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I'm struggling with one specific aspect of my OF layout - part of my job requires me to manage relationships with a number of other companies. I've got some regularly scheduled things with these companies (i.e. a quarterly business review) as well as normal projects. What I am struggling with is how to organize these in my Project View - at the moment I'm considering two different options
1 - A "Master Project" for partner with actions on those projects "linking" to a full project.
2 - A folder for each partner with the projects around that relationship being housed in the folder

I'm leaning towards #2 as it seems less complicated but something just doesn't rub me right about it and I can't put my finger on it.

Any suggestions?
 
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Originally Posted by paland View Post
I'm struggling with one specific aspect of my OF layout - part of my job requires me to manage relationships with a number of other companies. I've got some regularly scheduled things with these companies (i.e. a quarterly business review) as well as normal projects. What I am struggling with is how to organize these in my Project View - at the moment I'm considering two different options
1 - A "Master Project" for partner with actions on those projects "linking" to a full project.
2 - A folder for each partner with the projects around that relationship being housed in the folder

I'm leaning towards #2 as it seems less complicated but something just doesn't rub me right about it and I can't put my finger on it.

Any suggestions?
Two interesting methods you can work with there.

Originally my OF was without folders at all...all 50+ projects just on the sidebar without categorization. But for months now have used folders, having one titled "School" another "Wealth" also "Health" and another "Love" just to name a few. This works wonders for me as these folders have folders within themselves. For example the "School" folder has folders inside of it each concerning a specific class and/or assignment. The same with the other folders. I've creat enough of these main folders, about 7 I believe that every project I create falls into one of these categories. This allows me to see OF in an uncluttered manner and perhaps this may be pure mental but feel I can accomplish more now that i'm looking at a sidebar with a long laundry list of projects to do.
 
Paland,

I don't understand what you mean by "master project" and "linking" in option 1.

If I understand your situation, I would organize it by making a folder called "Partner Companies" (or something like that). Inside would it I would make more folders, called "Company 1", "Company 2", etc. Inside each folder put all the projects related to that company.

The thing is to keep in mind that you're not trying to take the place of contexts with these folders. Folders are for organization of your projects, to organize what you see in project mode. Many find it helpful to make folders for each major area of focus in your life. It's best to keep it as simple as it can possibly be (and yet still work). It may take some experimenting to find the right level of complexity in your folder structure, one that makes sense to you.

The other useful aspect of folders is that you can focus on a single folder. For instance, if you're having a meeting with Company 2 and you want to see all the current projects that you're doing for them, you could just focus on the "Company 2" folder and wipe all the rest off your screen. Or if you have been slacking on Company 2 and you want to work exclusively on their projects today, focusing on the Company 2 folder would allow you to view only their projects in context mode.
 
Hey Paland,
I agree with abh19 not to tangle context into them, but that doesn't really sound like what you are doing. I suggest having enough folders to help you keep on top of it all, but keep it as simple as possible.

I personally use 4 folders for my situation. I run a creative shop so i have grouped in folders my projects like this:

Clients projects (i use a client code for each client and job number at the beginning of the name which also helps me to see which project belongs to which client eg OMN0023_Website Design).
Agency projects (projects that are related to running my business)
Opportunities (new business prospects etc)
Personal Projects

This lets me manage things in good sized chunks on screen and also helps narrow down my search when I'm scanning for a certain project. It also help me when I want a particular perspective, eg, i want to work only on client projects, that are due today.

BTW - I also have reflected these groupings for my project support material on my physical desk with wire racks representing each "folder" and project bags for all paper based info and similarly again on my computer for my soft info. Works well for my needs.

Remember, it's not hard at all to change things as you go, none of it is set in concrete, so try it for a while and refine it as you go, you'll soon see if it's working or not.
 
I've taken a slightly more detailed approach myself. I have several prospects and customers I have to manage, each in conjunction with a different Account AE. I have an overall Clients folder, then a subfolder for each AE and a sub-sub folder for each customer. The projects for any customer go inside that folder. That lets me start and finish projects in a finite manner, and also quickly do an account review with an AE.
 
 


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