GTD OmniFocus2 Setup Guide Letter

OmniFocus 2
Setup Guide
David Allen Company

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© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. gettingthingsdone.com

GTD & OmniFocus 2 l SETUP GUIDE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
UNDERSTANDING THE GTD BEST PRACTICES ®
AN OVERVIEW OF THE KEY BEST PRACTICES TO UNDERSTAND THE GTD METHODOLOGY

1 What is GTD?
1 GTD’s Five Phases of Mastering Workflow
1 Three Stages to Integrating GTD
2 GTD Workflow Map
3 Three Key Areas of OmniFocus®
3 Inbox Fundamentals
3 Project Fundamentals
4 Contexts Fundamentals
5 The Most Common GTD Lists
10 Customizing Your Contexts
CONFIGURING OMNIFOCUS
ONE-TIME CONFIGURATION OF OMNIFOCUS TO OPTIMIZE IT FOR GTD
11 Configure Default Project Types
12 Change Miscellaneous Project Names
13 Customizing Your Contexts for GTD Next Action Lists
14 Setting Context Views
15 Customizing Your Toolbar
15 Setting Up Clippings
16 Setting Up Mail Drop
16 Creating Email Support Folders
17 Integrating with Your Calendar
17 Syncing to iPad® and/or iPhone®
17 Using SIRI with OmniFocus
© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 818-15JUN2017-LTR gettingthingsdone.com

GTD & OmniFocus 2 l SETUP GUIDE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
POPULATING OMNIFOCUS
INPUTTING YOUR WORK INTO OMNIFOCUS
18 Adding New Projects and Related Actions
19 Adding New Next Actions and Linking to the Related Project
20 Adding New Next Actions Not Related to Projects
20 Creating Project Folders
21 Capturing Notes
21 Storing Reference
22 Processing Items in the OmniFocus Inbox
23 Due Dates or No Due Dates?
23 Mark Complete Versus Delete
23 The GTD Weekly Review® Ties It All Together
24 Saving Time with Keyboard Shortcuts
CONCLUSION
25 Additional Resources
© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 818-15JUN2017-LTR gettingthingsdone.com

UNDERSTANDING THE GTD BEST PRACTICES ®
To get the most out of OmniFocus® as a tool for your GTD practice, let’s review the fundamentals of the Getting
Things Done® approach, so you understand how the methodology and tools will intersect.
WHAT IS GTD?
GTD is the shorthand brand for “Getting Things Done,” the groundbreaking work-life management system and
best-selling book1 by David Allen, which provides concrete solutions for transforming overwhelm and uncertainty
into an integrated system of stress-free productivity.
GTD’S FIVE PHASES OF MASTERING WORKFLOW

yy Capture – Collect anything and everything that’s grabbing your attention
yy Clarify – Define actionable things into concrete next steps and successful outcomes
yy Organize – Sort information in the most streamlined way, in appropriate categories, based on how and when
you need to access it
yy Reflect – Step back to review and update your system regularly
yy Engage – Make trusted choices about what to do in any given moment
THREE STAGES TO INTEGRATING GTD

1. Understanding You understand the distinct differences in the five phases of Mastering Workflow. You understand
a project versus a next action. You know how to transform what you’ve collected by asking the key processing
questions, clarifying what something is, and what you want to do about it.
2. Implementation You have installed at least the basic gear to support a GTD system, including ubiquitous
collection tools, functioning reference systems for your non-actionable information, and seamless buckets with
“clean edges” for tracking your projects and next actions.
3. Behavior Change The five phases of Mastering Workflow are second nature to you. You have changed the way
you think and work and are achieving stress-free productivity on a regular basis. When you “fall off” you know what
to do to get “back on”.
This Guide will leap forward to the “Implementation” stage, by configuring OmniFocus as an organizing tool for your
projects, actions, and reference. Success at the implementation stage depends on your understanding of GTD.
If you are committed to GTD and experiencing stress-free productivity, don’t shortchange yourself by skipping the
“Understanding” stage.
1
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity; Viking, New York; 2001, 2015 hardback or paperback. Available from booksellers
or at gettingthingsdone.com.
© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 818-15JUN2017-LTR gettingthingsdone.com UNDERSTANDING THE GTD BEST PRACTICES 1
THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO GET A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF GTD, INCLUDING:
yy Read the book – Getting Things Done is the essential manual for this methodology (part one is an excellent
overview of the whole game).
yy Take a course – The courses offered by the David Allen Company and our global partners are excellent primers
for understanding the key phases of Mastering Workflow.
yy Practice, practice, practice – The GTD Workflow Map (shown below) is a fantastic coaching tool for walking
yourself through the core models for capturing, clarifying, organizing, reflecting, and engaging.
THE GTD WORKFLOW MAP
Purpose
Vision
WHAT IS IT?
Goals
Areas of Focus
and Accountability
WHAT’S THE IS IT ACTIONABLE?
DESIRED OUTCOME?
(If multi-step)
PROJECTS TRASH
Recycle, shred, delete
WHAT’S THE
Project Support Material NEXT ACTION? INCUBATE
DEFER IT
(review for actions) Possible
later
For me to do, specific to a action Someday / Maybe lists / folders
REFERENCE
day or time (calendar / tickler) DELEGATE
DO IT
For me to do, as soon as I can Date-specific triggers
(Next Actions lists / folders / trays) If less than 2 minutes
In communication system and being Paper / digital – lists / folders

