I use flags for the tasks that are important but without a real deadline. So only tasks that have a hard deadline (like filing taxes) get a due date. I try to use due dates as little as possible because otherwise, one day you end up with 10 things urgent to do and you get stuck. This is how I have things popping up for attention. That's just things I need to do and don't really fit in a project. In addition to these kinds of projects, I have a few projects called "Work :: Miscelleanous" or "Personal :: Miscelleanous". Then during the review process, I mark it as due a few days before the actual birthday. But when someone talks about a topic they like, I try to take a note of it. It's out of my mind but I know I'll do it one day because I have this reminder. I told him I wanted to read them and provide some feedback but I have no idea when I'll come around doing that. The crazy hard worker that Nicolas Hoffmann is wrote a few articles on modern CSS practices on the OpenWeb group.
Omnifocus contexts Patch#
Land patch and clean branches: When all is good, I can land my work.Wait for green tests: In a waiting context too because you shouldn't land something if the tests are not green.If it's not good, I'll add a task for each comment to adress. Wait for review: This is in a waiting context so I can forget about this project until I receive an email about that review.Put in review: Uploading my patch and explaining my fix.Test on a phone: I will certainly have done this while developing but for small fixes that look obvious, I have been bitten by not testing on a real phone.Write tests: Even though I may write the tests as I fix the problem, I still keep this reminder to make sure I wrote enough tests.Find a fix: Well that sounds dumb but this is my first step.This is a sequential project, meaning I need to achieve a task before the next one is available. I try to do this a lot :) So I have a template project that I copy when I intend to work on a bug. Let me give you three example of real projects: Fixing a bug Waiting: When I'm waiting on something else to happen.Technology: This is where you'll find most of my tasks.People: A nested list of some people and also a phone context.
Omnifocus contexts full#
I have a few tasks that require me to be in an office (like printing) but not enough to warrant a full context. Home: I don't have an office context because I can work from anywhere.Errands: When I'm neither at home nor at work.I may need to tweak this again but for now, I don't feel the need to dive more in that area. I'm not really using the contexts because most of the time, I just need to be in front of my computer to accomplish work related tasks. It could be a location, a person or an object. In GTD, Contexts are things you need to achieve a task. The tricky part for me was creating the projects and contexts. You also flag some items you deem important and put important dates for those tasks. Once you have this exhaustive list of things you want to do, you process it in contexts and projects. To start this, you may also want to start by doing a mind sweep: sit down in front of a piece of paper, no distractions, half an hour and write down everything that comes to mind. Just trust the system to remind it to you later. You don't have to do that new task right now, you don't have to explore that idea yet. You're not afraid of forgetting something anymore.Ĭapturing your thoughts like this also allows you to stay focused on the current task. There is a big relief in knowing that everything you need or want to do is explicitly written somewhere. I got a huge inbox but I was ok with it because I knew collecting was the first part to get right. When an email requires some action, I send a message to the mail drop address.When I'm not in front of my computer, I use the iPod Touch app.When I'm in front of my computer, I use the ^⌥Space shortcut to open the Quick Entry panel.You need to create that habit and do it every time something pops in your head. That's when you note down in your GTD system everything you'd like to do. You can adopt GTD with paper, with another software, whatever works for you. I'll be talking about my experiences via Omnifocus but you should not focus too much on the software. It's a bit expensive to buy the three flavours but I was committed. This time, I chose Omnifocus for my GTD experimentation. He inspired me to try again and answered a lot of questions I had during my adoption. This time, I had a huge advantage: at work, I'm sitting next to Étienne, a big proponent of GTD. I wasn't applying most principles and fell back to noting things down on a collection of small papers. I've tried to adopt the Getting Things Done method a few times already.