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Creating Flow With OmniFocus Mastering Productivity
By Kourosh Dini, MD
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Creating Flow with OmniFocus Mastering Productivity © 2009, 2010 Kourosh Dini
All rights reserved. This document may be printed for personal use by the owner of the digital file. Otherwise, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Kourosh Dini. The Dini Group, Ltd. Chicago, IL 60602
Cover design by Matt Strieby of New Leaf Design.
OmniFocus™ is a registered trademark and is used under license by the Omni Group. For more information on The Omni Group’s products the user may visit their website at www.omnigroup.com. For OmniFocus, please visit http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus. This product uses or is based on Getting Things Done® or GTD® Principles. It is not affiliated with, approved or endorsed by David Allen or the David Allen Company, which is the creator of the Getting Things Done® system for personal productivity. GTD® and Getting Things Done® are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company For more information on the David Allen Company’s products the user may visit their website at www.davidco.com. Apple, Mac, Mac OS, iPad, Multi-Touch and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
It is not the purpose of this book to cover the full range of information that is otherwise available on this topic, but instead to complement, amplify, and supplement other texts. You are urged to read all available material and tailor the information to your individual needs. Every effort has been made to make this book as accurate as possible. However, there may be mistakes, and with all the rapid changes online, some details may be inaccurate by the time you read this. Therefore, this text should be used only as a general guide and not as the ultimate source of information on the topic. The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information contained in this book.
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“... create an oasis, where your mind can come out to play.”
- John Cleese1
1
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Foreword John Cleese describes, in a fascinating talk, about giving creativity the time and space needed to come out and play. These are really the very same conditions for any state of flow. But giving projects that time and space requires the work of prioritizing and crafting the day’s tasks and responsibilities. The Getting Things Done® methodology, around which OmniFocus™ is at least partially built, helps to get these responsibilities off the mind and bring projects into reality by optimizing a system of planning and doing them. By addressing these projects and needs, distractions that can invade the flow of play or work are minimized. The aim of this text then is not just in using the productivity and task management program OmniFocus, but also in getting to the creative space wherever that may be found. The hope is in getting to those things you want to do and enjoy while maintaining the responsibilities that inevitably accrue in life. Be it in work, play, or with family, we are aiming for a relaxed depth of focus and flow. There is some tendency towards being overwhelmed when first looking at a program such as OmniFocus. While the program itself has a lot of power towards finely detailing the tasks and projects that one has to learn, there is also the mirror that it holds up to our own understanding and organization of our lives that can be rather daunting. Filling it with only things that one “has” to do and avoiding those things that are enjoyable associates the entire enterprise with misery. Rather than lists and laptops as being culprits against flow as Cleese may suggest, it may be more the filling of the day with concrete tasks of unenjoyable dreck that ruins the process. If I can give one piece of advice towards finding use from the program it would be to make sure to include enjoyable projects and tasks. What I hope to do with this book, is provide a method towards using OmniFocus that helps you to look forward to your projects, rather than dread them. Creating Flow with OmniFocus - Kourosh Dini, MD
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A task management system guides attention. Using these guides, the system directs several aspects of one’s workflow:
1. In optimizing the placement of simple concrete tasks 2. In deciding or planning on what to do next 3. In designing the contexts in which one can achieve a flow 4. In practicing a workflow with a goal of working it into intrinsic memory
The first workflow, is much of what Getting Things Done® is about. It helps to free “psychic RAM” in the words of Getting Things Done® author, David Allen, so that you can focus on the things you would like to do. If you know, for instance, that the work you need to do is listed somewhere it will be relevant, you can relax about having to remember or remind yourself of the task. The second workflow is about prioritization. Knowing where you wish to devote your energy with the limited resources of time and attention is an important part of devoting yourself to a project fully. Both of the above workflows help to minimize internal distractions from interrupting flow. They are ways of creating internal boundaries of sorts by providing methods of dealing with thoughts as they come to mind. The third workflow is about further creating the conditions for creativity and/or productivity. Work and play are not only about the tasks themselves. They are also about designing the contexts in which they happen. Practicing the piano happens at the context of “piano”. Practicing is even better when it is in a quiet spot, with responsibilities met or placed into a trusted system, with the kids at school, etc. The fourth workflow is about learning. Later in this text, we will create a project towards baking chocolate chip cookies. Afterwards, we will adjust this project into a template so that it can be activated for future baking sessions. Once such a project is done often enough, OmniFocus is no longer or only minimally necessary. At that point, when the Creating Flow with OmniFocus - Kourosh Dini, MD
