Technology Tip - Power Productivity with OmniFocus

In today’s digital world there is no shortage of ways to keep track of the many things we all have to accomplish. However, I still find that many people do not take advantage of the technology we have at our fingertips to help them be more productive with those tasks. I have found that having a system to record my ideas, to-dos, or projects is essential in keeping me on track.There are countless books, articles, or videos on staying productive. The problem isn’t finding information, it’s finding the right solution for you. There is no one best way, only what will work best for you. My intent here is to share some ideas on productivity and show the tool that works best for me to stay productive.Before I begin, I will recommend that you invest some time in reading David Allen’s excellent book Getting Things Done. You may have heard it referred to as GTD for short. I have adapted many of the principles from his work but will be the first to admit I do not do it exactly as prescribed. I have tailored GTD to my needs and my style - I make it work for me.The tool I use to help me ‘get things done’ is OmniFocus. Arguably, it is overkill for what I need, but I like the fact that it is easy to use and has a lot of horsepower in case I need it as I advance my own productivity skills. I will share a little about how I am using it and how OmniFocus helps keep me organized on many fronts.As much as any system needs to work for you, there are some basic components that I would challenge need to be part of anyone’s system. First, you need a way or system to CAPTURE your thoughts, ideas, or tasks. OmniFocus makes that easy to do. Once in the application, one tap gets you an entry page that allows you to capture as much or as little as you need at that moment. This places your new item in your Inbox the starting point of any new task in your system.Getting thoughts from your head to paper (or task organizer) is a huge win for your personal productivity. Our brains are not designed to keep a lot of information at the ready. The more you get out of your brain so you can follow up later, the better you are for the immediate tasks at hand.OmniFocus makes it easy to record the task and quickly assign due dates for a single time use or a repeating task.Once you have captured your thoughts or ideas, OmniFocus lets you ORGANIZE them in many different ways. You can set up projects for bigger events you are working on or keep them as single events unconnected to anything else.Another way to organize your tasks in the application is to select tags. This is a newer feature for OmniFocus. I have found this to be a really nice addition to the system. Previously, OmniFocus used the idea of ‘contexts’ from the GTD method. It was good, but it was also limited. Contexts allows you to assign your task by something like where you are, what tools you have available etc. You may assign all of your phone calls to a context of ‘phone’ as an example. Or, you could use the context of ‘errands’ for the tasks you can complete when you are out and about. Tags expands that option, allowing you to assign multiple tags to each task. For example, I could assign both “phone” and “car” together as a way to quickly pull up any phone calls I need to make that I can do while driving.I use tags for locations, people, and times. I have also used as a way to help prioritize tasks. I use a tag named ‘Morning 3’ as a way to assign the three most important things for any given day. I can then sort by that tag and see which tasks I assigned to that tag and work that list of tasks.Of course, OmniFocus gives you the ability to set due dates and times for any of your projects. One nice feature is it also gives you the ability to establish ‘defer’ dates and times as well. This keeps a given task ‘greyed out’ until you want that task to be available. It will not show up on your 'due' list until you have established the time for it to be visible to you. This is an excellent way to capture notes, not lose track of them, and keep your list from seeming overwhelming.Being able to customize your views is a powerful feature that Omnifocus offers. In the screenshot below, my sidebar has been customized so I can quickly see tasks in my Inbox, anything that I have due today, my Morning 3, Flagged items, the tag for ‘Email’ as well as quick views of my tags, projects, review items, or even tasks nearby if I set a geolocation tag for a specific task (this is great for grocery or shopping lists).

Reviewing

Part of a good system is having a process for reviewing what you have captured. OmniFocus makes this easy. For every project you create, you also establish a review cycle. By default, OmniFocus will set up weekly reviews for the tasks and projects. This is helpful to ensure things do not get lost. The ability to adjust that schedule is very helpful so you do not end up being overwhelmed by your ‘Review’ items. Not all projects will need to be reviewed each week - some long-term projects might only need to be checked on monthly or evenly quarterly. You have the ability to set that as needed within the application.Reviewing your tasks and projects is simple - OmniFocus presents the project, the list of tasks and all you have to do is look through them, make sure you haven’t missed a critical step and the mark the item as reviewed. It is an excellent way to stay on top of everything you have captured.Reviewing is an important step in the system of task management. It can be easy to capture a note or idea and then have it get lost in the sea of other things. A good review process is a way to ensure that does not happen.The point of having a good tool for your productivity is to actually get more things done effectively. OmniFocus can help with this as well by using the Forecast view. The Forecast perspective is also a very useful view. It combines your due items with your calendar so you can see how your entire day looks. It is always great to combine the functions of two apps into one for a quicker view of your schedule.OmniFocus is a powerful application that can be used on any iOS device as well as the Mac platform. The developer is also in the final stages of creating a web application which would allow you to use OmniFocus on any system you have. So, for those of us that work on Windows, Mac, and iOS it will be the perfect solution for that. OmniFocus is a bit of an investment - each device is an additional purchase. You need an iPhone, iPad, and a Mac version if you want to use it on each of those devices. I do find that the iPad version is best of all worlds, so if you only want to have one version, that would be the one I would choose. That said, I also find it extremely valuable to have it on my phone and desktop computer so I can see or create projects regardless of where I am and what device I have.If this OmniFocus isn’t the right solution for you, there are other useful task management apps that I would recommend you try out to see what fits best for you.

• Apple’s or Android’s built-in Reminders or Task app.
• If you use Microsoft Outlook for your email, it has a very good calendar and task function and integration built in as well.
• If you like some of the features of OmniFocus, but want something a bit simpler and less expensive, then Todoist might be a perfect solution for you.
• Things is also an excellent application that utilizes most of the GTD methodologies - it is easy to use with a very clean user interface.

For additional reading and a more in-depth review on OmniFocus, check out these links.Omni Group websiteOmniFocus 3 for Mac: Multiple Tags, Enhanced Forecast, Powerful PerspectivesThings vs OmniFocus vs Todoist: A Comparison of the Best GTD and Productivity AppsAs I said before, the perfect task management application or process is the one that works best for you. Hopefully seeing how I use a tool like OmniFocus will help you get started or make a change that will improve your productivity for the future.What has worked for you in managing your projects and tasks? Share your ideas and suggestions in the comments section.Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive FREE leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills all at no cost. JOIN NOW!No spam ever - just leadership goodness.