I know there are a lot of topics about the implementation of GTD with OmniFocus, but I've been searching for a while and haven't been able to piece together a really good GTD start-to-finish guide with OmniFocus, and I'm a little fuzzy on how certain aspects of GTD are best handled.
David cites a five-step workflow in the book: 1) Collect 2) Process 3) Organize 4) Review 5) Do
While getting set up with OmniFocus, I did a mental dump into my OF inbox of every open loop that I had (collect). I then went through and made decisions about those items--some became projects, others went into a Someday/Maybe text document, some were trashed, and some were put into reference (process). As I made those decisions, I assigned contexts and projects (organize).
It seems like the process and organize steps tend to blend in OF, as you're adding reminders (in the form of projects and next actions) to your system (OF). Does that sound right? Does it make sense in the literal GTD context that some items in your OF inbox become projects, others are next actions in current projects, and that there will be some discarded and moved-out-of-OmniFocus items?
Where I tend to get hung up is in the "review" step. How often should I be reviewing my actions and projects? I know it's possible to set up a Perspective which sorts your projects by "Next Review" in Planning Mode--this would constitute a Weekly Review in the GTD sense, right? I should be reviewing my projects one at a time, assigning any new actions, and making sure that they are where they are. When I'm satisfied, I mark them as reviewed. David also implicates that this is a good time to do another "mental dump" and get current. So is the Weekly Review the time to dump stuff into the inbox, and process it into projects and so on? But surely the Weekly Review isn't the only time to do that kind of thing. After all, using Clippings and Quick Entry, stuff gets funneled into the inbox all the time. So how often should it be cleaned out and its contents processed? And during the week, is most of my time spent in Context Mode, scanning for things to be done? When is Planning Mode typically used?
But what about projects that are stalled? Should they too be reviewed? If a project is stalled because its next action is a "Waiting On," should the Weekly Review flesh that out, perhaps prompting me to check on what it is I'm "Waiting On"? Suppose I decide that I do need to check in on what- or whomever I'm waiting on--should I add an action to that project? Something like "Check on status of repair"? Should that precede the "Waiting On" action? Should it become the next action of the project?
And what about doing? Suppose that I finish an action on a project, and I'd like to continue it, but I haven't assigned any more actions after the one I've completed. Should I head back to Planning Mode and decide on the next action(s)? Does this constitute the "vertical focus" mentioned in the book?
Finally, David recommends having "clean edges" to seven components of your system:
- A Projects list
- Project support material
- Calendared actions and info
- Next Actions list
- "Waiting For" list
- Reference Material
- Someday/Maybe list
Of those. OmniFocus seems designed to handle the projectss list, next actions list, and maybe the "Waiting For" list. Other applications or text documents seem better suited to the rest. Is that a common feeling?
I have a lot of specific questions, but I'm trying to understand GTD and GTD in the context of OmniFocus at the same time. I know it seems like I'm trying to adhere strictly by the book, but I just want to really understand all of it before I decide if and how much I want to deviate. Some of these questions are more about preferences than concrete answers, but I'd just like to get a picture of how OF is used in a GTD workflow, and I haven't quite figured it out yet. Thanks so much for any feedback!
David cites a five-step workflow in the book: 1) Collect 2) Process 3) Organize 4) Review 5) Do
While getting set up with OmniFocus, I did a mental dump into my OF inbox of every open loop that I had (collect). I then went through and made decisions about those items--some became projects, others went into a Someday/Maybe text document, some were trashed, and some were put into reference (process). As I made those decisions, I assigned contexts and projects (organize).
It seems like the process and organize steps tend to blend in OF, as you're adding reminders (in the form of projects and next actions) to your system (OF). Does that sound right? Does it make sense in the literal GTD context that some items in your OF inbox become projects, others are next actions in current projects, and that there will be some discarded and moved-out-of-OmniFocus items?
Where I tend to get hung up is in the "review" step. How often should I be reviewing my actions and projects? I know it's possible to set up a Perspective which sorts your projects by "Next Review" in Planning Mode--this would constitute a Weekly Review in the GTD sense, right? I should be reviewing my projects one at a time, assigning any new actions, and making sure that they are where they are. When I'm satisfied, I mark them as reviewed. David also implicates that this is a good time to do another "mental dump" and get current. So is the Weekly Review the time to dump stuff into the inbox, and process it into projects and so on? But surely the Weekly Review isn't the only time to do that kind of thing. After all, using Clippings and Quick Entry, stuff gets funneled into the inbox all the time. So how often should it be cleaned out and its contents processed? And during the week, is most of my time spent in Context Mode, scanning for things to be done? When is Planning Mode typically used?
But what about projects that are stalled? Should they too be reviewed? If a project is stalled because its next action is a "Waiting On," should the Weekly Review flesh that out, perhaps prompting me to check on what it is I'm "Waiting On"? Suppose I decide that I do need to check in on what- or whomever I'm waiting on--should I add an action to that project? Something like "Check on status of repair"? Should that precede the "Waiting On" action? Should it become the next action of the project?
And what about doing? Suppose that I finish an action on a project, and I'd like to continue it, but I haven't assigned any more actions after the one I've completed. Should I head back to Planning Mode and decide on the next action(s)? Does this constitute the "vertical focus" mentioned in the book?
Finally, David recommends having "clean edges" to seven components of your system:
- A Projects list
- Project support material
- Calendared actions and info
- Next Actions list
- "Waiting For" list
- Reference Material
- Someday/Maybe list
Of those. OmniFocus seems designed to handle the projectss list, next actions list, and maybe the "Waiting For" list. Other applications or text documents seem better suited to the rest. Is that a common feeling?
I have a lot of specific questions, but I'm trying to understand GTD and GTD in the context of OmniFocus at the same time. I know it seems like I'm trying to adhere strictly by the book, but I just want to really understand all of it before I decide if and how much I want to deviate. Some of these questions are more about preferences than concrete answers, but I'd just like to get a picture of how OF is used in a GTD workflow, and I haven't quite figured it out yet. Thanks so much for any feedback!
Threaded Mode