How You Can Get More Things Done in 2011
ByWith the Holidays over, you are probably busy coming up with your plans and strategies for the new year. You probably have many ideas of new businesses and websites you want to build, and new revenue streams you would like to start.
Well in order to get these things done, you need to get more productive and efficient with your time.
In my personal quest to accomplish more in 2011, have recently found an app for the iPhone called “OmniFocus“. (I can’t remember exactly where I first heard about it. Most likely it was from Paul Colligan who knows everything about the Mac and Apple products!)
Anyways, this iPhone App is a great way to get all those ideas, those little sticky notes, OUT of your head, and into a place that you can reference and categorize them.
OmniFocus is inspired by the methodologies of David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done”. I had bought the book years ago, but had trouble getting through it. I liked his concepts, but the pen and paper approach to capturing todos just didn’t work for me. I kept losing all the little scraps of paper I would jot my ideas down on.
Well with OmniFocus, you can toss out all your paper notes, and keep everything quickly accessible from your iPhone, your iPad, and your iMac. If you use more than one Apple device, then you can have them all sync together. I use it mostly on my iPhone and have found great relief from all the ‘todo’s cluttering up my brain.
Watch this short 4 min video below on how OmniFocus works:
OmniFocus is designed for you to use as a way to keep track of all your todos over your different projects. (You can learn more about OmniFocus from the OmniGroup website or search for it in the Apps Store)
It also has a dimensional aspect to it, in that it will organize things in a specific context. For example things you want to work on at home, phone calls you need to make to people, things to do while at your computer, or errands you need to run.
It can also use the GPS Mapping to keep track of things you need to do when you are in a certain location of town. And you can view your todo actions based on date that they are do.
I think you will really love this little App, it’s super fast to learn, and totally worth it!
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Thanks for sharing this amazing app! Someday, Verizon will have an iPhone so those of us still stuck on PC will be able to tap into a great app like this. Any chance there is one available for Blackberry or Android?
Theresa,
You will have to check with OmniGroup.com on that. I don’t believe it works on a PC.
But, you may get an iTouch and have it work on that. I’m pretty sure it would.
I like using it on my iPhone, cause I carry that everywhere!
Hi Christina
What an awesome app! I’ve been using 2DO which is great, but I think this one you’ve shared today takes it to a whole other level. Thanks for sharing. I’m an Apple convert (except my PC) so I’ll be downloading this App to my IPad and IPhone asap. Always happy to innovate! Thanks! Wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year.
Louise,
the app for the iPhone is $19, for the iPad is $39
yes I bought both, as I like the iPad one better on the iPad. I too am becoming a Mac convert. I still have a PC and use it most of the time, but I LOVE the apple products!
And with this new productivity tool, my ability to produce has gone way way up!
Anything like this for the Droid?
Jeff, I don’t have a Droid, but search for omnifocus on the droid and see what comes up
Did a search and nothing came up. Maybe down the road…
There are several GTD apps for Androids, most notably Remember The Milk (the cloud counterpart is: http://www.rememberthemilk.com/) and Got To Do (the cloud counterpart is: http://Toodledo.com). Here is a fairly good review of them and others: http://androinica.com/2010/06/30/the-best-android-gtd-getting-things-done-app-is-droid-vs-droid/
Something to watch out for: whatever app you use on your mobile device (Droid or iPhone or whatever), it MUST seamlessly sync with a could app you can access from your larger screen devices (notebooks, desktops, etc.). Otherwise, you’re creating yet another fragmented world for yourself, which leads, ironically, to … being MUCH less productive!
)
Hope this helps, Jeff.
Sergiu
Sergiu,
Yes I sync my Omnifocus with my iMac, but that is because I use an iPad as well.
If a person wanted to use omnifocus on the iphone or itouch only, I think it would work fine. It’s only if you are going to use it with multiple devices that sync is important.
Thanks for mentioning Remember the milk, I’ve heard that works well
this is so cool thanks I’ll check it out!
I’m not an I-phone user, so I’ve ideas for all who aren’t & maybe even those who are. Go to http://www.Evernote.com where you can even clip info from webpages. Your notes are easily searchable via tags, keywords, & folders.
I mentioned it in my September blog, Storytelling + Research = LoiS, at http://storytellingresearchlois.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html when talking about cloud computing in “You Can Take It with You.” My August blog on calendars mentions many specialized things for my storytelling clients, but also about ReminderFox for those of us using Firefox. Just hope someday it becomes more portable as I like it immensely, but it’s dependent on that browser. Have tried Google’s calendar & don’t like it nearly as well.
Oh well…just a pc-er here…nothing from apple…just too expensive for us…
Susan,
Yes, Apple products are expensive. But the user experience is great!
I went from iPod –> iPhone –> iPad –> iMac
because I loved the user experience.
But I still do use a PC as my main computer for business
Great reminder, Christina, to start the year right using software tools that apply to David Allen’s Getting Things Done.
For the Android, I like Remember The Milk (RTM). There are several other Getting Things Done apps, and here’s a chart that compares them for folks looking for Android apps.
http://androinica.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/BestGTDAndroidAppDroidVsDroid.png
Debra,
thanks for that chart for Android users. And yes I have heard good things about ‘remember the milk’
For those who are looking for a “hybrid” (something that can be used on both Apple & PC) try Llama Graphic’s Life Balance app. It has some really cool features that make the scheduling and prioritization of tasks seemingly work like magic. You can also customize your “places”, as recommended in GTD.
Kathy,
yes that is one of the thinks I like about OmniFocus. You can customize your todos based on geography
Christina, this is exactly what I’ve been needing!! Thank you so much for sharing this app, I’m going there right now to purchase.
Pearl,
let me know what you think of Omnifocus. And if you have an iphone or not.