Paul Jacobson

How do you manage your tasks?

Man it has been crazy here the last few months and just when I think things are going to calm down a bit, it gets worse. I have been using Leopard Mail to manage my tasks and I am starting to think it might be a good idea to get a bit more organised with my tasks and managing them. One of the worst sensations is realising that something major has slipped through the cracks.

omnifocus_header.jpg

So I guess my question is how best to get my stuff done? Do I suck it up, stick to my task list in Mail (my iCal list is just not doing it for me) or do I look at something more specific? OmniGroup has OmniFocus which I tried out in the early days and couldn’t quite get the hang of (I keep meaning to but haven’t read Getting Things Done yet – ironic, isn’t it). I am thinking I should maybe give it another try?

What do you think? What works best for you?

Update: I started using OmniFocus on a trial basis this morning and I enjoyed using it. I noticed I had some cash available so I bought the special OmniOutliner Pro upgrade license (OOP licensees get a discount on OmniFocus licenses). It isn’t cheap but, touch wood, I will use it regularly and be better organised … I don’t really have a choice.


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19 responses to “How do you manage your tasks?”

  1. Stii avatar
    Stii

    OmniPlan and OmniFocus are overly complicated. We use Basecamp to organize tasks, todos and deadlines and it is as easy as PI and pretty effective, although quite basic. I’d suggest that you take a look at it. http://www.basecamphq.com/

    Another very similar service is http://huddle.net

    Both are project management services, but I reckon would be very effective if applied for scheduling daily tasks.

    Reply
  2. Stii avatar
    Stii

    OmniPlan and OmniFocus are overly complicated. We use Basecamp to organize tasks, todos and deadlines and it is as easy as PI and pretty effective, although quite basic. I’d suggest that you take a look at it. http://www.basecamphq.com/

    Another very similar service is http://huddle.net

    Both are project management services, but I reckon would be very effective if applied for scheduling daily tasks.

    Reply
  3. Stii avatar
    Stii

    OmniPlan and OmniFocus are overly complicated. We use Basecamp to organize tasks, todos and deadlines and it is as easy as PI and pretty effective, although quite basic. I’d suggest that you take a look at it. http://www.basecamphq.com/

    Another very similar service is http://huddle.net

    Both are project management services, but I reckon would be very effective if applied for scheduling daily tasks.

    Reply
  4. Stii avatar
    Stii

    OmniPlan and OmniFocus are overly complicated. We use Basecamp to organize tasks, todos and deadlines and it is as easy as PI and pretty effective, although quite basic. I'd suggest that you take a look at it. http://www.basecamphq.com/

    Another very similar service is http://huddle.net

    Both are project management services, but I reckon would be very effective if applied for scheduling daily tasks.

    Reply
  5. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Thanks Stii. I have been using the task lists in Mail because it is on my local machine. I found that I forget about it and the tasks I have. I like the idea of breaking bigger tasks down to single action items and OmniFocus seems to be the best way of managing that … and it will synch with iCal/Mail.

    I wonder if I don’t need far more structure for my tasks as well as the ever present need to keep referring back to it as I go and make it a key part of my workflow.

    Reply
  6. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Thanks Stii. I have been using the task lists in Mail because it is on my local machine. I found that I forget about it and the tasks I have. I like the idea of breaking bigger tasks down to single action items and OmniFocus seems to be the best way of managing that … and it will synch with iCal/Mail.

    I wonder if I don’t need far more structure for my tasks as well as the ever present need to keep referring back to it as I go and make it a key part of my workflow.

    Reply
  7. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Thanks Stii. I have been using the task lists in Mail because it is on my local machine. I found that I forget about it and the tasks I have. I like the idea of breaking bigger tasks down to single action items and OmniFocus seems to be the best way of managing that … and it will synch with iCal/Mail.

    I wonder if I don’t need far more structure for my tasks as well as the ever present need to keep referring back to it as I go and make it a key part of my workflow.

    Reply
  8. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Thanks Stii. I have been using the task lists in Mail because it is on my local machine. I found that I forget about it and the tasks I have. I like the idea of breaking bigger tasks down to single action items and OmniFocus seems to be the best way of managing that … and it will synch with iCal/Mail.

    I wonder if I don't need far more structure for my tasks as well as the ever present need to keep referring back to it as I go and make it a key part of my workflow.

    Reply
  9. John Kendrick avatar
    John Kendrick

    You might also want to try an application called Nozbe. I use it to access my GTD from my Windows computer at work, my Mac at home and even carry my GTD with me on my cell phone, I am never without it. I’ve written a couple of recent posts about my experiences at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com

    Reply
  10. John Kendrick avatar
    John Kendrick

    You might also want to try an application called Nozbe. I use it to access my GTD from my Windows computer at work, my Mac at home and even carry my GTD with me on my cell phone, I am never without it. I’ve written a couple of recent posts about my experiences at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com

    Reply
  11. John Kendrick avatar
    John Kendrick

    You might also want to try an application called Nozbe. I use it to access my GTD from my Windows computer at work, my Mac at home and even carry my GTD with me on my cell phone, I am never without it. I've written a couple of recent posts about my experiences at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com

    Reply
  12. Andrew Flusche avatar
    Andrew Flusche

    Paul – I’m definitely a lover of Remember the Milk. It takes a little getting used to for GTD, but it’s awesome.

    Reply
  13. Andrew Flusche avatar
    Andrew Flusche

    Paul – I’m definitely a lover of Remember the Milk. It takes a little getting used to for GTD, but it’s awesome.

    Reply
  14. Andrew Flusche avatar
    Andrew Flusche

    Paul – I’m definitely a lover of Remember the Milk. It takes a little getting used to for GTD, but it’s awesome.

    Reply
  15. Andrew Flusche avatar
    Andrew Flusche

    Paul – I'm definitely a lover of Remember the Milk. It takes a little getting used to for GTD, but it's awesome.

    Reply
  16. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Andrew

    Thanks for your comment. I took a look at RTM a while ago as an addon to Gmail and then Google Cal. It would be great if I could sync my iCal tasks with RTM because that makes my tasks portable (this may be possible, I haven’t checked back in a while to see if it works).

    Reply
  17. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Andrew

    Thanks for your comment. I took a look at RTM a while ago as an addon to Gmail and then Google Cal. It would be great if I could sync my iCal tasks with RTM because that makes my tasks portable (this may be possible, I haven’t checked back in a while to see if it works).

    Reply
  18. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Andrew

    Thanks for your comment. I took a look at RTM a while ago as an addon to Gmail and then Google Cal. It would be great if I could sync my iCal tasks with RTM because that makes my tasks portable (this may be possible, I haven’t checked back in a while to see if it works).

    Reply
  19. Paul avatar
    Paul

    Hey Andrew

    Thanks for your comment. I took a look at RTM a while ago as an addon to Gmail and then Google Cal. It would be great if I could sync my iCal tasks with RTM because that makes my tasks portable (this may be possible, I haven't checked back in a while to see if it works).

    Reply

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