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process is internalized, one can now harness the more powerful nature of the mind towards doing the project. The same is true for maintenance tasks, creative endeavors, or otherwise. While I do step you through the program with various projects and uses, I encourage you to put the guide down from time to time and fiddle around with the program’s controls. The best way to learn anything is to play around with it and see what happens. OmniFocus is extremely customizable and you will more than likely find some way of using it that is not in these pages. If you feel the system does not work for you, then you will likely deviate from it. You will know when you are using it well, when you are adapting it to your whims and not the other way around. The demonstrations biased towards my own workflow can be examples from which you can pick and choose. While I will, of course, address the tools and nature of the program and some of its integration with the Getting Things Done® methodology, I will also touch on concepts outside of the program itself. Since we are dealing with all of the projects in our lives, we are dealing with not only a program. We are also dealing with desires, fears, and how our minds work in handling those. These methodologies are about learning to guide your own attention towards flow. Ultimately, attention is our primary tool, resource, and property. Our minds are the most sought after and even, fought after, real estate in the world. Learning how to guide yourself through your day and life is quite the challenge. But, ultimately, that is the challenge worth taking. With flow in mind, this book will ask and, hopefully, answer the following: • Where is my attention? • Where do I want my attention? • How can I reliably get it there? The learning curve to OmniFocus is not just in learning the program, but also in learning how the program adapts to how you think. To make matters more complex, how you think evolves. When a good level of understanding is attained, building a work flow unique to yourself becomes a more natural process. With progress, it becomes less about the instrument itself and more about what it can help to create. Creating Flow with OmniFocus - Kourosh Dini, MD
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Introduction
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The Book’s Layout
Creating Flow with OmniFocus is organized to bring the reader from being able to create small lists, to larger projects, all the way up to organizing and running major life goals and projects. The beginning involves the more basic components of the program while the latter half describes organizing larger systems. There are several main areas: • Sections 1-3 introduce the book, its layout and provide a Quick Start. • Sections 4-38 describe the basic concepts, structure, and practice of OmniFocus. • Sections 39-55 begin with perspectives and create the building blocks of an overall working system. • Sections 56-60 describe fundamentals of plans, play, and creativity. • Sections 61-73 build a core system and describe communication workflows. • Sections 74-77 discuss prioritization and horizons of focus up to 30,000 ft. • Sections 78-81 highlight the importance of attention and touch on the higher altitudes of focus. • Sections 82-90 offer suggested solutions for common problems, such as procrastination, that one may encounter throughout the day. • Finally, the appendices list settings for suggested perspectives, a list of resources, a reproduction of the post series combining the Pomodoro Technique, Getting Things Done®, and OmniFocus, and various other odds and ends.
For those just getting started with OmniFocus, I would suggest reading from the beginning. For those with some knowledge such as being able to get around projects, contexts, planning and context modes, consider beginning with the section on
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perspectives. Even with an understanding of perspectives, this would still be a good place to start as the rest of the book builds upon some of the example perspectives built there. In one sense, much of the book builds towards creating a core system and establishing priorities from that point. Throughout, tips and tricks will also be introduced. This text is neither a re-hash of the manual nor a replacement for the screencasts and tutorials that already exist. The Omni Group provides an excellent manual and introductory set of screencasts. • A manual is provided with OmniFocus and is included in the help section of OmniFocus’ menu bar. • Screencast tutorials, including some by Don McAllister from ScreenCasts Online, are located at http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/videos/ . The link is also provided in the default Welcome Projects included when first starting the program. • The Getting Things Done® book itself is also an excellent resource for the entire selftitled methodology, also known as “GTD®”. • Finally, a white-paper pdf, OmniFocus, GTD, and You, is available online to get started in putting both GTD® and OmniFocus together.