tracked on Waiting For list / folder
We recommend getting the full Workflow Map, with all of the GTD models, which comes as a full-color poster
or PDF download. Visit our online store at gettingthingsdone.com/store to learn more.
The purpose of this Guide is to equip you with our best practices for using OmniFocus as your GTD system for
lists. This Guide is not about teaching you every feature of OmniFocus, or even using all of the features in the way
OmniGroup intends, as we have found some features to be counterproductive to the GTD methodology (e.g. forcing
all actions to be associated with a project, assigning deferred start dates on next actions, and relying on flagging
items to get your attention.) What we will coach you through are the essential features we would use ourselves and
teach our clients, to build a seamless and sustainable GTD system for lists.
THREE KEY AREAS OF OMNIFOCUS

It’s important to understand the differences among the three key areas of OmniFocus that we will be working with
in your GTD system.
I nbox – For collecting new, unprocessed input. This maps to the “Capture” phase of GTD.
Example: “Idea: I want to take a vacation”
Projects – For tracking projects/outcomes. We will also adapt this section to store Reference information.
This maps to the “Organize” phase of GTD.
Example: “Project Outcome: Take vacation to Tahiti”
Contexts – For tracking next action lists. These will be your day-to-day lists for choosing actions to
complete. Context refers to the person, place, or tool you will need to complete the action. This maps
to the “Organize” phase of GTD.
Example: “Next Actions: Search online for Tahiti hotels” and “Buy new suitcase for Tahiti”
INBOX FUNDAMENTALS
yy Items in the inbox represent inputs you have not yet processed or organized (David Allen calls this
“stuff”). To create trustworthy inboxes for collecting potentially meaningful input, you need to empty
them regularly.
yy Processing your inbox means making decisions about what each input means and what you are going
to do about it (see Workflow Map for how this is done).
yy Use the Quick Entry window (OmniFocus Window Menu > Show Quick Entry) to do a GTD Mind Sweep 2
to capture what has your attention.
yy Use the OmniFocus Clippings or Mail Drop features to send information from other applications
directly into your OmniFocus Inbox. Configuring both of these features is explained in the section
of this Guide on Configuring OmniFocus.
PROJECT FUNDAMENTALS
yy Projects are defined as outcomes that will require more than one action step to complete and that you
can mark off as finished.
yy Your Projects list serves as a master index of the projects you are committed to completing within the
next 12 months—think of your Projects list as a current table of contents of the current outcomes on
your plate.
yy In OmniFocus, projects are stored in the Projects section.
2
The Mind Sweep is a GTD process for capturing what has your attention. Refer to the Getting Things Done book for helpful
Mind Sweep trigger lists.
yy The typical number of projects for most people we work with ranges from 10-100, personally and
professionally. Current projects have at least one next action, waiting for, or calendar action, in order
to be considered current.
yy Projects that have no current next action, waiting for, or calendar action are either no longer projects
for you (completed or dropped), or should be incubated to Someday/Maybe.
yy Future actions (i.e., actions that are dependent on something else happening first) do not go on the
Next Actions (Contexts) lists until you can take action on them. Even though OmniFocus allows you
to enter a start date, we do not recommend using this feature, so that your Next Action lists truly
represent a clear view of your current action choices only.
yy The Projects list and project plans are typically reviewed in your Weekly Review, ensuring each project
has at least one current next action, waiting for, or calendar item.
yy It’s fine to have multiple next actions on any given project, as long as they are parallel and not
sequential actions (e.g., “Buy stamps” and “Mail invitations” would not both be on Next Actions lists
for the “Put on Party for David” project given that you need to
buy the stamps before you can mail the invitations). Examples of Projects Defined
yy Projects are listed by the outcome you will achieve when you by the Outcome:
can mark it as done. (What will be true?) - Roll out leadership initiative
yy Effective project names motivate you toward the outcome you - Take summer vacation
wish to achieve, and give you clear direction about what you - Buy a new car
are trying to accomplish.
CONTEXTS FUNDAMENTALS
yy In OmniFocus, Next Action lists are stored in the Contexts section.
yy Next actions are defined as the physical, visible steps required to get something done and describe
what you want to do to move toward a successful outcome.
yy Your Next Action lists serve as the day-to-day working lists of your action choices.
yy Contexts are sorted by the people, place, or tool required to complete the action.
yy Next Action lists are reserved for your next actions only—not sequential or dependent actions that
require something else to happen first.
yy It’s common to have multiple actions you can do in Examples of Next Actions Defined by
parallel on any given project. the Next Physical, Visible Step:
yy Next actions should start with a verb, clearly - Email Mike about budget for
describing what you will do. (e.g., Call, Read, Write, leadership initiative off-site meeting
Email, Edit, Talk to, Outline, etc.)
- Research online for hotels for
yy Projects that do not have at least one current next summer vacation
action, calendar item, or waiting for should be marked
- Test drive the new Tesla
complete, deleted, or incubated to Someday/Maybe.
yy Not every next action, calendar item, or waiting for is
related to a project. (e.g., “Buy shampoo” doesn’t mean you have to create a project called “Wash my
hair.”)
yy OmniFocus will force you into linking every next action to a project, but we will show you an easy
workaround for that by creating a “---” project, as a placeholder.
