keeping those lists. I generally drop them into OF first when I think about it (ubiquitous capture!) and on my reviews move them into Journler; I use their smart folder hierarchy to manage things, so my "Places to..." folder has subfolders called "... eat", "... visit", etc.

I just like the app, btw, no involvement in any way. http://journler.com/