

This step-by-step guide will introduce you to the power and abilities of the device-independent JavaScript scripting implementation in OmniFocus (called Omni Automation) and in a short time, get you on the path to creating. OmniFocus is by far the best application for GTD.Welcome to the introductory tutorial for learning about Omni Automation in the OmniFocus application from The Omni Group. Decide which option is best for you, then visit our online store to start a free two-week trial.“Why are you always so on top of things?”Omnifocus does allow you to sync actions with iCal and iCal sync with a whole bunch of other things. This is best for people who plan to purchase (or have already purchased) the native OmniFocus apps separately, minimizing ongoing subscription costs.
The Inbox The Inbox is where capture happens. OmniFocus is the best way to implement GTD on Mac and iOS. Here’s the specific stuff.
In these courses and in my videos on YouTube, I teach workflows to be more productive and to get more organized. Table of contentsI’m Peter Akkies and I’ve created successful video courses on both OmniFocus and Things. And I noticed that a key difference between those people and myself was that I consistently used a task manager while they didn’t.Do you also want people to compliment you on how organized you are?Do you want people to perceive you as “always so on top of things”?And do you want to use OmniFocus or Things 3 to make this happen—but you can’t choose between the two? Then this is the article for you.
And I’ve learned which app is right for what sort of person.There are substantial differences between OmniFocus and Things. And recently, Things 3 was one such app.After testing both apps extensively—to the point where I’m teaching video courses on both apps—I’ve come to understand each app’s strengths and weaknesses. But every now and then, a new app came along that caught my interest. And each lets you use a workflow such as David Allen’s Getting Things Done.I started using OmniFocus in 2011 and used it for many years. Each of these apps is a great project-based task manager.
At the time, I was stressed every single day, my memory had suddenly deteriorated, and I had a lot of trouble focusing. Being organized helps me be more productive and helps me make progress towards my goals—I would absolutely be less productive if it weren’t for my task manager.But my task manager became even more important to me in early 2016, when I started to deal with a pretty serious case of burnout. Why task managers are important to meFirst, a personal note: Why are these apps so important to me?Well, for one thing, as I tried to convey at the start, other people are always commenting on how organized and how on top of things I am. We’ll review the differences so that you can decide which task manager is right for you.
You can use it on just one device or on some combination of devices—you’ll have a great experience either way.It’s a little different for OmniFocus. If you have at least an iPhone, an iPad, or a Mac, you can use Things, and you can use OmniFocus.Things is virtually the same between these devices. So let’s see how they stack up.I encourage you to read until the end, because I’ll be sharing some free resources to help you make better use of whichever of these two apps you end up choosing.Let’s get one thing out of the way: Which devices do you need to run OmniFocus or Things?Both OmniFocus and Things only run on Apple devices. And they can become tremendously important to you too. My task manager is the core of my daily workflow.Long story short: OmniFocus and Things are important to me.
Review criteriaHow well do OmniFocus and Things help you organize your life and get stuff done?To answer that question, we will compare OmniFocus with Things on various parts of a project-based workflow:We will also take a separate look at each app’s design and usability.I won’t consider the price of the apps. OmniFocus for the Web is useful in a pinch, but I do not recommend using it as your main task manager. If you’re going with OmniFocus, I suggest at least using the iPadOS or the macOS version too.There is also OmniFocus for the Web, a browser-based version of OmniFocus. But while I could see someone using Things exclusively on their iPhone, I think OmniFocus is not suitable for iPhone-only use.You could run OmniFocus just on your phone, but it’s not a great experience because it’s cumbersome to navigate through your projects. They do all work together, of course.

You can decide how important that is to you.Adding tasks is faster in Things because of the magic plus button. Mind you, we’re talking about a second or two here. Adding a task to the inbox is fast in either app, but if I want to assign the task to a project right away, or set a date, it’s just faster in Things. I consistently need more time to add a task to OmniFocus than I need to add a task to Things.
In OmniFocus, forwarding your email to create tasks is called Mail Drop, and in Things it’s called Mail to Things. This is handy if you receive lots of work assignments by email. I love the magic plus button.Another way to add tasks to OmniFocus or to Things is to send an email to a special email address that will be processed by the app.
Omnifocus App How To Care For
In Things, you only tap the back arrow at the top and then drag the magic plus button to where you want to create the project, or you tap the button and choose “New Project”. In fact, the difference between OmniFocus and Things is even greater than when it comes to adding tasks.In OmniFocus, creating a project requires tapping Home, then Projects, then the relevant folder, and then pressing the “New Project” button. But on iOS and iPadOS, Things again has the edge. But really, capturing tasks in fine in either app.What about organizing those tasks into projects, though? Organizing your projectsCreating, editing, and completing projects on macOS is easy in both OmniFocus and in Things. This functionality is there in both apps and works fine.Overall, Things has a small advantage because it’s a bit faster to capture tasks, particularly on iOS and iPadOS. For example, if you want to learn how to care for an orchid, and you found a YouTube video that explains it that you want to watch later, you can send that video to OmniFocus or to Things.
For some people, that might be a dealbreaker. Haha!)Anyway, in a sequential project, OmniFocus can hide tasks that are “blocked” by prerequisite tasks, so that you can view only those tasks that you want to work on.Things cannot hide tasks that you can’t work on right now because Things does not support sequential projects. These are all separate tasks in your task manager, but it only makes sense to complete them in one order.(Of course, if you live in a civilized country such as The Netherlands, the government will take care of most of this for you. For example, for a project “file my income taxes”, that might mean waiting for certain forms to arrive, buying the latest edition of tax software, filling out your information, filing your return, etc. OmniFocus allows you to capture lots of detail, while Things keeps your organization simpler.For example, OmniFocus lets you create sequential projects, in which you are meant to complete tasks in a fixed order.