yy Next Action lists are to be reviewed as often as you can.
yy Effective next action descriptions attract you more than repel you toward completing the action.
THE MOST COMMON GTD LISTS
There are 10 lists recommended in the Getting Things Done book that are a good starter set for most people.
yy Next Actions lists sorted by context:
–– Agendas
–– Anywhere
–– Calls
–– Computer
–– Errands
–– Home
–– Office
–– Waiting For
yy Someday/Maybe
yy Projects
Agendas – This list tracks the topics and agenda items for people you interact with regularly. For example, if you
have a standing meeting with a particular team, and want to capture agenda items to bring up at the next meeting,
this is the place to capture them.
You can organize agendas two ways:
1. Add the person or team name in the subject line and use the note field to capture your agenda items. With this
method, you only have one agenda entry per person or team.
The advantage with option one is that all of your agenda items are parked in one place, which can be easier
to retrieve and/or print as one page before you go into a meeting.
2. Create a separate list for each person/team. With this method, you would have many items on your Agenda list,
representing all of the different agenda items you need to track.
The advantage with option two is usually creating entries faster by simply creating a new Task, versus navigating
to the agenda entry you need and adding your item to the note field, as described in option one.
The Agenda list is not for tracking next actions that you need to take related to that person or team (for example,
a call you need to make to that person, which would instead go on your “Calls” list.) Once you’re on the call, you
may refer to the Agenda list for that person, but it’s the Calls list that triggers the action to make the phone call,
not Agendas.
You could easily have a dozen people and meetings that you are tracking this way—your direct reports, your boss,
your assistant, your spouse, the weekly staff meeting, the monthly board meeting, etc. Just be careful you don’t
create so many Agenda lists that it becomes difficult to find what you need and keep them current.
NOTE: Instead of Agendas, OmniFocus calls this People; People: Boss, and People: Spouse in the default set of Contexts.
Anywhere – An action that can be accomplished, without any restriction about where it’s done, would go on this list.
Typical examples would be: Draft ideas re: family vacation (if you like doing that by hand with pen and paper instead
of at the computer) or Draft ideas for new team structure.
NOTE: OmniFocus does not include Anywhere in the default set of Contexts. We recommend you add it, in the section of this
Guide on Configuring OmniFocus.
Calls – Place reminders of calls you need to make in this category, if they can be made from any phone. If you are
highly mobile, take the time to type or cut and paste the phone number on the subject line as well.
Computer – If the action requires a computer (emails to send, documents to edit or draft, spreadsheets to develop,
websites to visit, data to review, etc.), place it here. This list then comes into play whenever you are at your
computer(s) with any discretionary time. Even if you only have a computer in the office, it’s still convenient to have
this list separate from your Office list of things to do, because you wouldn’t need to look at this list when the server
is down or you are looking for non-computer things to do.
NOTE: Instead of Computer, OmniFocus has two pre-populated lists instead called Mac: OmniFocus and Mac: Online. The Mac:
Online list (or Computer: Online to be consistent) could be useful if you tend to be offline at times and want to partition out
actions that require you to be online. Some people also like a list called Computer: Email if they have a high volume of email.
We do not see a need for a Mac: OmniFocus list and recommend deleting that in the Configuring OmniFocus section.
Errands – This holds reminders of things that you need to do when you are “out and about” (stop by the bank, take
something to the tailor, buy something at a store, etc.). If you are likely to think of more than one thing to do or get
at one of those locations (like the hardware store), make “Hardware store” the Subject and put your running list of
things to get/do there in the Notes field below.
If you are a regular road warrior you might consider having two errands lists—one for things you could do anywhere,
in any city, and one for errands that need to be completed where you live.
Home – This list is for next actions that have to be done in your home environment (gather tax receipts, repair the
cabinet door, clean up the tool shed, etc.). It would also hold reminders of calls that you have to make, if you have
to be at home to make the call.
Office – These are the next actions that require you to be at your office, such as calls that you have to make from
your desk because of the materials you need for the call. Purge your files, review information stored in your office,
scan some documents, and look something up in the corporate library would also be examples of the kind of items
you would want to have on this list.
Waiting For – This list keeps track of all the actions, projects, and deliverables that you want to happen, but which
are someone else’s responsibility. It could be something you’ve ordered that hasn’t come yet, something you’ve
handed off to your assistant for which you’re waiting on a response, or something your boss is supposed to be
finding out before you can move forward on a key project.
We suggest adding the date you started waiting in the description of the item. This can be helpful when deciding
when it’s time to follow-up again, if they have not responded.
The Waiting For list should be reviewed as necessary (at least once a week in the GTD Weekly Review® 3 ), triggering
appropriate actions on your part to follow up, light a fire, or just check the status.
Someday/Maybe – These are the things you might want to do at some point in the future, but with no commitment
to move on them at present.
NOTE: Some people prefer to keep the

