[Robbie1702]

Hi there,

I've been using OmniFocus for a while now, but I still haven't found a perfect solution for Actions that are "Someday/Maybe"

The suggestions in this thread seem like interesting workarounds, but it is cumbersome and 'wrong' to have to change the context of a project/action, create special someday maybe contexts or create an unorganised single-action list. There ought to be a specific function in OmniFocus to quickly address an action/project one would love to pursue, but not right now...

Although the suggestion of typing in "som" into duration sounded interesting, why not just add a little status button the the actions/projects on the left hand side, like the "On Hold" status. As a symbol you could simply use a question mark. This way one can quickly right-click tick/untick an action/project to someday/maybe without much hassle and losing folder structure.

I hope this feature comes soon, cause OmniFocus is the best GTD software out there... it just needs a little extra =)

[Toadling]

Originally Posted by Robbie1702

There ought to be a specific function in OmniFocus to quickly address an action/project one would love to pursue, but not right now...

That's exactly what the "on hold" status is for. Doesn't that do what you want?

Any project I'm not yet committed to or don't want to deal with right now, I simply place on hold. I then adjust their review interval appropriately so I see them in my daily/weekly reviews and can decide if they're read to be made active again.

To me, this seems like an ideal solution for someday/maybe items. Items can be kept anywhere in your library, in any folder (i.e. they're not confined to some arbitrary container). They can be easily kept out of the way and out of sight in your every day working views. And it's easy to change the "on hold" status with a simple right-click.

-Dennis

[whpalmer4]

Dennis, I'm going to guess from the rest of the posting (and an associated one in another thread) that what is really desired is a means of putting actions, not projects, into the someday/maybe category. I don't understand the point of someday/maybe actions except as a way of cataloging specific instances of a class of things you might want to do (books to read, restaurants to try, etc.) and a single action list seems like a bespoke container for such items. In my view, if you put something in a project, that's a commitment to do it, unless you decide to scrap or postpone the whole project. If you're associating an action with a project, it isn't a someday/maybe item. A rereading of Getting Things Done's pages on the topic seems to suggest DA also sees projects as the natural unit on the someday/maybe list.

[HappyDude]

Originally Posted by Robbie1702

Hi there,

I've been using OmniFocus for a while now, but I still haven't found a perfect solution for Actions that are "Someday/Maybe"

The suggestions in this thread seem like interesting workarounds, but it is cumbersome and 'wrong' to have to change the context of a project/action, create special someday maybe contexts or create an unorganised single-action list. There ought to be a specific function in OmniFocus to quickly address an action/project one would love to pursue, but not right now...

Yeah I guess its that little extra. Not too much of a big deal for me, personally. I guess instead of keeping all my someday/maybe thoughts and projects in a bamboo filer i'd be able to write it down in OF, say a project on hold with no start date and have it in a specified folder titled Someday/Maybe where I only look at it during my Weekly Review. I know some people that do this all in OF, but i still like to work a small bit outside of my computer. There are times when my heaviest context is my Macbook and its nice to do things that have nothing to do with a computer sometimes.

Originally Posted by Toadling

That's exactly what the "on hold" status is for. Doesn't that do what you want?

Any project I'm not yet committed to or don't want to deal with right now, I simply place on hold. I then adjust their review interval appropriately so I see them in my daily/weekly reviews and can decide if they're read to be made active again.

To me, this seems like an ideal solution for someday/maybe items. Items can be kept anywhere in your library, in any folder (i.e. they're not confined to some arbitrary container). They can be easily kept out of the way and out of sight in your every day working views. And it's easy to change the "on hold" status with a simple right-click.

-Dennis

Hey look, exactly.

:]

[Toadling]

Originally Posted by whpalmer4

Dennis, I'm going to guess from the rest of the posting (and an associated one in another thread) that what is really desired is a means of putting actions, not projects, into the someday/maybe category.

