Things vs OmniFocus
Back in the day I didn’t really have any task manager. I was using Task Paper 2 on and off since 2012.
My first dedicated task manager was Things 3 back when it was launched in 2017. But back then I didn’t know anything about GTD so Things didn’t really click with me.
Then in 2019 I learned about GTD and all the blogs recommended OmniFocus as the way to go.
While OmniFocus is very powerful with time (and reduced enthusiasm) it felt more and more like a chore to use.
So I started looking again and decided to use TickTick since it can share lists and tasks, has boards and all the whistles… But the usability was subpar.
Then I switched back to the OmniFocus 4 beta for a while but as the beta progressed especially the iPhone app got more complicated.
So finally I moved back to Things and I was happy since!
Unfortunately I’m just kidding. I always felt the urge to switch back to OmniFocus because Things is just too simple. But OmniFocus is too complex… So I would need something in between.
After a few of those urges I finally sat down and analyzed what OmniFocus (and others) have what I’m missing with Things.
What’s missing with Things?
- More flexible task hierarchies (not just Area, Project, Task and Checklist but those nested with notes)
- Shared tasks
- Deferring items
- Due soon (when you forget to set a Start Date)
- The Review perspective
Is there something I can do about it?
So I cannot change 1. (I gave them Feedback). I can just hope for Things 4 to be more flexible or to adapt the way I want to group things.
About 2. there is nothing easy to do. Currently I use Reminders for shared tasks.
In theory I could write a script which kinda syncs Reminders with Things. But this is a bit complex and probably not worth the effort.
Also edge cases like tasks with subtasks cannot be expressed properly in Things. For simple lists it would be somewhat doable.
Having thought more about 3. I actually recognized that I need three kinds of dates:
- a date where I want to start working on something (Things Start Date)
- a date until which a task is blocked (OmniFocus Defer Date)
- a date where the task needs to be done (Things Deadline, OmniFocus Due Date)
OmniFocus Pro solves this by having a Tag which is shown in Today. So you can defer a task and then set it to be next up on the agenda.
My desire of a defer date is probably a sign of underusing Someday.
But this is something I can implement with Shortcuts.
The Due date (4.) was nice to have in those cases where you just forgot to schedule a deadline task ahead of time.
With Things it’ll just pop up on the date its deadline is set. And if you set the deadline without additional buffer it could get stressful.
Again Shortcuts can fix this.
And lastly there is 5. the Review. Yes you don’t need a review perspective but it’s really nice to have one.
I didn’t really use any fancy stuff like different schedules for different projects. But just a list where you can mark as reviewed and you can skip projects and review them later without having to fear something falls through the cracks. (I like to review bigger projects in the end and start with smaller projects to get going.This is something I tried with Shortcuts but I haven’t found a good solution to replicate this.
I’ve now found a way to have a review feature using Shortcuts.