Someday/Maybe list in the Projects section.
Really, either place works—Contexts or
Projects. Experiment with whichever works
best for you.
Projects – Any of your desired outcomes that will require more than one action
step to complete, which you expect will be done over the next 12-18 months.
The Projects list should be reviewed weekly in the Weekly Review, and should
include reviewing your project plans and capturing any new next actions for your
contexts lists.
3
he GTD Weekly Review is the recommended process for getting your workflow clear and current, so that you can get creative. Refer to the
T
Getting Things Done book for a helpful Weekly Review checklist.
CUSTOMIZING YOUR CONTEXTS
The categories we have suggested should serve as a starting point. As we mentioned earlier, some people find
they need to break out their Computer context into more specific lists, such as Computer, Computer: Email. Some
managers find a Projects – Delegated category useful as a high-level Waiting For list, and executive support staff
can often use a context called Meetings to Schedule.
Remember, contexts map to the people, places, and tools you need to get work done. Be willing to experiment
to find the set that will work best for you. In the next section, on Configuring OmniFocus, we’ll show you how to
change the contexts built into OmniFocus to adapt them for your needs.
CONFIGURING OMNIFOCUS
These one-time configuration changes, broken down into some simple steps, should take you about 20 minutes
to complete. We recommend these changes to adapt OmniFocus to the optimal configuration that best supports
a GTD system.
CONFIGURE DEFAULT PROJECT TYPES

OmniFocus allows two different types of projects to be created: Parallel or Sequential. Parallel means you can create
multiple next actions for any given project and all of those next actions, if assigned a context, will appear on your
Next Action (Contexts) lists.
Sequential assumes you only have one next action for any given project, and even if you have a context assigned
to other next actions for that project, only the first one listed will appear in Next Actions. With Sequential, additional
next actions will only appear on Next Actions when you complete actions one by one. For this reason, we recommend
only using the Parallel type for all of your projects.
With the Parallel type, you will have the most flexibility in working with your projects and completing actions. We
have found the Sequential type to be far too limiting for most people’s needs, by forcing you into only one next
action. It also makes a false assumption that the next listed next action under your project is the actual next one.
That may not be the case at all. Have you ever known, when starting a project, exactly what the steps are in the
project, in the exact order that those actions should happen, with no new variables along the way? It’s unlikely.
Therefore, we always recommend you choose Parallel as the type, when creating projects in OmniFocus, to give
you the most options in choosing what to do.
1. Go to the Projects section of OmniFocus.
2. Under OmniFocus > Preferences > Organization, be sure Parallel is the default project type when creating
new projects:
Parallel projects will show this symbol in your Projects list:
Sequential projects will show this symbol in your Projects list:
Single-Actions lists (ideal for general Reference) will show

this symbol in your Projects list:
© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 818-15JUN2017-LTR gettingthingsdone.com CONFIGURING OMNIFOCUS 11
The project type can be changed in the Type field in your project details:
Before leaving the Organization preferences, change Clean up changed items to immediately:
CHANGE MISCELLANEOUS PROJECT NAMES

OmniFocus assumes every next action is related to a project (which will not always be true). Therefore, next actions
you create in OmniFocus that you do not manually assign to one of your projects will be automatically assigned to
a preset project called “Miscellaneous” by default. We suggest changing the name from “Miscellaneous” to “---”
to make this project name more accurate (“---” implying “none”) and to make your lists more visually appealing
to work with.
1. Go to the Projects section of OmniFocus.
2. Double click on the project named “Miscellaneous” to be able to edit the project name (if you do not have
a project named “Miscellaneous,” see next page).
Change “Miscellaneous” to “---” instead.
If you do not have a project named “Miscellaneous,” click on New Action in the Toolbar.
Add a new action (even a sample placeholder for now), assign it to a context (such as Online), but do not assign
it to a project. Click Save. Go back to Projects and you should now see “Miscellaneous” as a new project. Change
the name to “---” as described on the previous page.
CUSTOMIZING YOUR CONTEXTS FOR GTD NEXT ACTION LISTS

