I’ve written at length about OmniFocus here before. It’s a fantastic app, and has quite a following.
This isn’t an OmniFocus-specific phenomenon. Mac nerds cling to and defend their favorite programs will a fervor rarely seen. The TextMate guys beat up us TextWrangler folks on Twitter, while MarsEdit fans scoff at those who like living in WordPress’ web interface.
But in the GTD landscape, the fighting is fierce. Everyone has an opinion on what app and what method is best. But Chris Bowler gets it:
Adam King recently wrote a great post on his paper based “stay-on-top” set up, titled The Daily Rind. It’s the kind of post I’ve always enjoyed ever since this topic started to replace actual real work.
I say that with tongue in cheek, and I’m laughing at myself, not Adam. I always enjoy getting a look at how the people I admire process things and complete their work. The difference for me now is that I quickly recognize the pull to adapt my own habits because their’s seem a lot cooler in the flush of caffeine-fueled excitement. Call it what you like, but I’m going to call it maturity.
I like the word maturity. And while I love Bowler’s point that everyone needs to get work done — instead of just talking about how they do work — we’d all be better off.
So, we should be getting things done, and we shouldn’t let GTD get in our way.
This is an interesting thing to think about. So often, I think about OmniFocus as a helper, but sometimes, it isn’t.
Case Study No. 1
My job — like most people’s — includes long-term projects and oddball “here and now” tasks. For example, last week, I was working on a strategy for a component of our marketing, but got interrupted by a user with a sick Windows 7 notebook. She needed my help. So I helped. I didn’t stop to create a “Fix Bethany’s HP” project in OmniFocus, with tasks including “Reinstall Symantec” and “Run updates.”
I just did the work.
That said, I wanted to enter it into OmniFocus. I even thought about adding it after the fact, just to mark it as complete.
Case Study No. 2
The other version of OmniFocus guilt involves the app itself. This weekend, for example, I had a big freelance project that I had to complete on a very tight deadline. As such, the things I had planned to do got pushed back. With each task that I moved back, I felt a pang of guilt.
Truth is, I got work done this weekend. It just wasn’t the work I told OmniFocus I had planned on doing. I felt like I had let my GTD system down.
The Solution
I think Chris gets this right — it’s more important to do things than to keep a system up and running. Of course, as with all things, there is a balance. I need OmniFocus in my life, but I don’t need it to be handicapped to it in a way that slows me down.
Balance is key to avoiding the guilt, I suppose. Imagine that.