[klaing]

Hi, I've just returned to using OF after about a year or so without it. I don't remember Folders being an option the last time I used OF. Granted I've been upgrading it, so I have no idea when the folder option was released, so my questions are:

When was the folder option implemented, and;
How do you use the folders for your OF?

Thanks!!

[Brian]

First off, welcome back! Just fired up version 1.0.1 to double check - Folders have been there from the very start. :-)

Most folks use folders as an organizational tool, sometimes referred to as an "Area of Focus". It's a way to group all your Work projects, for example, while keeping them separate from "Home" or "Health", etc.

Hope this helps!

[atreinke]

Here's how I use Folders (as everyone is different, most others will have something totally different):

Folder Name
[1. Objectives] - these are all my projects/actions directly related to my immediate job objectives as outlined in my annual review. These will advance my career.

[2. Production] - these are all my projects/actions directly related to my job as outlined in my job description. These are why I get paid.

[3. Administrative] - these are all the projects/actions directly related to the daily administrative tasks that must be done but don't directly relate to my specific job. We all have these.

[4. External Committees] - I'm on a lot of these, I work for a public authority and represent that authority on a number of city/county/regional committees. These are important but do not relate directly back to my job description.

I have these numbered so that they show up in my order of importance. I try to focus the early part of my day on Objectives, then Production. The afternoon, when I'm fried, I look at the mundane administrative things. Committee actions get done in between or in the evenings.

Obviously these 4 folders are work related, I then have a few for Home/Financial/Personal. These are focused on when I am at home.

Hopefully this gives you an example of how folders can be used. By setting things up this way it makes it easier to develop specific Perspectives to work from during your "do" time.

[eurobubba]

I use folders to organize a hierarchy of goals/objectives that I want to achieve in different timeframes. At the top of the hierarchy is a four-year Vision that I review every February 29, i.e. Leap Day; this one I don't actually keep in OmniFocus. Below that are Goals for each year in support of that Vision; these are my top-level folders in OmniFocus and I review them quarterly. The next level is the Objectives I need to achieve each quarter (I originally used calendar quarters, but this year I started doing them by seasons) in order to reach those Goals; I review these every month. Below these are monthly Projects reviewed every week, and weekly Actions reviewed (ideally) every day. The last two generally correspond to the way those terms are used in OF and GTD.

[Oogiem]

I use folders as my buckets for projects related to specific areas of focus. I have sub folders for finer division of those areas.