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Hi Everyone,

I've spent the last eight years using Franklin/Covey. I'm not one of those persons for whom F/C was just a quick todo list and nifty leather binder that my employer paid for. I am one of the serious "What Matters Most" kind of guys. Over the years F/C has been a good system for me, unfortunately the F/C software has gotten worse and worse.

Last year I hit the breaking point, I hadn't used a paper binder in years but I had to go out and buy a paper binder. I've spent the last 12 months carrying it around, and I AM DONE.

I went looking for a replacement and laded at OmniFocus. I listen to a lot of podcasts, I've been listening to Merlin talk about GTD for a couple years I think, so I'm not unfamiliar with the GTD concepts. I have not read Allen's book, but in truth I'm not looking for a new system, I'm looking for new software.

That being said, I find the concept of "Context" interesting, and I'm starting to see how I can apply it to help organize my tasks. I love the Parallel vs Seqiential concept too and it's starting to make it's way into my mind as I lay out projects. I do miss my little "ABC" "123" columns, but I can adapt.

So, with regard to OF, I like it a lot, but there are a few things I have not figured out how to do yet. I don't know if the functionality I am looking for exists at all, or if it's available via a plugin or what (I did a lot of forum searches before I started writing this, but if I missed some of these answers please forgive me).

Question #1 Priority. Yes I saw the long thread on Priority, and I can understand how some people would want it and other not. But when I sync my tasks (or Action Items if you like) to iCal it gives them a priority. Where is that coming from? How do I change it, or see it, in OF?

Question #2 Delegation. I have things on my task list that need to get done, but not by me. I need to track it, it's a step that needs to be completed, but not one that I can complete myself. In F/C I'd mark that as delegated. How can I indicate that I've delegated an action Item in OF? Yes, I could flag it, but I don't want to unflag it later, I want it marked, for all time, as delegated.

Question #3 In Process. Sometimes my task is to call someone, and I end of leaving them a voice mail, and waiting for them to call me back. In F/C I'd mark that item as In Process. In OF it looks like it's either done, or not done.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and offer an answer or suggestion if you have one. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about OF and the community around it.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpathomas View Post
Question #2 Delegation. I have things on my task list that need to get done, but not by me. I need to track it, it's a step that needs to be completed, but not one that I can complete myself. In F/C I'd mark that as delegated. How can I indicate that I've delegated an action Item in OF? Yes, I could flag it, but I don't want to unflag it later, I want it marked, for all time, as delegated.
When I delegate a project to someone, I move it into a folder called "Delegate." Inside this folder I have sub-folders for various people that have delegated projects. If I click on "delegate" I can see all of the delegated projects. Or, I can click on a person and see their delegated projects.

If I delegate a task within one of my projects, I assign the project a context with a person's name. I'll write something like "Waiting For email re: summer calendar" in a people context.

BTW, all of my projects are nested in folders inspired by Franklin Covey. I.E. father/husband, home owner, sharpen the saw.

For the record, I used to do the franklin covey priority method. I am much more productive and relaxed without them.

Good luck.

Last edited by steve; 2008-06-06 at 12:17 PM.. Reason: fixed formatting
 
The Delegated Projects folder is a great idea, I'm going to use that. I also see what you mean in regard to context. I suppose I could created a "Delegated" context, and then sub contexts for each person I delegate to.

So now I'm wondering if there is a problem with "Context Inflation?" Do you end up with 10k contexts?

Thanks for your response Steve.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpathomas View Post
So now I'm wondering if there is a problem with "Context Inflation?" Do you end up with 10k contexts?
Heh heh. As Steve already knows (we were comparing systems the other day), I suffer from a bit of context-inflation-itis. :)

I currently have 64 contexts. However, only about 2/3 of them are active (with tasks assigned) at any given time and many are nested. So managing them has not been a problem. I like to set the view bar filter in context mode to display only active contexts, which helps a lot.

I'm not saying lots of contexts is necessarily the way to go. It seems to be working for me, but I'm still experimenting. And I'm sure some people have more contexts, and lots of people have far fewer contexts. So I think it really comes down to personal preference and what works best for you. Fortunately, OmniFocus provides the tools to handle a fairly large number.

My only complaint with OmniFocus' handling of large numbers of contexts would be that when right-clicking on the OmniFocus Dock icon, the resulting list of contexts is a bit overwhelming on my 15-inch MBP display. It'd be nice if that contextual menu would nest contexts like the OmniFocus sidebar (already submitted a feature request months ago).

-Dennis
 
I just counted and I have 22 contexts at this point. I can easily think of half dozen more that I could use, but most of those are nested. I'm going to try and substitute the idea of "Context" for any F/C concept that I can't envision in OF and see how far that gets me.

Thanks for your input Dennis.
 
Question #1
If I remember correctly, flags in OmniFocus sync to priorities in iCal. I'm not entirely certain though, so test it out.
 
Quote:
As Steve already knows (we were comparing systems the other day), I suffer from a bit of context-inflation-itis. :)
One of the beautiful things about OmniFocus is there are so many ways to set up your system. That also makes it challenging for a new user.

Quote:
So now I'm wondering if there is a problem with "Context Inflation?" Do you end up with 10k contexts?
As long as your nest your contexts, I don't think having too many contexts is ever an issue. For example, I have a good 20 contexts nested under people. I can look at a micro level just focusing on one person or I can select the top level "people" context and see everything underneath it.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lizard View Post
Question #1
If I remember correctly, flags in OmniFocus sync to priorities in iCal. I'm not entirely certain though, so test it out.
I don't think that's it. I checked, I don't have anything flagged in OF, yet I have varying levels of importance in iCal. Is it possible that iCal is setting priority by due date?

I know this is not the iCal forums...
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpathomas View Post
I checked, I don't have anything flagged in OF, yet I have varying levels of importance in iCal.
OmniFocus assigns three priority levels when it syncs to iCal:
  1. A high priority is assigned to flagged actions.
  2. A medium priority is assigned to next actions.
  3. A low priority is assigned to all other actions.

Hope this helps!
 
Quote:
OmniFocus assigns three priority levels when it syncs to iCal:

1. A high priority is assigned to flagged actions.
2. A medium priority is assigned to next actions.
3. A low priority is assigned to all other actions.


Hope this helps!
Yes it does! Another mystery solved.

Thanks.
 
 


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