Forget what you need to do with confidence!
December 01, 2017

Forget what you need to do with confidence!

Doug Eli | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with OmniFocus

We use OmniFocus as one of the preferred task management applications. We are primarily a Mac organization and OmniFocus is one of the best task management tools for individuals. It helps me and the others who use it organize all their To-Dos in a way that allows them to see what they need to see and nothing else. Tasks that are distractions or lower priorities can be hidden away to avoid "Mind Clutter".
  • Contexts! I use my own contexts to organize To-Dos. For example: Full Focus, Brain Dead, Short Dashes, Thinking, and Top 6. This allows me to easily find a short task I can do in the 15 minutes I have. Or if I'm mentally drained, I can find things that I can do at that time.
  • Perspectives is another great feature. These are custom searches that are saved as common "views". Using projects, context, due dates, defer dates, and Status allows me to have much more control over what I see. For example, I have a context that only shows me work To-do's that are due today. I have another that shows my personal/home to-dos. Another option is to use location services that can notify you or list things you can do based on location. This is a great way to separate home and work tasks.
  • Syncing across devices is important, particularly for productivity needs. OmniFocus sync works so well, you never think about it once it is set up.
  • The user interface is very easy to work with and looks nice. It is the kind of tool that allows you to work with it and not get in the way.
  • I would like to see more ways to set priority. Context can be used, but I find contexts better used for other things. You can only assign one context per item. There is a flag status, but I would like to see something more like red/yellow/green status indicators to visually scan a list and see the urgent vs the normal vs. the low priorities.
  • It can be a bit pricey vs. some other options, but it is still a very good value.
  • It has allowed some key directors to stay more focused and get things done faster and on time.
Most of the others are basic check lists. It is the context and perspectives of OmniFocus that has me using it.

Using it is not as easy as others, but not as complicated as some (I'm looking at you Project!).

The developers are also top notch. They don't release bad software, and while they don't update it to full versions often (V1, V2, V3?), that does mean you don't pay for upgrades often either. New features are added to the version you already have at a remarkable rate.
Who should use OmniFocus
  • Anyone with multiple projects
  • Anyone with multiple tasks that need to get done
  • Anyone who does not like to forget what to do
  • Anyone who prefers to stay organized
  • Anyone who is not told what to do and when to do it
I think I covered everyone with that list. It is a very good tool to manage your tasks in life. I try and follow the "Getting Things Done" approach. Each morning I think of everything I need to do, put it in Omnifocus (unless it takes less than 2 minutes, then I do it), then go about doing what I need to do. Context, due dates, and status lets me filter out the urgent from that which can wait.

That said, OmniFocus is not for everyone. It does require a strategy and sticking to the strategy. I've met some who struggled to use it or wasted time building the perfect workflow. For them, a basic checklist is probably better. However there are some GREAT resources from Merlin Mann and others that teach how to use it well.

OmniFocus Feature Ratings

Task Management
10
Scheduling
7
Document Management
2
Mobile Access
9