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Eg shopping lists. How do people do this? I use buckets but I have a feeling that's missing the point of buckets..
 
I would start by making the shopping destination a context in context mode (rather than a bucket in planning mode).
 
I'm still playing around with this, but I really really really hate the idea of a context for each shopping destination. (Do I REALLY need a "hardware store" context?)

One thing I've been trying (which is what I did in Entourage) is setting up a task for each destination, and then putting the shopping list in the task's notes. The only downside with this is that errands to the same place from multiple projects aren't really supported.

Another option would be to just preface each shopping item with the store name/type, as in "Hardware Store: Pliers" and "Hardware Store: Hose".

Just ideas. For some reason the huge number of contexts strikes me as a PITA. I'd much rather have a simple "Errands" context I can scan when I'm heading out for the day.
 
iNik's approach is the one I use as well. I find it less fiddly to have fewer contexts and only one level of hierarchy for them. (I am considering an exception to this for handling contexts related to people, as discussed here.)

I also like being able to scan one errands list to select from for the day.
 
I find it's worth having a 'Grocery Store' context, and then lumping all my other shopping & errands into one context of 'Errands'. Oh, except I cheat and put 'Return Library Books' into my 'Grocery Store' context because it's right across the street, so I want to be reminded to return library books while I'm at the grocery store.

I think that's really the point of contexts: There's no canonical right way to organize -- you need to put your actions in the context that answers the question "When/where/in what situation do I want to be reminded of this action?"
 
One good thing about contexts as OF does them is you can set it to only show a context if it has an item in it. This alleviates the "too many contexts" issue some complain about.
 
Here's how my Shopping is set up.

In the Planning list, I have a folder: Shopping. Inside it I have a bucket, and "Projects" for big stores far away (Ikea, etc. I put Project in quotes since this isn't a real project with goal — I do feel I need a separate, ongoing list for each of these places. I suppose I could do this in a context set as well).

I use the following Contexts:

Errands: northwest
northeast
south
east
south
Online

The directions are for the different directions the stores that I shop in are ... the roads are such that I can't mix northwest and northeast shopping, etc. Once I get printing on file cards set up, I may add another level of Contexts for each store on my routes, so my printed out lists get sorted by store.

Not done yet — creating a Shopping List Perspective that prints to a 3x5 card, so all I have to do before heading out is open that Perspective, choose my route, and print. [I just ordered a printer with 2 paper trays, so I can keep index cards loaded all the time.]
 
I also use a combination of general and specific errand categories. Lowes and WalMart earn their own contexts, everything else goes in a general Errands category. Groceries don't get a category because that list is stuck on the refrigerator and grocery getting is a separate task. (I'm lucky enough to live near the grocery store.)
__________________
Cheers,

Curt
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Melan View Post
Eg shopping lists. How do people do this? I use buckets but I have a feeling that's missing the point of buckets..
How do I handle shopping lists in Omni Focus ... ? I don't. I would use a program like Splash Shopper for the Palm / Windows desktop (not sure if they have a Mac version), or a program like Omni Outliner.

In Omni Focus, I would have a task such as "Go grocery shopping".

For temporary storage in Omni Focus, I would probably assign items to a context.

A dedicated shopping program like Splash Shopper though is much better than trying to fit that functionality into Omni Focus. In a dedicated program you can have the items already in your shopping list, select them when needed, and deselect them when you buy them. Things can also be categorized very well.

In an ironic note, an item in Splash Shopper can be assigned to multiple stores, which is why I have used the program in the past to implement GTD -- I make a shopping list item an action, and each store is a context. Having the ability to assign multiple contexts to each item action has been invaluable.
 
I also don't use OmniFocus for my grocery shopping. I don't need to be reminded to go grocery shopping since that's something I do each week. I do need to be reminded that I need to pickup a new hammer when I'm at Home Depot, etc. I have a context called Errands and I put stuff into that. I had been assigning some contexts, but I think the method described above with the name of the store in the action is probably a better approach.

For my grocery shopping, I use tadalist.com, it works GREAT on my iPhone, and both me and my wife can add items to it remotely.
 
 


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