Though OmniFocus can be used in other ways, it has largely been designed with GTD® in mind. While Creating Flow with OmniFocus is more about getting to flow and creativity, it still does go through much of the basics of the program and methodology. At each step I try to build upon only what has been already presented in the text. There are points where ideas can be expanded by topics provided later in the text at which point a link is provided to get there. For the most part, the text provides information in a building path, with diversions along the way to fill in some gaps. Also, note that many of the steps, especially towards the beginning of the book, will not be necessary in the actual flow of practice. They are there to illustrate how OmniFocus maintains, sorts, and presents information.
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Table of Contents
Foreword!
I.
14
Introduction!
17
1.
The Book’s Layout!
18
2.
A Trusted System!
20
3.
The Quick Start!
22
II.
Basic Principles - Part I! Projects and Tasks!
30 30
4.
View Modes And Layout!
31
5.
Project Anatomy!
35
6.
Drafting A Simple Project!
44
7.
Creating And Using Groups Of Tasks!
46
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8.
Practice Writing Strong Tasks!
55
9.
Keeping Tasks From View!
56
Filters, Clean Up, Inspector, & Preferences Introduced!
57
10.
Filters Introduced!
58
11.
Clean Up!
66
12.
A Brief Note On Undo!
69
13.
The Inspector And Preferences Introduced!
70
Contexts!
76
14.
Contexts Introduced!
77
15.
Context Mode!
86
16.
Other Methods Of Accessing Contexts!
94
The Inbox!
103
17.
The Inbox!
104
18.
The Quick Entry And Its Preferences!
110
III. Basic Principles - Part II!
114
Doing Projects: The Notes Field & Other Practicalities! 114 19.
The Notes Field!
115
20.
Outlining The Project!
124
21.
Moving Through The Project!
133
22.
Project Focus!
138
23.
Using Quick Entry!
143
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Templates and Moving Projects!
153
24.
Creating Templates!
154
25.
On Using Templates!
162
Filters, Time, and Repeat!
171
26.
A Closer Look At Filters!
172
27.
Groups And Projects In Context Mode!
183
28.
Introducing Time!
187
29.
Repeat, The Inspector, And Time Estimates!
197
Horizons, Review, and Maintenance Introduced!
206
30.
Folders, Projects, And Horizons Of Focus Introduced!
207
31.
Review Part I!
213
32.
Repeats And Maintenance Tasks!
223
33.
The Dependent Maintenance Group!
232
34.
Clearing Clutter And Reviewing Buckets!
237
35.
Combining Routine Maintenance And Templates!
239
36.
On The Nature Of Routine Maintenance!
241
37.
Archiving Older OmniFocus Data!
242
38.
Reviewing The OmniFocus Attachment List!
244
IV. Intermediate Principles! Perspectives - Part I: Introduction! 39.
Perspectives Introduced!
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40.
Creating A Perspective: “Waiting For ...”!
247
41.
Perspective Settings Examined!
251
42.
“Waiting For ...” Perspective Design Continued!
255
43.
Retrieving A Perspective!
258
44.
Perspectives Snapshot Feature!
263
Perspectives - Part II: Examples!
265
45.
The Due Perspective!
267
46.
A Default “Nothing” Perspective!
269
47.
“What I Did Today” Perspective!
275
48.
Location-Based Perspectives!
277
49.
The Routine Maintenance Perspective!
284
50.
The Full Day Maintenance Perspective!
290
Using Multiple Clients!
294
51.
The Portable Inbox!
295
52.
Syncing Computers And Mobile Devices!
299
53.
Sharing Files Across Computers!
304
Perspectives - Part III: iPhone and Templates!
V.
306
54.
Perspectives On The IPhone!
307
55.
Perspectives And Templates Together: An Extreme Example!
311
Interlude!
324
On the Nature of Tasks and Contexts! Creating Flow with OmniFocus - Kourosh Dini, MD
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56.
Concrete Vs. Creative Tasks!
326
57.
Crafting Contexts!
330
On the Nature of Plans, Play, and Work!
336
58.
The Order Of Completing Tasks!
337
59.
Plans Change!
340
60.
Play And Work In The Crafted Context!