OmniFocus provides you with a default set of contexts (which you will use for your Next Action lists) to get you started.
We recommend that you customize and add to these to match the recommendations in the Getting Things Done
book, as described in the previous section.
RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE GTD BOOK

Errands
Home
Computer
Calls
Agendas
Waiting For
Anywhere
Someday /Maybe
Add New Contexts

1. Go to the Contexts section.
2. Click the plus icon toward the bottom left of your window to create a new context.
3. Enter Someday/Maybe as a new context. Repeat this step for any new lists you need to create.
To change any existing Context names, double click on the current name and type in the new name. This would
be a good time to change the default “OmniFocus” list (not one we recommend) to Email, if having a separate list
for email actions that need to be completed would be useful for you.
To delete a context, highlight the context name and press delete on your keyboard. If you have actions assigned
to a context you are deleting, they will go to the No Context view.
To change the order of any context, highlight the context name and drag it up or down in the list. Be careful where
you place it, as it’s easy to “drop” it as a sub-list of another list rather than placing it as its own top-level list.
Take a moment to also change the “Waiting” list to

Active. By default, OmniFocus sets the status for this
list to On Hold. We have found the best way to work
with all of your Contexts lists for GTD is to consider
them Active.
SETTING CONTEXT VIEWS

One more setting to check is that your Contexts view is set to “Remaining.” This will ensure that your full inventory
of next actions appears correctly, which is important when you are deciding what to do.
1. Select View in the OmniFocus toolbar.
2. Select Availability Filter > Remaining.
CUSTOMIZING YOUR TOOLBAR
For easy access to the OmniFocus features you
will use most often, be sure your Toolbar is set
how you need it.
Go to View > Customize Toolbar. The icon we

recommend adding in particular is Quick Entry.
SETTING UP CLIPPINGS
The OmniFocus Clippings feature can be a useful addition to your workflow. It allows you to copy text from other
applications and quickly create a new entry in OmniFocus. This can be particularly useful in email, to grab next
actions out of an email that should go on to your Next Actions lists. You’ll also likely find it useful when browsing the
web when you come across useful reference information you want to save with your Reference lists in OmniFocus.
To use this feature, you’ll need to create a keyboard shortcut for Clippings, if you haven’t already done so.
In the OmniFocus menu, go to OmniFocus > Preferences > General tab. Click on Set Shortcut, which will launch two
new windows: OmniFocus Help instructions about Clippings and a Macintosh system window to set your shortcut.
Go to the window for setting the shortcut, which will look like this:
In that window, you should see two panes: on the left is a list of shortcut categories, and on the right is an outline
of items within that category. In the left pane, click on Services, and on the right scroll down until you see the group
of Text services. In there, you should see an item for the OmniFocus Send to Inbox service. Click on that service,
and an add shortcut button should appear, which you can use to assign a keyboard shortcut.
To use the Clippings service:

yy Highlight the text in another application, such as your email or browser.
yy Use the Clippings keyboard shortcut you created to copy the text, or open that application’s menu (top left) >
Services > OmniFocus: Send to Inbox.
yy A new item, with the highlighted text is inserted into a new OmniFocus Quick Entry window. Make any edits
needed and save.
SETTING UP MAIL DROP

Another way to capture information in OmniFocus is with Mail Drop. This handy feature of the Omni Sync Server
allows you to address emails to a special email address, created for you by OmniGroup, and have that email appear
in your OmniFocus Inbox. To set up Mail Drop go to: https://manage.sync.omnigroup.com/
Navigate to the Mail Drop field and select Create Address and follow the simple instructions that follow.
Be sure to copy and add your new Omni Sync Server address to your address book for use later.
Ways to use Mail Drop:
yy Quick capture of Mind Sweep items

yy Quick capture of new Next Actions
yy Quick capture of new Projects
yy Forwarding emails from your email client that need to be processed onto your Next Actions, Projects,
or Reference Lists
CREATING EMAIL SUPPORT FOLDERS

Whether you use the Clippings Service or not, it’s easy to integrate email with OmniFocus. A simple recommendation
is to create two folders as subfolders in your email Inbox:
Think of these folders as “storage tanks” holding the email until you can take the action or complete the waiting
for. We recommend you create the same two folders for your hard copy data. As paperless as you may think you
are, you’ll be surprised by the random hard copy things you’ll still need to track, and having an analog system that
matches your digital system will come in handy.
For example, OmniFocus will track your next actions, while Support folders (in email and hard copy) will serve as
“storage tanks” holding the supporting information you need to complete those actions.
INTEGRATING WITH YOUR CALENDAR

While OmniFocus will serve as an excellent list manager, a calendar in another application will still be a critical piece
of your workflow.
A helpful way to think of the difference between what is stored in your Calendar versus OmniFocus is:
Calendar = Stores actions that need to be completed ON a day (e.g. Call Todd on Friday)
OmniFocus = Stores actions that need to be completed BY a day (e.g. Call Todd by Friday) or on ANY day (e.g. simply
Call Todd)
SYNCING TO iPAD® AND/OR iPHONE®

