[iancjclarke]

I'm not going to get into a debate over what is and isn't consistent with the method described in the GTD book. Omni themselves have said that while OF can be used to implement GTD, it is supposed to be flexible enough to accommodate different styles of personal organization. Thus, the various "appeal to authority" arguments presented here are a red herring.

My hope is that Omni's goal is to build a useful application first and foremost, perhaps using GTD as inspiration, but not an end in itself.

I'm not demanding that Omni impose some form of notification system on those that don't want it, rather that they make the functionality available to those that do (and I suspect there will be a lot of people like that).

Ignoring GTD doctrine, and just looking at reality: isn't it better to be proactively reminded of what you need to do, rather than having to remember to check an application on a regular basis?
I've tried in vein to make OF part of my workflow, but its a chicken and egg problem right now. OF is not going to be part of my workflow unless I can put tasks into OmniFocus and know that its not going to let me forget about them, as it does now.

[al_f]

Not trying to be funny, but if you didn't want a debate why put up your original post?

In reality, no task management app is going to think for you: you're still going to need to check it as often as you need to in order to feel comfortable with your choices about what you're doing.

[jasong]

Originally Posted by iancjclarke

Ignoring GTD doctrine, and just looking at reality: isn't it better to be proactively reminded of what you need to do, rather than having to remember to check an application on a regular basis?
I've tried in vein to make OF part of my workflow, but its a chicken and egg problem right now. OF is not going to be part of my workflow unless I can put tasks into OmniFocus and know that its not going to let me forget about them, as it does now.

Heh. Indeed, that is ignoring GTD doctrine!

I hate being "reminded" of what I "need to do" because there's no way any piece of software can know what I "need to" or even "can" do at any particular time. GTD, and by extension, OmniFocus, it meant as a capture-and-review process and tool. To get constant reminders is against the very principal of GTD (except for items with real dates and times associated with them, like going to the doctor or the opera): you're supposed to check it regularly (as regularly as you find it necessary to not drop your open loops).

That said, adding a nag factor to OF is probably not difficult. It already has some in it: you can sync your calendars and have iCal nag you appropriately. Maybe they'll add a mechanism to fire off scripts at particular times.

Perhaps as a start they can add notifications when an item becomes "active" after being in "pending" state.

Are there other times when you want notifications?

[iancjclarke]

Originally Posted by al_f

Not trying to be funny, but if you didn't want a debate why put up your original post?

I didn't say I didn't want a debate, I said I didn't want to debate whether or not a particular feature was compatible with GTD doctrine. I'm not interested in GTD doctrine, I'm interested in having a useful piece of software.

[jasong]

Originally Posted by iancjclarke

I'm not interested in GTD doctrine, I'm interested in having a useful piece of software.

You may not mean it like this, Ian, but that's like asking BMW to make their car look and work more like a Mercedes, because you're not interested in "BMW culture". It reads to me like a fine bit of flame-bait on this particular forum.

I understand your desire for a useful piece of software. Many of us have been hoping someone with a reputation for quality like Omni would come along and create this particular tool. Asking for features that are compatible with but not canonical GTD is perfectly understandable, but please realize that this tool is being used and embraced by proponents of GTD.

[pjb]

If, when clearing the Inbox or doing a review, I come across something that needs to move to the hard landscape calendar where it must get done by or at a certain time and for which I may be grateful for a pestering reminder (email, or SMS even better) then a slick way to move a Task out of OF with a date, time, and alarm interval would be very welcome. Perhaps because OF doesn't have that facility, some feel OF should be the calendar/messenger, too.

[kickaha]

Perhaps I've missed it, but the only auto-reminder I actually *do* want, is a review. ie, set actions/projects to be auto-reviewed every Monday by default, and Monday *boom* I get a Review Me sheet that I can just quickly glance at, and if the status quo is good, I can just OK it, or dive in and alter things. Or if a project status needs to be reviewed every month, I can set that, and on the 1st, up that list pops. etc.

As it is, I'm forgetting to review. Maybe I need to add actions for "Review list A", etc. :\

[al_f]

Originally Posted by iancjclarke

I'm not interested in GTD doctrine, I'm interested in having a useful piece of software.

I'd argue that those two things aren't incompatible, if your target market for the software is people who use GTD.

To extend Jason's analogy, what you want is for Nike to add features to their football boots to make them suitable for playing golf in as well, because you want to play golf in football boots. However, that makes no sense for Nike, because their core market for that product is people who play football. Also, playing golf in football boots may be possible, but they're not the best tool for the job. See what I mean?

[ksrhee]

Originally Posted by al_f

I'd argue that those two things aren't incompatible, if your target market for the software is people who use GTD.

To extend Jason's analogy, what you want is for Nike to add features to their football boots to make them suitable for playing golf in as well, because you want to play golf in football boots. However, that makes no sense for Nike, because their core market for that product is people who play football. Also, playing golf in football boots may be possible, but they're not the best tool for the job. See what I mean?

I think this line of analogy is rather fallacious. You are assuming the folks have different purpose or direction for using OF, such as football and golf are. I believe we all want to use OF to help us guide and manage our lives so that we can accomplish things that we truly want in our lives. As such, OF or GTD is just a tool (means) to accomplish that end.

I think more people get zealous or become fanatical over a tool, we often get these two confused.

I think OF can serve multiple constituents who have a similar if not the same purpose/goal in mind.

[dhm2006]

Originally Posted by al_f

To extend Jason's analogy, what you want is for Nike to add features to their football boots to make them suitable for playing golf in as well, because you want to play golf in football boots. However, that makes no sense for Nike, because their core market for that product is people who play football. Also, playing golf in football boots may be possible, but they're not the best tool for the job.

Originally Posted by ksrhee

I think this line of analogy is rather fallacious. You are assuming the folks have different purpose or direction for using OF, such as football and golf are. I believe we all want to use OF to help us guide and manage our lives so that we can accomplish things that we truly want in our lives. As such, OF or GTD is just a tool (means) to accomplish that end.

Then think of it as the difference between a putter and a driver. Both are designed to get the ball in the hole in the same game, but each do it differently.

OF was originally based on Kinkless GTD. I like it being essentially a GTD tool rather than some other kind of productivity tool because I like the principles behind GTD. GTD is not just about getting things done, but about getting things done in a stress-free manner.