351
VI. Advanced Principles - Part I!
356
Core Designs!
356
61.
Core Design I: By Start Date!
359
62.
Core Design II: By Flag!
367
63.
Advantages And Disadvantages!
379
The Spoke and Feedback system!
380
64.
An Integration!
381
65.
Handling “Today” And Immediate Entries!
382
66.
Tickler File!
384
67.
The Daily Calendar Review!
387
68.
Perspective Links And The “Waiting For ...” Perspective!
390
69.
Review Part II: Fine-tuning!
399
70.
Addressing Due Dates!
407
Communication Workflows! 71.
413
Voicemail Workflow Example!
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72.
Email Workflow!
418
73.
Dealing With Calls And Agendas!
423
VII. Advanced Principles - Part II!
425
Prioritization & Horizons to 30,000 ft!
425
74.
Prioritization!
426
75.
Prioritization At The Runway!
428
76.
Prioritization At 10,000 And 20,000 Feet!
445
77.
Prioritization From 10,000 To 30,000 Feet!
449
Bringing it All Together!
474
78.
The Anatomy Of Attention!
475
79.
Layers Of Attention In Practice!
479
80.
Defining Success!
482
81.
Mastering Productivity!
487
Procrastination, Problems, and Suggested Solutions!
490
82.
Problem: Task Appears Too Large!
492
83.
Problem: Over-Crafting The Context!
493
84.
Problem: Placing Tasks In Unused Or Over-Filled Contexts!
494
85.
Problem: “I Forgot” Or “I’m Lazy”!
495
86.
Problem: “Falling Off The Wagon” Of OmniFocus!
496
87.
Problem: Stale Tasks And Projects!
497
88.
Problem: New Ideas Come To Mind On How To Use OmniFocus While Doing A Project! 499
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89.
Problem: Entering A Task Through The Inbox Does Not Integrate As Desired Into The Project! 500
90.
Problem: Feeling Scattered!
501
VIII. Appendices!
507
91.
Appendix A: Search And Using Tags!
508
92.
Appendix B: Template Examples!
511
93.
Appendix C: Key Commands!
518
94.
Appendix D: Perspectives Settings!
520
95.
Appendix E: External Resources!
527
96.
Appendix F: GTD®, OmniFocus, And The Pomodoro Technique!
529
About the Author!
545
Feedback, Comments, Corrections?!
546
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Review Part I The Review process can be one of the more difficult aspects of the Getting Things Done® method, though it does not need to be. It is also extremely important as the fourth of the five workflow stages and, as such, deserves special attention. In this section we will examine: • The importance of review • The default review system • A process of review • Scheduling reviews • Setting review frequency
The Importance Of Review OmniFocus, or any task management solution based on the GTD® method, invites getting things off the mind. Whenever an idea appears, there is a welcoming inbox or "bucket" ready to catch it. Assignments of place and time come afterwards as project, context, start/due dates, etc are added. Being able to enter an idea immediately means that it can be entered without the intention of processing it immediately. The process lifts the burdening compulsion to complete a task as soon as it comes to mind. There is no need to do it right then and there with the fear that the thought and inspiration will leave or be forgotten. Tasks and projects that begin as whims, desires and thoughts can be captured. The later processing and review stages are where these tasks and projects are gradually developed into manageable tasks and perhaps even become realized. There is a relief associated with writing down thoughts when overwhelmed with things to do. Here, the process is taken a few steps further by reducing projects and tasks into bite size and doable pieces. Gradually, releasing an album or writing a book no longer feels impossible.
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Review is a key process in actualizing the things we want to do. If something hasn't happened yet, we ask ourselves "Why not?": • Do the tasks need further breakdown? • Does the next task make sense in the project at this point? • Have I established a reasonable next action? • Are the tasks well written? • Are the tasks specific enough? • Are the tasks an actual action? • Is there something that needs to happen before a presently active task? • Is what I am waiting for a task or project in itself? • What will this project look like when it is done? • Are contexts well described? • What next action can I write to realistically get this off my mind?
