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Here's a thread about the second stage in the GTD workflow.
The post about the collection stage is here: http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=13597

How I do processing...
During processing, I go through my OmniFocus inbox item by item…

Is it no longer needed?
...I delete it.

Is it not actionable? (non-actionable stuff does not stay in OmniFocus)
Is it something that I might want to do someday?
…I put it in my yet to be defined system (maybe OmniOutliner Someday document)

Is it information that I can use later?
…This is reference material and I still haven't found a single solution that I like yet. I've tried Bento (Mac & iPod touch), notes in Mail, it's looking like OmniOutliner might be the winner but it's not mobile. I want to like Bento but the spark is just not there.

Is it actionable? (actionable stuff stays in OmniFocus)

If I can finish the task in less than 2 minutes, I do it now and mark it complete right in the inbox. Otherwise...

…I look at the name of the task.
If this will take more that one action to complete, I give it a project name. I like to name projects like "I need to…(insert project name)". For instance, "I need to get my molar fixed". "Get my molar fixed" is the name of the project. I change the name of the task to be the next action for getting my molar fixed (ex. Call dentist to make appointment) and give it a Context (like Phone).

If this task stands by itself as a single action (meaning if I complete this task, I'm finished) then I give the task a context and move on.

When I've gone through all the tasks like this, I click "Clean Up" and I'm done. The projects are created and the single actions automatically go to Miscellaneous. I have to keep reminding myself, processing is not organizing.

I look forward to hearing about how you all handle this one.

Last edited by sriggs; 2009-09-03 at 07:17 AM..
 
This is pretty much my system. I haven't developed a good someday/tickler file system yet with Omnifocus. I'd like to see some other examples of that.

Probably the hardest thing for me to figure out how to process is decisions. The "action" is basically mental, unless there is some other input necessary. How do you process decisions?
 
I have a context called DECIDE

Decisions about WHAT to do about something are almost a precursor to a project or list of actions as far as I can figure out

'Decide what to do about curtains'
'Decide what to do about quiz night'
etc

These tend to be pre-project musings. They usually involve research, thinking, head scratching. However, it is something you have to actually DO.

You've got a choice. Either have a context called DECIDE (which is what I'm doing at the moment). Things with these vague overarching decisions get stuck in the DECIDE context until I get around to doing them.

OR

Be extremely GTD about decisions and turn them into projects immediately. This sounds good in practice, but I personally feel that deciding certain thing requires me to be in a certain headspace.

For instance, if I thought I should decide what to do about a quiz night, I could quickly turn it into a project with the following actions:

Pick a date for quiz night
Get list of people
Find venue
etc

HOWEVER I don't really want to do that when I'm throwing stuff into my inbox. I won't be in the mood to think about quiz nights for instance, when there's other stuff I need to get out or think about.

So instead of creating a project immediately, I just create an action 'Decide what to do about quiz night' and use context DECIDE.

So what happens is that these decisions which require a bit more thought get put in the decide context and then later on, WHEN I'M IN THE MOOD OR RIGHT FRAME OF MIND, these decisions get turned into projects and broken down into bits.

So the decide context becomes a kind of reminder to turn decisions based actions into projects when I've got the time, inclination and more importantly, all the relevant stuff in front of me to make up my mind what to do about whatever it is

I use the DECIDE context alongside RESEARCH and REFERENCE contexts. Research and reference contexts are not really action lists, but places to keep stuff in OF so at least some of the things I'm doing are in the same place

Hope that helps
 
I do the same. I call the context Brainstorming, but the process is the same.
 
 


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