[kstrauser]

I have quite a few daily actions, like "rotate the backup tapes" and "give the kids their vitamins". Although those are almost all routine "habit" items, I still need to make sure they get done daily and so use those actions like a checklist to make sure I've gotten everything done.

Same goes for weekly actions; I want a reminder to clean the gutters. Even if that usually means that sometime Saturday afternoon I'll check it off my list because I already did it that morning, unprompted, I still need to make sure it gets done.

This is having three bad side effects, though:

1. My forecast view is cluttered with daily routine stuff that obscures my less-routine actions.
2. I've spent so much time in the forecast that I've gotten in the habit of "living" there instead of switching among contexts throughout the day.
3. My iPhone slows with a few hundred checked-off actions before I archive them each month.

I don't want come to depend on OmniFocus for every little thing ("eat lunch", "brush teeth", etc.). But for me, not having these other daily things written down somewhere is very non-GTD because I spend too much time wondering if I've done everything I'm supposed to do.

What's a good way to deal with this? If need be, I'd move this daily clutter into a separate, dedicated app. I tried "The Habit Factor" to these ends but it has its own issues: if you delete a "goal", you can't ever re-add one with the same name; it doesn't support multitasking.

[whpalmer4]

Some thoughts:

It sounds like you have a Mac+OmniFocus in addition to the iPhone, right?

One approach would be to simply delete these routine "habit" tasks after completion. Make a perspective on the Mac that shows your completed tasks grouped by completion date, and every few days, just delete the "habit" tasks that you've completed. I assume you don't really need a permanent record of those actions. This will help keep the iPhone from slowing down, but doesn't address the cluttered forecast view.

Another tack is to combine those tasks into a daily routine checklist which you could keep in OmniFocus or some other application. OmniOutliner on the Mac works pretty well for this, if you can do all of your routine stuff near your Mac. Then you just have a single action which reminds you to run the daily routine checklist. If you get it all done, you mark it as complete, and tomorrow you'll use a fresh copy of the checklist. If for some reason you can't do it all in one block, add the ones you didn't accomplish to OmniFocus as non-repeating actions to remind you to finish them later. If you don't need to literally check them off as you run your checklist, you could keep the checklist in the notes of the OmniFocus action that reminds you to do your daily routine. By combining them in this fashion, you cut the clutter in your forecast view, but you lose the ability to have separate reminders for each item.

[kstrauser]

That's correct: I'm using the Mac and iPhone versions together. Thanks for the ideas - those seem like they could really work. In the mean time, I'm also experimenting with moving those actions to the "Way of Life" iPhone app. I love OF (and have talked quite a few friends into buying it) but it not be the most appropriate system for me for this particular workflow.

[whpalmer4]

Another thought about addressing the clutter in Forecast view: as you're looking at the routine stuff in the Forecast view, you don't have to worry about whether or not it is truly available (assuming it is all stuff you could do any time during the day). You could put your daily routine stuff in with start times near the end of the day so that it always shows up after the real work, but still be able to see it if you want it by scrolling down.

[daverobeson]

I'm in the same boat, with a bunch of little things I don't want to forget each day. I've always felt a little pathetic needing to put them on a daily to-do list, but there it is. :)

I have a project called 'Trivial repeat tasks' with all of these items in it, all repeating daily (taking meds, doing the dishwasher, filling the dog's water dish in the morning, etc.) But I definitely don't want to archive them so I also have a weekly repeating item that reminds me to delete them, and a 'Trivial to delete' perspective (all Completed items from that project) that makes it dead simple.

Some days it's a small triumph to complete one substantial thing with all the trivial stuff I have to do. :(

[whpalmer4]

I like that idea! I've always kept the routine stuff in relevant projects or single action lists for organizational simplicity, but your approach would be very convenient for the housekeeping end of things. Another advantage: if you want to see your tasks without the clutter of the routine items, just put the routine tasks project on hold (don't forget to make it active when you're done!) and they are completely hidden.