Review occurs at a micro level in the very first moments of associating the context and projects with a task. The review process continues every time we pay attention to the projects and think about what needs to happen to bring the project closer to completion. Inbox entry is akin to writing down some fancied destination (e.g. learn a new language) or avoiding something anxiety provoking (e.g., work on retirement finances). Review keeps us on course by clearing the path to get to those places. As such, reviewing your projects is a very important part of the GTD® process. How one feels about various projects inevitably changes. Task wording may need improvement. Some projects stall and hide away. In order to actually feel on top of work, projects need active and regular consideration. The robust nature of a review stems from the nature of GTD® itself: when done well it involves a trusted system that carries all of the tasks and projects that would otherwise be on the mind. Review is a major part of the process in asking what it will take to get these projects and tasks off the mind. These thoughts and desires are encoded in the powerful symbols of words. In one sense, this is obvious. But consider that in the process of a review, all the tasks and projects written are specifically designed to grab the attention of something in mind nearly
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simultaneously. Seen this way, It becomes more apparent why the whole review endeavor is so daunting. For a moment, let us look at a therapeutic process. I will describe its relation to review shortly. There is a sentiment that we hide things in an unconscious and that we have to go digging around finding them. By some magical means, when hidden thoughts are turned into words, we feel better. In actuality, while there are often ideas and processes that are repressed and avoided, it is not finding these that are always the stuff of therapy. Rather it is the careful consideration of what is preventing them from appearing that moves a person forward. Working on projects, especially those that have the most meaning, reveals them as fraught with anxieties and worries. Some of these are “realistic” and some of these are hold-over ways of avoiding them from younger days. How does this relate to review? Rather than brute force through a project that is not moving forward, one can instead ask the subtly but significantly different question:
“What is preventing this project from moving forward?”
Many times it has nothing to do with internal conflicts. But sometimes it does. Even by way of a system as adept as OmniFocus, the mind can find methods for procrastination. For example, one may notice a constant prioritization of other projects over one particular anxiety-provoking project. Similarly, even assigning a due date can avoid consideration with a barely thought “oh, I don’t have to worry about this until that orange or red number shows up” without acknowledging that the number may be swamped in other due tasks or that the time needed to act is longer than the warning given by the program.
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For these reasons, review is more than just a simple procedure. Meanwhile, these tools, at least, display the projects at regular intervals where they can be actively considered rather than buried away. There are two main variants of Review one can use in OmniFocus. These are: 1. The built-in review system 2. A scheduled review designed by the user
When put together, they offer good grounding. The built-in system will be reviewed in the next section. A user-built review system to round out the edges will be discussed later in the text when other OmniFocus functionality has been covered.
Built-In Review The simplest method for entering Review mode is to select the Review Perspective from the Perspectives menu: • Go to Menu > Perspectives > Review:
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To view the filters involved: • Go to Planning Mode (Command-1). • Open the filter settings (Shift-Option-v) or select the spectacles view icon from the toolbar:
Under the columns, note the following settings:
• Project Filter: Remaining • Grouping: Next Review • Sorting: Unsorted • Availability: Remaining • Status Filter: Any Status • Estimated: Any Duration
With these settings, projects are now grouped under their next dates for review. Projects can now be reviewed where tasks may be changed as seen fit. The Project Filter set to “Remaining” means that any projects that are Active, Stalled, Pending, or On Hold will all be included. Stalled projects are those without a next available action. Pending projects are those set to start in the future. The Grouping column presents the projects in order of when a next review is scheduled. The sooner or more overdue a review session is, the higher it appears.
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Consider setting the Availability filter to “Any Status” to include completed items as well. While tasks may be archived, one may also prefer the option of deleting older tasks when no longer necessary. What exactly entails a review may be dependent upon the person. However, an excellent rule of thumb suggested by David Allen is “whatever it takes to get it off of your mind.” Whenever we make a commitment to ourselves via some trusted system, be it a piece of paper or a complex program, there are at least several important points to consider to help keep it off the mind: • The system must feel genuinely trustworthy. • Next Actions should be considered doable and set in an appropriate context. • That context list should be one that we would normally see when the time is appropriate. • It can be very beneficial to have an idea of what the project will look like when it is complete. • The project should be seen as regularly as needed.
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Review Process Turning these into questions - ask: 1. Is this system trustworthy? If not, why not? Do I need to make better backups?
