Jan
7
(2006)
Getting Things Done with OmniOutliner
Filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: gettingthingsdone, omnioutliner.
I just did a quick Google for OmniOutliner todo-list templates, to see what ideas others have come up with to help manage the flow of tasks and demands, and found Kinkless Getting Things Done - a set of templates and scripts for OmniOutliner to help categorize and prioritize stuff that needs doing.
Very impressive stuff - it helps you define context (where/when something needs to be done) and then sets up a set of views on your projects and actions to help you get through them efficiently (or, in my case, without getting distracted by shiny tangents. OOH! A tangent! I should follow that! Wait…)
I don’t really want to provide a screenshot at the moment, because I’m more than a little embarrassed by just how far behind I’ve let myself get. Once I’ve caught up, maybe I’ll post an update 
In the meantime, check out the screenshots and (free) downloads on the kGTD website.
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3 Responses to “Getting Things Done with OmniOutliner”
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Having been adicted to GTD for over a year and after trying just about everything (including KGTD), let me offer what I found to be the best solutions.
Text.
Ok, it goes farther than that. Grab your favorite text editor. Grab a copy of Quicksilver over at Blacktree. Search Merlin Mann’s setup at 43 Folders for Quicksilver…specifically to get to the point (follow his suggestions on the setup) where you can “Append Text to File”. Pretty soon you’ll be able to hit a key combination (option + space), it will bring up a text box, I type my thought, hit enter, and it’s saved to my todo w/o opening it. I can later sort, categorize, etc. There’s just so much about Quicksilver and GTD and Plain Old Text that is so right.
Ok, just give it a try. Part of the GTD greatness is that it’s a personal thing that can happen any way you want, with whatever tools you want. I’m just loving my current setup so much that I though I’d share.
Good luck!
John, thanks for the tip. I don’t think I have the kind of self control for a plain text list to be effective for me - I’m pretty sure it would quickly devolve into either (A) a 200-page list of Important Things That Need To Be Done Immediately, and therefore ignored, or (B) a neglected and rarely updated list of things I should have done weeks ago.
What I am so totally digging about kGTD is how it moves the stuff that you don’t need to be thinking about right now out of the way. I just entered all of my major projects, with many, many things to do, and kGTD just distilled the whole mess down to 2 things that I need to be worrying about at the moment. The rest gets pushed out of the way until it’s time to deal with it (or if I go looking for stuff).
Very cool, and exactly what I need to help me cope more effectively and avoid paralysis.
WHOAH! And kGTD can sync items to iCal and/or sync to my iPod! Sweet!