Tag: GTD

Today I want to showcase one of my most favorite automation workflows I am regularly using on my iPad.

When preparing regular events or projects in your task management, it might often be helpful to create templates for frequently occurring tasks.

For example, if you need to prepare some materials for every group meeting, why not have a preset or a mock-project from which you can copy-paste an instance every time you need it. This way, you won’t forget some small task which might be forgettable yet essential.

In this article I’ll go over the process to create templates for new OmniFocus projects, and how to connect it to calendar events for more conveniently creating new projects based on new calendar entries in one click.

OmniFocus entered its third release cycle with the release of OmniFocus 3 for iOS.

The app became one of the most prominent task management suites on the Apple ecosystem. It is an often recommended solution for to-do, especially if investing in Getting Things Done workflows.

However, it also comes with a relatively high price and a learning curve. Is OmniFocus worth the effort, and can the solution help you with your productivity needs? I’ll go through all the features in detail and let you decide what you think about them.

Recent updates (January 4, 2019): Updated the article to include macOS and some thoughts on the upcoming Web client.

Sometimes, there are tasks which are rare or only relevant in the long term, but still important – even in daily life outside of work.

For example, home maintenance: Spring cleaning, washing curtains, washing bedding. The small things, which are often forgotten way too quickly. And before you think about it, you sleep in months of your own sweat. When using task management, think in the long term.

This article will go over on how to efficiently use task management in the long term to not forget even the rarest occasions.

With its initial release in early 2008, OmniFocus grew to be one of the most prominent task management suites on the Apple ecosystem. It is an often recommended solution for task management, especially in the lines of Getting Things Done.

But, it also comes with a high price and learning curve. Complex applications often need to be studied, customized and understood, before being able to use them.

Is OmniFocus worth the effort, and can the solution help you with your productivity needs? This article will cover this productivity suite in all details.

This review takes a closer look at a task management service called GTDNext. The very acronymic name already tells half of the story: If familiar with GTD – which by the way stands for the Getting Things Done method – it almost explains itself.

The application is a niche app fully tailored to a single approach to task management. It does not allow much customization, but implements a single paradigm for task management very well and structured.

Is this app something for everybody, or rather a niche app for productivity fanatics?

The book Getting Things Done by David Allen can easily be seen as one of the bibles of personal productivity. It is a business book, initially released in 2001 and raised up to be a bestseller in its field.

It covers a combination of time management and stress management, but gives these disciplines a different name: Attention management. It is a guideline on the mindset to approach thought processes and ideas, and how to deal with them. With that, it gives a way to implement task management – to organize how to approach projects and ideas.

In this article, we will take a look on the book, have a brief overview on the methodology itself and what makes it different from other methodologies. Many applications are built upon this concept, but does it hold up to its fad?

Capturing new tasks is an important habit needed for successful use of a task management software. Many tasks in daily life involve incoming or outgoing emails as it is a main tool of communication with supervisors, business partners, and colleagues.

There is a convenient feature called Send-To-Inbox, which is supported by many task management applications. The idea is simple: Every email sent to a specific email address will be added to the task management as a new task.

In this article, we will discuss how to set up such a workflow, go over a couple of interesting use cases and in the end talk about how this feature can be used for automation.

When working with an app like Things 3 or OmniFocus 3, one will quickly notice the folder in the top, called “Inbox.”

After using emails for decades, the concept of an Inbox should be clear, but what is its meaning in task management? Can one not enter tasks directly into the appropriate task list or project? Why is there an extra step, adding a task to an “Inbox” folder, when it will be temporary anyhow?

This feature will help streamline your workflows if used correctly. In this article, I will discuss its purpose, how new tasks should be captured, and how to make sure that the inbox stays tidy.

Things 3 is the third iteration of Things by CulturedCode, an international company with its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Things is a popular task management software made for the Apple ecosystem. In its previous version, Things 2 has been around for years and grew to be one of the major solutions on its supported platforms. The suite is available for the Mac, iPhone/Apple Watch, and iPad.

The updated version comes with a new interface, a redesigned workflow and its own solution to task management. They promise the new iteration to be easier to use, more reliable and just in the right spot to serve for all your productivity needs.

As one of the main players for personal task management, can it hold up to its high expectations?

After creating the habit of using to-do lists, they can get messy. What to put into a task management app? Where to start when structuring tasks, sub-tasks, and projects? Most apps have a variety of features, but it is hard to use them properly, especially for a beginner.

Especially if having a large amount of tasks, to-do list apps or task management systems can get out of hand. There are many things to do at once, but not everything can be done at once. Maybe stuff cannot even be done because something else needs to be finished first. Maybe there is a date attached, from when a task can be worked on.

Having a proper structure helps to create trust in the system and workflows, gaining security. It helps to be reliable and not forgetting tasks. Finally, it helps to tackle work which would be overwhelming, otherwise.