In our experience, OmniFocus syncs beautifully with iPad and iPhone devices. You will need to purchase separate
versions of OmniFocus for each device, through the iTunes store. We recommend you invest in at least one of those
options, as having mobile access to your lists can make the difference between functional and non-functional lists,
(e.g., if you’re creating lists for contexts such as Errands or Home, but then don’t have those lists with you in those
contexts, they won’t be useful for you unless you are printing them).
To configure the syncing between your devices, go to OmniFocus > Preferences > Synchronization tab.
Choose the type of syncing that works best for you. Many people choose the free Omni Sync service.
There are some slight differences in how the same information will be displayed across the different devices
(including the sorting of Contexts), but OmniFocus is intuitive enough that this shouldn’t be an obstacle for you.
USING SIRI WITH OMNIFOCUS

A handy feature for iOS users is to engage Siri to capture items for OmniFocus. This works by using the native
Reminders app on the iPhone/iPad as a gateway to copy items to OmniFocus. Once enabled, phrases such as:
“Siri, remember to…” or Siri, remind me to…at (date and time),” will be ported into OmniFocus.
To configure Siri for OmniFocus and to read more about this feature, visit the OmniFocus website at:
https://support.omnigroup.com/collecting-with-siri-in-omnifocus-2/
POPULATING OMNIFOCUS
You are now ready to start populating OmniFocus with your work.
ADDING NEW PROJECTS AND RELATED ACTIONS

Let’s start with an easy sample project so you get the idea.
1. Click on the Projects button in the Toolbar.
2. Click on the + icon in the lower left hand corner of your OmniFocus window and select New Parallel Project.
3. Describe the desired project outcome in the Project Name (use “Take vacation to Tahiti” for this example).
4. Highlight the new project in the Projects list and click New Action.
5. Now enter the four actions listed below for this sample project. Pressing Enter/Return twice after each one will
bring you to a new field.
© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 818-15JUN2017-LTR gettingthingsdone.com POPULATING OMNIFOCUS 18
Looking at this list, only three of these are potentially next actions that can be done in parallel, whereas one (Pack
for Tahiti) is dependent on the others happening first, and is technically a “future” or “sequential” action. In other
words, you can’t pack until you’ve bought the new suitcase. So, in this example, only the three you can take action
on now will be assigned contexts and will appear on your Next Actions lists.
This is a critical GTD learning point to understand, as it ensures your Next Action lists in Contexts remain active,
functional lists showing only the choices for action you can take now. All future actions remain listed with your
project, without a context assigned to them, until you can take the action.
Add those contexts now by clicking on the drop down menu next to each of those and assigning the appropriate
context to them.
As soon as you are able to take action on Pack for Tahiti, simply come
back to this list for this project and assign it a context. Until then, it will
be stored here and be considered part of your project plans.
In order for this method to work correctly, and for all of your current
next actions to appear in your Next Actions view, the project must be
created as a “Parallel” project (see the icon in the example above
indicating Parallel type, described in more detail on page 11) and your
view in Contexts set to “Remaining” (as described earlier in the Guide).
ADDING NEW NEXT ACTIONS AND LINKING TO THE RELATED PROJECT

You can also add next actions and assign them to projects directly from the Contexts section.
Let’s go there now.
1. Click on the Contexts icon in the Toolbar.
2. Click on the Quick Entry icon in the Toolbar.
3. Enter a new next action for your Tahiti project (e.g., “Buy sunscreen”). Assign it to the “Take Tahiti…” project
and the Errands list. OmniFocus will suggest a list if you start typing the first few letters in the column for your
selection.
4. Click Save when done.
ADDING NEW NEXT ACTIONS NOT RELATED TO PROJECTS
Not every Next Action will be related to a Project. OmniFocus’s design, however, is to associate all actions to a
pre-set project called “Miscellaneous.” That’s why, earlier in the Guide, we asked you to change Miscellaneous
to “---.” If you didn’t make that change page on page 12, we recommend you do that now.
1. Click on the Quick Entry icon in the Toolbar.
2. Enter your Next Action (“Send flowers to mom”), don’t assign a project, but do assign it a context.
3. Click Save when done. (You can also hit Enter/Return.)
4. In the Context view, this will appear under the context list you assigned to this next action and in the Project
view, this will appear under the project “---”.
NOTE: You can also use the New Action icon in the Toolbar to create new next actions, which will create new items for
whatever list you have highlighted in the left margin. Be careful with this, as it’s easy to start adding actions to the wrong
context. If you do that, you can simply drag and drop them to the correct list or adjust the context in the drop-down menu.
CREATING PROJECT FOLDERS

