Creating a Solid Omnifocus System

This is the first post in a series of tips and tricks on how to create a solid Omnifocus system. In case you are not familiar with this piece of Software, Omnifocus, is defined by the Omnigroup (the creators of the software) as:

I should point out, that I don’t believe that Omnifocus is the Holy Grail of Productivity, you can be productive and get things done, with a napkin or much more complex software, the reason I talk about Omnifocus is because it is what I use today.In the past, I’ve used Palm Pilot Software, Outlook, Toodledo and Index cards. Since February 2009 I have been using Omnifocus. I love it, and I have so much to learn, but without a doubt it has been a powerful addition to my Batman Belt.

I have said many times, that the tool will not bring any more productivity in your life, and that is the most common mistake of people that are looking to feel more organized and more in control, they think to get a new tool. The result of that “I will get organized” is a massive failure, not because of the tool, because the lack of a system that can support your new idea, if you are out of control and treat the symptom instead of the problem, the problem will continue to be present. In order to solve the problem, you need to work on it, then the symptoms will fix themselves. That is my ambition with this set of posts, to help find readers find the answer to that problem, and how to use Omnifocus at the same time.

I’ve said often that the biggest problem with Omnifocus, is that it’s too much rope, and if you are not careful you can hang yourself. I hope to help you tame the rope, and use it effectively.

If you are coming here, because you are thinking about getting Omnifocus, or hoping to compare Omnifocus with other tools, you have come to the wrong place, if you come here because you want to use Omnifocus, or learn a trick that allow you to get a little more out of your Omnifocus installation, welcome.

My Goal is to bring people form the most basic implementation of Omnifocus, and little by little add and show all the possibilities that this great software has. My plan is to begin from the Mac, and build a solid system in the Mac, in other words, begin from scratch and add every Friday something new to the system. Some weeks will be a couple of things; some weeks will be only one. At the end of this series, the system that will end up being created in Omnifocus should be a robust one. After that, the plan is to move to the iPhone and finally the iPad versions.

The next step depends if you have a solid system or not. If you have a solid one, you don’t need to do anything, if yours is not that solid, print everything, delete all and begin from scratch.

My advice is to clean your Projects and Contexts. After you do that, it should look like this:

 

 
  

After you get to this point, my advice is to begin populating your system, but be careful. For the next weeks, you may want to wait, or you may want to keep it in a minimal way, just enough for your needs.

       I advise you to begin with three contexts, @Home, @Errands and @Office. Many people use contexts as place holders, as someday-maybe’s and for that reason they never look into those contexts, so reduce to three Contexts, in due time we will add more.

       Give yourself the space, and the freedom to put everything on hold, eventually; your system will be able to handle more.

Comments

[Shari]

Thanks Augusto for starting an Omnifocus series! I an a dedicated Omnifocus user but feel I can get more out the program. I really enjoyed your discussion of Omnifocus on the GTD Virtual Study group and anxious to hear all of your ideas on the best use of the program.

[Augusto Pinaud]

Shari, you are welcome. I hope with this series of posts I can help people to get more our of Omnifocus, as well as more out of Productivity.

Please keep leaving comments on what you like, enjoy and learn (or not) that way I can create better posts every week.

best,

Augusto

[Henrik]

Oki Monkeys, I'm taking the dive! I've been using OF for about a year but can't get it to work smoothly... I really see the potential, the rope, and read about how everyone else's hang perfectly straight from the trees so why does mine keep mess up in nots?

Now I have 2 "system-tweek"-days, all lists and altitude mind maps on printout, my mac, my ipad and this blog and I'm going in...

Cleaning out my OF, deleting all contents...

Hey, is there a refund if your tips doesn't work? Maybe a slice of banana cake?

[Augusto Pinaud]

Dear Henrik, thanks again for the comment. if trick doesn't work we will perform for free another one for you!

best,