If the system itself is untrustworthy, it will become immediately apparent as psychic RAM will quickly be filled.
2. Is there a next actionable task? Can it actually be readily done?
This is the art of strong task writing. The review process helps to hone this skill.
3. When do I anticipate looking at this next action’s context?
Much of the core system to be developed in the latter sections of this book addresses this question.
4. What will this project look like when it is done?
Writing an answer to this in the note field of a project can be helpful in imagining it to completion. It is a nice exercise that can help realize a change or addition needed in the tasks of the project.
5. When do I think I’ll need to see this project again?
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The default review schedule is once per week. However, this may be changed in the preferences. In addition, a specific review schedule may be assigned to each project. Scheduling for reviews is discussed below. Keep in mind, answering the above questions is not about developing a project from start to finish. Depending upon a project (e.g. plan CD release), one can spend a lot of time tracing the ins and outs of the folders, projects, tasks and their dependencies. Fully mapping a project, then, can be a long task in itself. For example,
!
“R&D album release” — Context: R&D”
As long as I am confident that there is a time when I will be in R&D mode at some point during the week, then this can work well. When a project is sufficiently reviewed and the answers to the above questions seem settled:
1. Select either the project or a task within the project. 2. Type Shift-Command-r to mark it reviewed.
The project will be marked as reviewed and its review date automatically advanced forward by its assigned review schedule.
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Review Scheduling Review may be set for a specific time every week or at any time the program is visited. The built-in review system allows an individual review schedule for each project. Whether or not one style is better than another is personal preference. If you find yourself annoyed with having to check daily if there are reviews to do or forgetting to do a periodic review, then setting aside the weekly time may be more prudent. Personally, I began with the former method of reviewing whenever I could, but later changed to a dependable weekly scheduled review.
Note On The iPad Review With the iPad version of OmniFocus, I will occasionally do a review outside of the weekly schedule. The iPad offers a more focused view of the individual project and can therefore offer a more suited environment to its detailed review.
Setting Frequency For Reviews Take special note that reviews do not have to be done once per week. In the information pane of any project, there is the option of adjusting the frequency of review. As projects accumulate, it is easier to look at things only as often as necessary and avoid reviewing a task too often.
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Having the information pane open during review allows a review of the review frequency itself. For example, my project “Books to Read” does not necessarily need frequent review so it is set to once per month. Though, it would seem that simply hitting Reviewed (Shift-Command-r) every week would be easy for such a task, there is a subtle but significant grab for attention that can be avoided. Looking at a list of 30 projects, even if most are simple, is more harrowing than looking at 5 that are known to require some real attention. Though the 30 project scenario may contain just as many projects requiring significant attention and a bunch of others that can simply be stamped “Reviewed”, which 5 of those 30 requiring particular care are not clear until examined. Each of those 30 would ask for the limited resource of attention and would require at least some mental processing prior to being considered reviewed. Consider each review of a task as a grab for attention, and keep the frequency as low as is reasonable, but high enough that it is still off the mind when not seen. In the example above, a project that lists leisure readings may not need to be very high, e.g. once per month. It is low enough that it does not have to be seen too often, but high enough that it will be seen with enough frequency to be useful.
The Need For Additional Methods Of Review A disadvantage to the OmniFocus method of review is that the projects presented are not easily seen as part of their respective folders. In the right pane of the Project View, the project’s title is visible but not the folder in which it exists. This means that a project’s position in the various folders and areas of responsibility is unclear. In addition, the hierarchy of folders themselves is not apparent. As such, these very important aspects of the review process risk being overlooked. This issue will be addressed in Review Part II after several other topics such as perspectives and the core system have been covered.
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Interested In Learning More? Visit UsingOmniFocus.com to get your copy of Creating Flow with OmniFocus and begin to master productivity:
• Master basic through advanced concepts. • View real world examples. • Take control. • Get things off your mind. • Focus fully on your present task, be it work or fun. • Learn perspectives inside and out. • Get to the things you want to do. • Build a core system. • Optimize conditions for creativity. • Learn methods to beat procrastination. • Avoid the tyranny of due dates. • Learn ways to return from a scattered state of mind.
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