The Omni Group
These forums are now read-only. Please visit our new forums to participate in discussion. A new account will be required to post in the new forums. For more info on the switch, see this post. Thank you!

Go Back   The Omni Group Forums > OmniFocus > OmniFocus for iPad
FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

 
Flags Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Just a quick Query as to other's use of OF for iPad.

I have a fair understanding of GTD and like the system for being able to view tasks in several different ways (Projects / contexts)

OF adds to this by allowing me to set dates when tasks and projects should be worked on.

Due dates give me the benefit of adding recurring tasks which makes me more efficient because I don't have to copy them from my Calendar every morning.

The part of OF which I don't 'Get' is the Flags. I can't see a reason to use them with the various views already available.

My question to you then is, how do you use the Flags, what do they give you that OF doesn't already provide? Suppose I'm trying to see if I'm missing something that could improve my productivity.

Thanks In Advance
 
I use a handful of perspectives, plus the flags. Much of this is adapted from Curt Clifton's post a few years ago: http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost...80&postcount=2

I check my urgent view (items with an impending due date) to see what needs to be done today. I then check my tickler view to see what is starting today. Much of that will be repeating items having to do with keeping life moving along. Stuff in "real" projects often will not have start dates, or only the first action will, so most of it is not showing up in the tickler view, though it may appear in the urgent view if not done promptly enough. I use the flags (which I update every day) to mark off items that I want to emphasize, even if they may not be picked out by those two perspectives (I've got hundreds of projects, most of which don't have a due date). I build up the flagged list as I do my daily review activities and empty out my Inbox. If I end the day with an empty Inbox, nothing on the flagged list, and nothing in today's portion of the forecast view, it has been a spectacularly productive day!

I also sometimes use the flagged list as a way to organize the stuff I'm going to do today. I will look at the big list and flag a handful of related things, then switch to the flagged list and just work those. When I finish with that batch, I'll grab the next batch, and so on. Most of my contexts have enough items in them that working them to zero isn't practical, so this offers a quick and easy way to get the satisfaction of finishing a list, which I find very useful in keeping up the motivation in the face of a daunting list of work to be done.
 
Thanks WHPalmer, it's always interesting to understand how others do things.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by whpalmer4 View Post
I use a handful of perspectives, plus the flags. Much of this is adapted from Curt Clifton's post a few years ago: http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost...80&postcount=2

I check my urgent view (items with an impending due date) to see what needs to be done today. I then check my tickler view to see what is starting today. Much of that will be repeating items having to do with keeping life moving along. Stuff in "real" projects often will not have start dates, or only the first action will, so most of it is not showing up in the tickler view, though it may appear in the urgent view if not done promptly enough. I use the flags (which I update every day) to mark off items that I want to emphasize, even if they may not be picked out by those two perspectives (I've got hundreds of projects, most of which don't have a due date). I build up the flagged list as I do my daily review activities and empty out my Inbox. If I end the day with an empty Inbox, nothing on the flagged list, and nothing in today's portion of the forecast view, it has been a spectacularly productive day!

I also sometimes use the flagged list as a way to organize the stuff I'm going to do today. I will look at the big list and flag a handful of related things, then switch to the flagged list and just work those. When I finish with that batch, I'll grab the next batch, and so on. Most of my contexts have enough items in them that working them to zero isn't practical, so this offers a quick and easy way to get the satisfaction of finishing a list, which I find very useful in keeping up the motivation in the face of a daunting list of work to be done.
I do the same sort of thing with flags... I use them for things I would like to either get done or have my attention on for the day. Of course, I don't always (heh... ) get everything done on the day I would like to, so I keep the flags on, which then builds up over time as I flag more things. Perhaps this is a sign that my productivity isn't what it should be, or I'm biting off more than I can chew.

When you go over your flagged list, do you unflag things every day and start fresh?

I've requested this to the Omni ninjas, but it would be nice to be able to flag/unflag items quicker without having to open each item. Perhaps put the list in "edit" mode and a grayed out flag appears on the right next to each item. Then you could just tap the ones you want to have flagged.
 
I use flags for "should do today" tasks. However, I am annoyed at the grayed out eye selector.

I want to see the tasks that I have flagged that are available. I use the list as a "what do I do now?" list. So having a flagged project or a flagged but not available task is pure clutter.

Is there any reason that the eye shouldn't work there?

I will try making a perspective and see if I can make it match.
 
Flagging an item currently overrides any of the status filters. If it's flagged, and you're in the flagged view, it's visible.

[Edit: Hmmm... completed items which are flagged aren't visible. Arguably a bug. Will file it as such, anyway. :-)]

The view button is disabled because we thought folks would find it confusing if they flagged items and then they didn't see the ones that didn't match whatever they had set it to.

We are planning to do perspective creation in the iPad app at some point - at that point, folks who wanted flagged + <some status> could make a perspective like that. Email the ninjas and let 'em know you'd like to see that added?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian View Post

[Edit: Hmmm... completed items which are flagged aren't visible. Arguably a bug. Will file it as such, anyway. :-)]
It matches the Mac app's built-in Flagged perspective in that regard: it shows Remaining actions.
Quote:
We are planning to do perspective creation in the iPad app at some point - at that point, folks who wanted flagged + <some status> could make a perspective like that.
Of course, anyone already syncing with a Mac can build such a perspective right now, and on the iPad, unlike the iPhone, one can use it instead of the built-in Flagged perspective in the main display.
 
It's all about the question, "What does flagged mean to you?"

I use flagged to mean, "I expect to do this today". Somewhere between, "This is important" and "you should get this much stuff done today".

I just created a context which appears to be perfect. Problem solved :)
(though...should the eye change items in your perspectives too? Maybe a hidden pref for pro users who promise not to call the ninjas every day when they get confused :)
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gopi View Post
(though...should the eye change items in your perspectives too? Maybe a hidden pref for pro users who promise not to call the ninjas every day when they get confused :)
On the Mac, if you change any of the view bar settings when viewing a perspective, OF no longer thinks you are viewing that perspective. You can't take a snapshot of the perspective, and it removes the perspective name (and any perspective toolbar button highlighting) from the window. Perhaps if the iPad stopped highlighting the perspective name in the sidebar, this wouldn't be overly confusing.

Checking my email, I do see a discussion with Brian in early July suggesting that it would be handy to be able to use the eyeball with perspectives, and his response suggested that perhaps it wasn't seen as a terrible idea by everyone there... send in those cards, letters, and other feedback to make it happen!
 
 


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
What do you use flags for? Esfirius OmniFocus 1 for Mac 1 2011-10-24 07:41 PM
Flags mikegibb OmniFocus 1 for Mac 8 2011-05-08 10:11 AM
Using flags and contexts JoaoPinheiro OmniFocus 1 for Mac 7 2008-10-26 06:26 AM
How do you use you Flags? smiggles OmniFocus 1 for Mac 24 2008-07-25 10:23 PM
How do you use flags? ksenia OmniFocus 1 for Mac 13 2007-06-27 04:09 AM


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:55 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.