Another option for organizing your projects in OmniFocus is to sort them into folders. For example, you may want to
separate your Personal from your Work projects. Or, sort them by your Areas of Focus/Responsibilities, as described
in David Allen’s Horizons of Focus® model. The advantage of this kind of sorting is that it gives you an easy way to
focus on a particular area of your work or life. For example:
Sorted by Work/Personal: Sorted by Areas of Focus:
To create new folders, click on the + sign in the bottom left-hand corner of OmniFocus and choose New Folder.
You can move your Projects into folders and change the order of your new folders by simply dragging and dropping
them into the order you prefer.
CAPTURING NOTES
Both Contexts and Project forms include a handy note field for
capturing additional information, such as text, hyperlinks, and file
attachments. This can be helpful when you want to add details that
don’t belong in the subject line (which is typically reserved for your
project name or next action). You can view, add, or edit your notes
by clicking on the entry and viewing the note box in the right panel.
For example, here are notes associated with an Agenda list:
STORING REFERENCE
We have found that the Projects section works well to store various reference lists and checklists. For example,
a common checklist recommended in GTD is the travel checklist. A great place to park this is in the Projects
section, created as a Single Action list. To do this, go to the Projects view. Select File > Add Single Action List.
Name your list.
There are two options for adding items to this list:

1. Add the items in the Note field for that list name: 2. Add them as new actions assigned to that list:
To get started, here are some possible reference categories and lists to play with:
Checklists Clients
Areas of Focus Fun
Ideas Great quotes
Inspirations Might like to read
Might like to buy Next time in…
Music to download Vacation ideas
Travel
If you create a number of these Single-Action lists for reference, you may find it helpful to group them together
in a folder called Reference. For example:
PROCESSING ITEMS IN THE OMNIFOCUS INBOX

Your inbox gathers unprocessed items—in other words, items for which you have not clarified, “What’s the
outcome?” and “What’s the next action?” It’s a fantastic tool to use when doing the GTD Mind Sweep to capture
what’s grabbing your attention, without always having to stop to process and organize the item. You can stay in the
flow of your work, and still have a trusted bucket into which you can empty your head.
If you use the Quick Entry form for a new item, but do not assign it to a project or next action, it will be sent to the
Inbox view in OmniFocus. If you use the “Clippings” feature in OmniFocus (mentioned on page 15 of this Guide),
those items will also appear in your Inbox, if you did not assign a context or project. To process Inbox items,
highlight the item in the Inbox, edit the subject line to capture your next action (remember to include a verb),
assign it to a project if applicable, and select the context list required to take the action.
For example, let’s clarify the item “cards” that was captured:
1. Highlight the item in the Inbox.
2. Edit the subject to accurately describe the next action.
3. As soon as you click away from the Inbox view, or click the Clean Up icon in the Toolbar, the item will be
removed from the Inbox view and get moved to the context or project list you assigned it to.
DUE DATES OR NO DUE DATES?
Our recommendation is to use due dates so that you trust them. In other words, use them carefully, so that when
you see them they are actually a motivator and an accurate reflection of your choices. Many people get into the
habit of due-dating everything to death, which leads to not really trusting any of them. Even though OmniFocus
allows you to enter a start date, we do not recommend using this feature, so that your Next Action lists truly
represent a clear view of your current Action choices only.
MARK COMPLETE VERSUS DELETE

Whether you mark an item complete or delete it, it’s entirely up to you. Many people find that keeping a list of
completed projects is very useful, especially for year-end reviews. You may not need that same level of tracking
with your next actions.
On the other hand, if it serves no harm and you have the space on your computer, there’s no reason to delete what
might be useful to recall someday or remind you of the excellent work you’ve completed.
THE GTD WEEKLY REVIEW TIES IT ALL TOGETHER

Any tool you use will take effort to keep clean and current, so that you can trust your action choices. OmniFocus is
no exception. Rest assured, the GTD Weekly Review is what ties this whole thing together, ensuring that you have
actions on all the active parts of your projects on a consistent basis, so you can trust that what you are choosing
from your next action lists is current. The Weekly Review steps include:
GET CLEAR
Collect Loose Papers and Materials
Get “IN” to Zero
Empty Your Head
GET CURRENT
Review Action Lists
Review Previous Calendar Data
Review Upcoming Calendar
Review Waiting For List
Review Project (and Larger Outcome) Lists
Review Any Relevant Checklists
GET CREATIVE
Review Someday/Maybe List
Be Creative and Courageous
OmniFocus has a Review function built-in with our GTD Weekly Review in mind. We don’t consider this to be
an essential feature of OmniFocus for your doing your GTD Weekly Reviews, but it can be a useful piece to try.
Please note—using this feature does not replace what we consider to be the complete GTD Weekly Review.
It’s simply helping to facilitate reviewing Action, Project, and Waiting For Lists, in our checklist above.
To use the Review feature, click on the Review icon in the Sidebar.
You will see a list of your current Projects. Review each one, ensuring each one has a current next action and any
actions you’ve finished are marked complete. This is where you would assign any “future” actions to context lists
if they can be done now. If they are still a future action, they remain where they are, with no context assigned,
until your next review of that project.
When you have completed reviewing a project with the Review feature, click the Mark Reviewed button to log the
date of your last review in the Review box in the details panel for that project. (The Mark Reviewed button only
applies to the overall Project, not the Next Actions under that Project.)
SAVING TIME WITH KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