Ah, I see. I agree with you. My someday/maybe items usually start out as single-action ideas (e.g. "Investigate solar panels" or "Visit St. Lucia") that I put in one of several "on hold" SALs (I have one for each of my area of interest/responsibility folders).

Eventually, I come across the item again in a review and might decide to begin actively working on it. So I might promote the item to a project, possibly change the title a bit, and add an action or two.

As time goes by, I may lose interest, or hit a temporary dead end, or change my priorities, so I place the project on hold. Presumably, someday I'll see it in another review and decide to act on it again, drop it, or just leave it "on hold" for the future.

This has worked extremely well for me. However, Omni has stated that they've "commonized" the state model for all database items in OmniFocus 2.0. So individual actions will be drop-able and can be put on hold. Perhaps that would satisfy the OP.

-Dennis

[Robbie1702]

Dennis,

I guess your "On hold" solution for Someday/Maybe's could work, once single actions, not only entire projects, can be put on hold in v2.0. Although I do still believe there is a nuance between someday/maybe projects and ones that are "on hold" (one is a project I choose not to do right now, and the other has been stalled and put "on hold" due to external circumstances).

Please check out what I wrote on this thread about "waiting":

http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthre...2513#post62513

Do you not agree with me, that changing context is cumbersome and in a sense 'wrong' from a GTD point of view, and that placing a marker (like the "on hold") for waiting would make more sense? How do you currently solve this problem - when you have done your part in an action and are waiting for someone else to do their part?

Simply put: Could you please (if it is not too much work) tell me your entire strategy for Someday/maybe's, on hold projects and waiting =)

This is so confusing : P I'd really appreciate if you could concisely lay out a good strategy for tackling these scenarios. Shame it is all so unclear in the manual, and that I need to fight my way through forums to use this software properly...

Thanks alot!

Robert

[dancingbrook]

Originally Posted by Robbie1702

I do still believe there is a nuance between someday/maybe projects and ones that are "on hold" (one is a project I choose not to do right now, and the other has been stalled and put "on hold" due to external circumstances).

I agree: Someday/Maybe is a dream; On Hold is a delay and/or possible cancellation.

I'd like to see both handled specifically in OF on all levels (Action, Group and Project, Folder). I might have a Someday/Maybe kitchen renovation project in my Home Improvement Folder, but the Replace Windows Project is just on hold until fall, though I'll want to plan it in detail now.

[Toadling]

Originally Posted by dancingbrook

I'd like to see both handled specifically in OF on all levels (Action, Group and Project, Folder). I might have a Someday/Maybe kitchen renovation project in my Home Improvement Folder, but the Replace Windows Project is just on hold until fall, though I'll want to plan it in detail now.

While I recognize the conceptual difference, the practical difference is not so clear to me. How would the app treat "paused" items differently than "someday/maybe" items? I see the purpose of the "On Hold" state as a means of removing/hiding items from my everyday working view. Doesn't that work for both "paused" and "someday/maybe" stuff?

And if the goal is to just allow for the filtering of "paused" from "someday/maybe" items, perhaps the upcoming metadata column is a suitable solution to make the conceptual distinction in your system.

It's not that I'm really against distinguishing "paused" from "someday/maybe" items, but rather that I'm wary of seeing the state model get too complex, with only small, esoteric differences between individual states.

-Dennis

[dancingbrook]

Oh I'd just set up a folder or folder with in a folder for Someday/Maybe, but there is some utility for having other options as not everyone works or thinks like me. Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to use it. For me the S/Ms might just be another icon like the Single Actions box. Actually that would be a better use of that box icon. Why are single actions in a box while other actions are in folders? Why not a folder with "1s" on it?

[Lucas]

I think that having another status or folder for so-called "someday/maybe" items reads too much into the words "on hold." There is nothing that stops you from having more than one context or project or both that makes actions unavailable in the system. Rename one of them "someday/maybe" and the other "on hold." Does the fact that the same functional status is selected in the inspector matter, since it functionally does the exact same thing, or do there really have to be two statuses with the exact same function but different names?