Studies show you’ll be four times faster using the keyboard shortcuts than reaching for your mouse or trackpad.
If you aren’t using them already, learn the keyboard shortcuts in OmniFocus for the functions you use most. The list
of keyboard shortcuts is extensive. Instead of listing them all here, we recommend browsing to Help > OmniFocus
Help > Menus and Keyboard Shortcuts to see which ones could be useful for you.
CONCLUSION
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Our intention with this guide was to show you the essential set of features in OmniFocus that are available to build
a seamless system of lists for yourself. It’s tempting for some people to create their initial system with a complex
set of lists and sub-lists. If you have a solid understanding of the GTD and OmniFocus basics down, by all means
experiment with a more customized setup.
Be careful not to overcomplicate your systems to the point where you can only maintain them when you are at your
peak of mental clarity. It’s too easy to be out of that mindset and have the whole system fall apart. Your list manager
should be complex enough to manage your workflow, but simple enough that if you were sick in bed with the flu
you could still easily maintain it. Don’t worry about using every feature in OmniFocus or any tool. There is likely far
more built-in than you will ever need. Focus on what makes a difference for you.
If you are new to OmniFocus, this Guide should be an excellent starting point for you to build a solid foundation
for managing your Projects and Actions. If you are already established in OmniFocus, use it as an opportunity
to fine-tune or simplify if you have found you’ve under-used or overbuilt your setup.
Please visit our website to take advantage of the many support tools and services available to assist you in getting
your GTD system up and running.
We wish you all the best!
FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT WITH OMNIFOCUS, PLEASE VISIT:

support@omnigroup.com
+1 206-523-4152
+1 800 315-6664
http://forums.omnigroup.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GTD, PLEASE VISIT:

gettingthingsdone.com
gtdconnect.com
OR CONTACT US:
David Allen Company
+1-805-646-8432
customerservice@davidco.com
© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 818-15JUN2017-LTR gettingthingsdone.com CONCLUSION 25

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© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. gettingthingsdone.com

UNDERSTANDING THE GTD BEST PRACTICES ®

AN OVERVIEW OF THE KEY BEST PRACTICES TO UNDERSTAND THE GTD METHODOLOGY

© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 818-15JUN2017-LTR gettingthingsdone.com

© 2014 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 818-15JUN2017-LTR gettingthingsdone.com

GTD’S FIVE PHASES OF MASTERING WORKFLOW

THREE STAGES TO INTEGRATING GTD

THE GTD WORKFLOW MAP

Recycle, shred, delete

In communication system and being Paper / digital – lists / folders

THREE KEY AREAS OF OMNIFOCUS

You can organize agendas two ways:

NOTE: Some people prefer to keep the

CONFIGURE DEFAULT PROJECT TYPES

1. Go to the Projects section of OmniFocus.

Parallel projects will show this symbol in your Projects list:

Sequential projects will show this symbol in your Projects list:

Single-Actions lists (ideal for general Reference) will show

CHANGE MISCELLANEOUS PROJECT NAMES

1. Go to the Projects section of OmniFocus.

Change “Miscellaneous” to “---” instead.

CUSTOMIZING YOUR CONTEXTS FOR GTD NEXT ACTION LISTS

RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE GTD BOOK

Add New Contexts

Take a moment to also change the “Waiting” list to

SETTING CONTEXT VIEWS

1. Select View in the OmniFocus toolbar.

2. Select Availability Filter > Remaining.

Go to View > Customize Toolbar. The icon we

To use the Clippings service:

SETTING UP MAIL DROP

Ways to use Mail Drop:

yy Quick capture of Mind Sweep items

CREATING EMAIL SUPPORT FOLDERS

INTEGRATING WITH YOUR CALENDAR

SYNCING TO iPAD® AND/OR iPHONE®

USING SIRI WITH OMNIFOCUS

ADDING NEW PROJECTS AND RELATED ACTIONS

1. Click on the Projects button in the Toolbar.

ADDING NEW NEXT ACTIONS AND LINKING TO THE RELATED PROJECT

1. Click on the Contexts icon in the Toolbar.

2. Click on the Quick Entry icon in the Toolbar.

4. Click Save when done.

1. Click on the Quick Entry icon in the Toolbar.

3. Click Save when done. (You can also hit Enter/Return.)

CREATING PROJECT FOLDERS

Sorted by Work/Personal: Sorted by Areas of Focus:

There are two options for adding items to this list:

PROCESSING ITEMS IN THE OMNIFOCUS INBOX

1. Highlight the item in the Inbox.

2. Edit the subject to accurately describe the next action.

MARK COMPLETE VERSUS DELETE

Single-Actions lists (ideal for general Reference) will show